Closing Date: 21st May, 2026
Description:
Summary:This position serves as a Attorney Advisor providing expert legal counsel to the Chairman, Commissioners, Secretary, and staff concerning questions, regulations, laws, practices, or other matters relating to the operations, responsibilities, and functions of the Commission.
This position is in the Excepted Service and appointments are made without regard to the legal requirements of the Competitive Service, Executive order, or OPM regulations.
Duties:
Legal Support:
- Provision of expert legal advice and counsel, including oral and written opinions to Commissioners, senior government officials, and staff on a broad range of questions, regulations, laws, policies, practices, precedents and issues of jurisdiction, diplomatic considerations, and other legal matters concerning the operations, responsibilities, and functions of the Commission.
- Legal research, interpretation, analysis, oral communication, and writing, including preparing Orders of Approval (and amendments) for applications approved by the Commission and responding to questions arising from Boards and Tasks Forces appointed by the Commission.
- Collaborating across teams and stakeholders, such as the U.S. and Canadian sections of the Commission (including the counterpart Canadian attorney), contractors, the Department of State, Canadian officials, U.S. inter-agency counterparts, Boards, Working Groups, and other Commission-affiliated entities, and external parties.
- Drafting or reviewing briefing notes and participating in Commission meetings and other engagements, including providing legal insights and opinions in response to questions from Commissioners, staff, Commission Boards/Task Forces and stakeholders.
- Managing litigation and/or other conflicts involving the Commission, including developing legal strategies and recommendations for the Commission and its advisory groups, such as Boards and Task Forces.
- Interprets complex technical and legal language in contracts utilizing procedures and provisions under the Department of State Acquisition Regulations (DOSAR) and the Federal Government Acquisition Regulations (FAR).
- Advises Commissioners, senior management, and all staff on compliance with contract procurement, management, and oversight requirements and drafts and negotiates contacting documents as needed.
- Works with staff and stakeholders to develop appropriate contractual language and mitigate disputes.
- Provides advice, counsel, and instructions on personnel, performance, and EEO policies and procedures.
- Supports the operations and functions of the Commission, including drafting, communicating, and interpreting internal Commission policies.
Requirements:
Conditions of Employment:
- U.S. Citizenship is required.
- Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
- Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/
- Copy of license to practice law.
Qualifications:
All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
Applicants apply for this position must meet the following requirements to be eligible for further consideration: Law Degree: Applicants must be a graduate of an accredited law school with a J.D. or LL.M. Bar Membership:
Applicants must be a current member of a bar in good standing in any state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Experience: Applicants must have at least four years of specialized experience with at least one year equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal Service, which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of this position. The specialized experience must have been gained after admission to the bar. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:
- Experience providing advice and applying advanced concepts and principles of international law, U.S. Federal contracting, environmental law, and/or administrative law, at least two of which were with a U.S. Federal agency or department.
- Experience interpreting and applying international agreements (including treaties) and/or foreign legal systems.
- Experience advising leaders, colleagues, and multiple stakeholders (orally and in writing) on complex domestic and international legal issues, such as boundary waters, sovereign and diplomatic immunity, treaty interpretation, appropriations law, and ethics
Education:
See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements.
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: www.naces.org/members.php.
Additional Information:
- For reasonable accommodation at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at OAA@state.gov.
- If eligible, situational telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval.
- Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.
Additional Information:
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits:
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits. (https://help.usajobs.gov/working-in-government/benefits?_gl=1*1qk8bdo*_ga*NjQ0MjQ5MzQ5LjE3MjU1OTI5OTA.*_ga_CLZB1LJ1VZ*czE3Nzg4Mzc1NDAkbzIzMyRnMSR0MTc3ODgzNzU1MCRqNTAkbDAkaDA.)
Review our benefits (https://careers.state.gov/work/benefits/cs/)
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of State considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor in the hiring process. For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the qualifications for this position, specifically, the education and specialized experience requirements. Applicants will not be rated or ranked. All applicants that are verified to meet the required qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.
Your resume will be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications required; and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and other characteristics that are relevant to the duties of this position as defined below:
Your resume limited to two pages serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Your resume should include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week. For assistance with creating a resume, please click here. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further.
Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements and submit any supporting documentation by the closing date of this announcement. Your application package must
Review our benefits (https://careers.state.gov/work/benefits/cs/)
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of State considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor in the hiring process. For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the qualifications for this position, specifically, the education and specialized experience requirements. Applicants will not be rated or ranked. All applicants that are verified to meet the required qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.
Your resume will be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications required; and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and other characteristics that are relevant to the duties of this position as defined below:
- Knowledge of civil criminal, and administrative laws referenced above.
- Ability to Negotiate.
- Skill in successfully building relations with clients, peers, and colleagues.
- Ability to provide written and verbal opinions to clients.
- Ability to write and speak clearly and concisely.
Your resume limited to two pages serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Your resume should include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week. For assistance with creating a resume, please click here. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further.
Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements and submit any supporting documentation by the closing date of this announcement. Your application package must
