Assistant United States Attorney

USAO Eastern District of Virginia
Criminal Division
Attorney
2100 Jamieson Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22314
United States
22-EDVA-11666592-AUSA
About the Office: 

The United States Attorney (U.S. Attorney) for the Eastern District of Virginia has four offices which are located in Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) are assigned to each of these offices to prosecute criminal cases.  The district consists of more than 19,000 square miles, has a population of over six million, and includes numerous federal agencies (including the Defense Department and the CIA), military installations, and major airports.  The Office has over 100 criminal AUSAs who handle a wide variety of complex cases, including drug trafficking and money-laundering crimes, terrorism-related offenses, firearms and other violent crime offenses, cyber-crimes, environmental crimes, and a variety of fraud and white-collar offenses.

As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.

Job Description: 

The Office is hiring a Supervisory AUSA to serve as Chief of the Narcotics Unit in the Criminal Division of the Alexandria Office. The successful candidate will be hired as an Assistant United States Attorney and will immediately serve as a Supervisory AUSA under a temporary promotion. The Supervisory AUSA will supervise attorrneys located in the Alexandria office and their investigation and prosecution of domestic and international drug trafficking offenses. Promotions to Supervisory AUSA positions are made on a temporary basis at the discretion of the United States Attorney. At the end of the temporary promotion, the Supervisory AUSA may be returned to a non-supervisory AUSA with the USAO or extended.

All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14 month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.  Temporary appointments may or may not be made permanent without further competition. 

Qualifications: 

Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), have at least three years post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience, and possess superior oral and written communication skills as well as strong interpersonal skills, exhibit good judgment, and have demonstrated the capacity to function with minimal guidance in a highly demanding environment.  Applicants must have experience in the federal sector litigating narcotics cases in one or more of the following areas: investigations involving overdose deaths, drug money laundering, diversion of controlled substances, dark web narcotics trafficking, and violent crime related to domestic and international drug trafficking.

Preferred qualifications: Preferred qualifications include at least three years of narcotics-related litigation experience in the role of lead counsel, including jury trial experience, and/or a federal clerkship.  Experience working collaboratively with a wide variety of attorneys and non-attorney professionals, including supervisory capacities, is also strongly preferred.

United States citizenship is required. 

Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication.  This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing.  In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation. 

Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed or within 25 miles thereof.  See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district-specific information.

Salary: 
The range of basic pay for non-supervisory (line) AUSA positions will be $61, 224 to $149,044, plus locality pay. the range of basic pay for supervisory AUSA positions will be $120,935 to $176,200, plus locality pay.
Travel: 
Travel within and outside the District may be required but should be minimal.
Application Process: 

Applications must be submitted online through the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/679854100

Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflict of interest or disqualification issue that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.

Application Deadline: 
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Relocation Expenses: 
Relocation expenses will not be authorized.
Number of Positions: 
One, but additional may be filled if vacancies occur.
Updated September 27, 2022

*         *         *

Department Policies

Equal Employment Opportunity:  The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer.  Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex - including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status - or because of age (over 40), physical or mental disability, protected genetic information, parental status, marital status, political affiliation, or any other non-merit based factor.  The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. For more information, please review our full EEO Statement.

Reasonable Accommodations:  This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency.  Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities:  The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements.  Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority.  Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.   

Suitability and Citizenship:  It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment.  Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee’s Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least three of the past five years. The three-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. This is a Department security requirement which is waived only for extreme circumstances and handled on a case-by-case basis.

Veterans:  There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that their retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that they were transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).

USAO Residency Requirement:  Assistant United States Attorneys must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof.  See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.

*         *         *

This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.