Closing Date: 27th November, 2024
Description:
Summary:This announcement is for TWO (2) positions. The Mergers I Division oversees antitrust investigations and challenges of mergers and acquisitions involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer health products, defense, scientific, industrial, technology and consumer products. The Mergers IV Division oversees antitrust investigations and challenges of mergers and acquisitions involving hospitals, consumer goods, supermarkets, retail, multichannel video programming distribution and media.
Duties:
The AD is a key member of the Bureau's senior management team and devises and implements program and policy decisions in furtherance of the FTC's competition mission. The AD exercises wide discretion in directing investigative and litigation proceedings to enforce the statutory provisions discussed above; reviews policy recommendations that affect the Division's and Bureau's longer-term strategies; considers political, social, economic, technical, and administrative factors that potentially impact recommended policies; and formally recommends action to the Bureau Director and other approving officials. The AD serves as the primary link between the Division, other Bureau leaders, and FTC commissioners, and maintains contact with a wide range of public, private, and international groups with diverse interests in competition matters.
The AD provides counsel and guidance for staff members on policy questions and matters of legal strategy. They review and refines legal documents prepared by the staff (e.g., proposed complaints, recommendations that cases be closed, trial briefs, motions) for consistency with agency policy, soundness of judgment, and legal sufficiency, and oversees the prosecution of complaints before the federal district courts or the Commission's Administrative Law Judges. The work performed under the incumbent's supervision generally involves coordinating complex and difficult antitrust investigations and proceedings. The incumbent conducts frequent conferences with parties and third parties to proceedings, as well as their counsel. Questions raised in these meetings are often controversial, and requires a high degree of tact, persuasiveness, and legal skill by the incumbent.
The AD performs or supervises other functions that may be delegated in light of the Bureau's overall workload requirements. Occasionally, the incumbent is summoned to appear before the Commission, congressional committees, industry regulators, industry representatives, and various forums to discuss the Division's work, emerging trends in competition law, emerging problems of law violations, proposed legislation and regulation, and related matters. The incumbent may represent the FTC or the Bureau in proceedings before government agencies or give speeches or other briefings to various groups.
The AD is accountable for ensuring the success of Division cases and programs. This includes obtaining and allocating necessary resources to accomplish goals, consistent with resource and budgetary constraints, as well as dealing with key officials within and outside the agency to gain an understanding of and support for the Division's work. The incumbent sets effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity performance requirements; structures the Division's work to meet these requirements; and implements management and internal control standards. The incumbent monitors and evaluates the Division's progress toward goals through formal and informal means; periodically evaluates and makes appropriate adjustments to such goals; and assesses the Division's overall effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity.
The AD professionally and administratively directs, oversees, supervises, coordinates, and reviews (through subordinate supervisors) the work of approximately 35 attorneys and legal support staff who review Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and monitor markets to identify transactions that might violate the antitrust statutes; conduct investigations to determine whether such transactions warrant investigation; and formulate plans and legal theories to pursue these investigations and subsequent enforcement actions. The incumbent assesses policy, program, and case feasibility; determines goals and objectives; and develops plans to achieve goals and objectives. The incumbent identifies, diagnoses, and consults on problem areas related to assignments and goal achievement and makes decisions on alternative courses of action.
The AD manages and supervises the activities of the personnel and staff within the Division, ensuring that management techniques and policies are based on sound organization, position management, and federal employment practices. The incumbent performs human resource management functions relative to the staff supervised, including establishing and clearly communicating performance expectations; provides informal and formal feedback to evaluate staff organizational performance; and provides advice and counsel to staff members and subordinate managers related to legal and policy matters. The incumbent ensures the training, development, and effective utilization of Division staff; evaluates their work product; conducts formal performance reviews; and recommends promotion and other personnel actions, including for performance or conduct deficiencies. The AD is responsible for furthering the goals of equal employment opportunity by initiating nondiscriminatory practices and affirmative actions for the area under their direction.
Requirements:
Conditions of Employment:
- You must be a U.S. citizen to qualify for this position.
- You must possess a J.D. or LL.B. degree from an accredited law school.
- Background investigation (Public Trust) is required.
- You will serve a one-year probationary period unless you have previously completed the probationary period in the Senior Executive Service (SES).
- The individual selected will be required to file an Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278) in accordance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
- This position may be eligible for remote work or telework from a regional office. If selected, you must be approved for remote or telework prior to onboarding in accordance with FTC's Workplace Flexibilities Policy.
Qualifications:
Qualifications:
As a basic requirement, applicants must demonstrate technical and professional competence as described in the Mandatory Professional Credentials/Technical Qualifications section below and executive leadership capabilities as described in the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) of the SES listed below. Typically, experiences of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-15 grade level or its equivalent in federal service, or with state or local government, private industry, or nongovernmental organizations.
If you are a current career member of the SES, are eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or have completed an SES Candidate Development Program and have been certified by the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Qualifications Review Board (QRB), you can apply for competitive and/or noncompetitive consideration. For competitive consideration, you must submit a resume and written statements addressing the Mandatory Professional Credentials/Technical Qualifications, ECQs, and other applicable qualifications. For noncompetitive consideration, you must submit your resume, written statements addressing the Mandatory Professional Credentials/Technical Qualifications, and other applicable qualifications. Written statements addressing the ECQs are not necessary for noncompetitive consideration. You must also provide documentation of QRB certification (i.e., SF-50 showing career SES status or OPM-issued SES qualification certificate).
Mandatory Professional Credentials and Technical Qualifications:
Mandatory Professional Credentials:
This Position Requires Comprehensive, Professional Knowledge of Federal Antitrust and Consumer Protection Laws and Regulations; Specifically, Sections 2, 3, 7, and 8 of The Clayton Act and Section 5 of The Federal Trade Commission Act. Graduation from An Accredited Law School and Current Possession of A Bar Membership, Which Permits the Practice of Law in The United States, Are Required.
Mandatory Technical Qualifications (should Not Exceed Two Pages per Qualification):
Mtq1: Knowledge and Experience in Legal Areas Relevant to The Commission's Work, Including Antitrust Law, Competition Analysis of Mergers and Acquisitions, and Federal Court Litigation. Through Understanding of The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, as Well as How It Affects the Agency's Operations.
Mtq2: Experience in The Management of Complex Legal Issues. Experience Includes Analyzing Complex Legal Issues and Questions of Litigation Strategy, Reviewing Pleadings, Briefs, and Legal Memoranda, and Providing Oral and Written Legal Advice and Recommendations.
Mtq3: Ability to Analyze Economic Evidence Surrounding Antitrust, Merger, and Competition Matters.
Mtq4: Experience in Supervising and Reviewing the Work Product of Attorneys and Other Staff in A Legal Office with A Focus on Achieving High-Quality Organizational Results.
Executive Core Qualifications: All Applicants Must Submit Written Statements Describing Accomplishments that Would Satisfy the Ec Qs. You Must Respond to All Ec Qs and Address Each