Office of the General Counsel
Attorney Advisor (General)
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Summary
Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. For consideration, all applicants must meet the minimum qualifications for attorney positions: Successful completion of a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the America Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LLB or JD) (Law School transcript required) and Currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants should have demonstrated specialized experience in legal research, excellent writing and communication skills, and a strong academic record. This experience should be clearly documented in the cover letter and resume. GS-11: Meet minimum qualifications above and demonstrate Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector or elsewhere that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor. Examples of such experience include: Providing legal advice, research, analysis and interpretation of federal, state, and local laws under supervisory direction; Assisting in writing opinions, memoranda, pleadings, briefs, and legal support of agency/organization programs and litigation; Performing other legal services as assigned; Preparing various kinds of legal documents, both for specific case use and for general use under guidance; Ability to conduct legal research to handle cases involving the Department's programs; Ability to apply legal analysis and make sound legal judgment to find appropriate precedent or distinguish applicable law or facts to support or justify legal positions with advice from senior attorneys. GS-12: Specialized experience, equivalent to the (GS-11) level in the Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector/pay systems that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor (General). Examples of such experience include: Providing legal advice, research, analysis and interpretation of federal, state, and local laws; Writing opinions, memoranda, pleadings, briefs, and legal support of agency/organization programs and litigation; Performing other legal services as assigned; Rendering of legal advice, oral or written, to administrative officials in connection with the day-to-day operations of programs; preparing various kinds of legal documents, both for specific case use and for general use; Ability to conduct substantial research to handle cases involving the Department's programs; Ability to apply creative legal analysis and sound legal judgment to find appropriate precedent or distinguish applicable law or facts to support or justify legal positions. GS-13: Specialized experience, equivalent to the (GS-12) level in the Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector/pay systems that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor (General). Examples of such experience include: Providing professional legal services to major components of an agency or organization; Knowledge of the principles and techniques of legal analysis and practice in order to (1) prepare pleadings, motions, briefs, litigation reports, and related documents (2) determine nature of legal issues involved; and (3) effectively represent agencies or organizations; Thorough knowledge of activities and program initiatives of agencies or organizations to provide timely and relevant legal advice regarding program operations to management officials and to expertly represent clients in negotiations and legal proceedings. GS-14: Specialized experience, equivalent to the (GS-13) level in the Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector/pay systems that has equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform as an Attorney Advisor (General). Examples of such experience include: Ability to plan and assign priorities to tasks and assignments to further develop knowledge of complex assignments; Working independently to determine methodologies, milestones, goals, and termination points for most assignments; Completing assignments to management requirements with satisfaction of organizational objectives. NOTE: This experience must be demonstrated on your resume/supporting documents. 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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Major Duties
Interpreting and applying complex, overlapping, or conflicting federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, and case law to advise senior officials on legally consequential matters involving unsettled legal questions.
Conducting comprehensive legal research and drafting authoritative legal memoranda that synthesize extensive factual records and multiple legal authorities into legally defensible conclusions.
Evaluating proposed regulations, policy directives, internal guidance, or agency actions for legal sufficiency, identifying deficiencies, and formulating final written recommendations that shape agency policy, regulatory posture, or litigation risk.
Knowledge of administrative and Federal litigation particularly related to the Marketing and Regulatory and Food Safety mission areas of the USDA.
Required Documents
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications. Resume cannot exceed 2 pages. Cover Letter Bar Membership Written Narrative Legal Writing Sample You must submit a copy of your college and law school transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation. If claiming veteran's preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. Veteran's preference must be verified prior to appointment. Without this documentation, you will not receive veteran's preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted. If claiming 10-point veteran's preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference visit FedsHireVets. Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330. Although Veteran's Preference does not apply to the Direct Hire Authority, upon selection Veteran's documentation may be required.
How to Apply
Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Open-Continuous Cut-off Information: An initial cut-off date of 11:59pm EST on November 14, 2026, will be used to evaluate candidates for the available vacancies. Any application received after the initial cut-off date will only be considered should any vacancies remain open after the initial application window. Subsequent application cut-off dates will occur at monthly intervals throughout the duration of the announcement open period; cut-off dates are as follows at 11:59pm EST: November 14, 2026 December 14, 2026 January 12, 2027 Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.