Legal Careers
Assistant United States Attorney (MDNC)
Greensboro, NC 27317 - United States
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina has two positions available for an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in our Civil Division. The office is very active, serving approximately 3 million people and covering 24 counties in the central part of the state. Employment with this office offers a unique and challenging experience for highly motivated attorneys, including opportunities to work their own caseload, manage investigations, and represent the United States of America in federal District Court and the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Our district is headquartered in downtown Greensboro with a staffed branch office in Winston-Salem.
Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) in the Civil Division are responsible for representing the Federal Government, its agencies, and employees in civil litigation. AUSAs defend civil actions brought against the Federal Government in areas such as torts, land disputes, employment discrimination, immigration, and constitutional torts or Bivens actions. They are active at both the trial and appellate levels, taking depositions, preparing, and answering discovery demands, negotiating settlements, engaging in motion practice, trying cases, and writing and arguing appeals.
An AUSA may also be assigned additional duties at the discretion of the United States Attorney. Such case assignments may include, but are not limited to, civil asset forfeiture actions, and assisting criminal AUSAs with criminal forfeiture matters, enforcement of administrative subpoenas, health care fraud litigation, habeas corpus cases, actions brought under the Freedom of Information Act, actions seeking federal court review of the administrative actions of federal agencies, and the collection of debts owed to the government, including foreclosure, student loan cases, and other debts owed to the United States.
Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.
Required Qualifications:Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and have at least three (3) years post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience. United States citizenship is required.
Preferred Qualifications:The ideal candidate will have (1) legal practice experience related to civil litigation; (2) quick analytical ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues involved with a case; (3) superior oral and writing skills, as well as strong research and interpersonal skills; (4) ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with the court, other attorneys, support staff and client agencies; (5) capacity to function with minimal guidance in a highly demanding environment; and (6) excellent computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research, electronic court filing, electronic e-mail and word processing systems.
You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
To be considered for this position, applications must be submitted by 11:59pm (EST) on January 22, 2026.
Applicants will only be accepted through USAJobs website at: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/853819000.
Please be sure to read the announcement through its entirety prior to applying.
You must provide a complete Application Package which includes the following required documents:
- Required: Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).
- Required: Cover letter
- Required: Resume. Your resume cannot exceed two pages - you will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration if your resume exceeds two pages - see USAJOBS for formatting requirements.
- Required: Writing Sample (20 pages or less)
- Required: Three (3) references
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 conflicts of interest or disqualification issues that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.
Assistant United States Attorney’s pay is administratively determined and is based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The salary range of pay is $79,440 to $193,394 which includes locality pay of 17.06%.
Department Policies
The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. To learn more, please visit the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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.
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.
Unless otherwise required by law, the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits employees of the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal contractor acting on its behalf from inquiring about an applicant's criminal history record, either in writing or orally, before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint within 30 days of the date of the alleged non-compliance directly to the hiring office using the contact information listed in the announcement.
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.
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).
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.