Closing Date: 31st December, 2025

Description:

Summary:
This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.

Multiple selections may be made from this announcement.

Duties:
What You'll Be Doing Day to Day
As an Attorney-Adviser (General) , you will use your knowledge and experience to optimize business results and customer experience by:
Litigation: The Litigation Group works with the Department of Justice to defend CMS's actions in federal court. Litigation attorneys act as both lead and supporting attorneys in cases in federal district and appellate courts. Your cases will involve challenges to healthcare-related statutes, CMS regulations, Administration priorities and initiatives; as well as highly specialized Medicare provider reimbursement work. Work areas may include Administrative Procedure Act challenges; challenges to the Medicare drug price negotiation program; defending CMS in all facets of litigation, including against preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders; and Jarkesy-based challenges.

Program Enforcement: The Program Enforcement Group provides a range of advice and counseling to CMS related to enforcement of Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP requirements, litigates administrative cases on behalf of CMS before the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB), and supports DOJ in federal court litigation defending final agency actions and lawsuits against CMS. In particular, the Program Enforcement Group:

Provides advice and counseling regarding Medicare reimbursement issues, such as Medicare Secondary Payer and Medicare payment suspensions.
Handles administrative litigation before the DAB including civil money penalty cases against Skilled Nursing Facilities, Medicare provider and supplier enrollment disputes, and Medicaid disallowances.
Partners with other CMS Division Groups (mostly the Program Integrity Group) on matters like Hospital Price Transparency enforcement, Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), CLIA advice and enforcement, and Touhy advice to CMS.
Handles some federal court litigation.

Program Review: The Program Review Group provides and oversees provision of complex and highly significant legal counsel to CMS. This includes overseeing the legal review of significant regulatory and guidance documents and proposed legislation for Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), private insurance market reforms, Health Benefit Exchanges, consumer surprise billing protections, drug price negotiation and rebate programs, implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, CMS Innovation Center Models, and health information exchange-related areas including information blocking and the ONC Health IT Certification Program, among others.

We are seeking to fill the positions at the GS-11/12/13 and 14 grade levels ($75,145.00 - $185,234.00) depending on experience, qualifications and location.

Ideal applicants should possess: Significant regulatory and administrative law experience, and significant federal and/or administrative litigation experience, demonstrated ability to work under competing deadlines, and superb persuasive writing, communication, and analytical skills. Experience with Medicare and/or Medicaid and familiarity with the Administrative Procedure Act is desirable.

The positions are located in Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; New Philadelphia, PA; Atlanta, GA; Kansas City, MO; and Denver, CO. Reimbursement for relocation expenses is not available.

Requirements:
Conditions of Employment:

U.S. Citizenship required
Males born after December 31, 1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service - http://www.sss.gov
Suitable for federal employment
Documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System.
All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.
All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date.
Financial disclosure statement may be required.
Two year trail period may be required.
You must possess a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from an accredited ABA law school.
Have at least one year (for GS-11) to three years (for GS-14) of experience after law school, as a practicing attorney.
Proof that bar status is active, in good standing and eligible to practice in the highest court of a State, U. S. commonwealth, U. S. territory, or the District of Columbia.
Candidates must also have exemplary legal writing, analysis and oral advocacy abilities, and possess excellent interpersonal skills.
It will be a plus for the candidate to have familiarity and experience with the Administrative Procedure Act and Medicare and Medicaid laws and regulations.
Must maintain active bar membership in good standing and the eligibility to practice law in the highest court of a state, territory, Commonwealth, or the District of Columbia throughout employment in the Office of the General Counsel.
Upon final job offer from HHS OHR, the successful candidate must submit official law school transcripts.
Security/Background Requirements: A background security investigation will be required for all appointees. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
In addition, if hired, a background security reinvestigation or supplemental investigation may be required at a later time. Applicants are also advised that all information concerning qualifications is subject to investigation.
Failure to successfully meet these requirements may be grounds for appropriate personnel action. False representation may be grounds for non-consideration, non-selection and/or appropriate disciplinary action.
E-Verify: If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System
Federal law requires DHS to use the E-Verify System to verify employment eligibility of all new hires and as a condition of continued employment obligates the new hire to take affirmative steps to resolve any discrepancies identified by the system.

Qualifications:
What we are looking for:
Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the position qualifications listed on this announcement. Salary will be commensurate with education and experience.

Basic Qualifications:
Education Requirement: Must have successfully completed a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from an accredited educational institution;
Bar Membership: Must have a current active bar membership from any State, territory, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, District of Columbia, or Federal Court;
AND
License to Practice Law: Must have a current, valid license with eligibility to practice law in a state, the District of Columbia, or any United States territory or commonwealth.

In addition to the basic qualifications listed above, the following MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS must ALSO be met for each grade level:

At the GS-11: You must possess a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or LL.B from an accredited ABA law school and possess active bar status in good standing.
At the GS-12: You must possess a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or LL.B from an accredited ABA law school, active bar status in good standing, and one year of professional legal experience post bar admission equivalent to the GS-11 level.
At the GS-13: You must possess a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or LL.B from an accredited ABA law school, active bar status in good standing, and two years of professional legal experience post bar admission with one year of experience equivalent to the GS 12 level.
At the GS-14: You must possess a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or LL.B from an accredited ABA law school, active bar status in good standing, and three years of professional legal experience post bar admission with one year of experience equivalent to the GS 13 level.

Documenting experience: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume.

Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational application questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this positio