Chief, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section

Civil Rights Division (CRT)
Attorney
Washington, DC 20006
United States
16-SES-CRT-001
About the Office: 

The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "Department") is the principal federal agency charged with enforcing federally protected civil and constitutional rights. The Civil Rights Division ("CRT" or "Division") is primarily responsible for enforcing federal statutes and executive orders that prohibit, among other things, unlawful discrimination in education, employment, housing, police services, public accommodations and facilities, voting, and federally funded and conducted programs. The laws that the Division enforces also prohibit conduct by law enforcement agencies, as well as conditions of public residential institutions, such as health care and correctional facilities, that violate the constitution.

The Division is seeking a managing attorney to serve as the Chief of the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section ("HCE Section" or "Section"). The HCE Section enforces civil rights laws designed to protect persons from illegal discrimination in housing, lending, zoning and land use, and places of public accommodation. In addition, the Section enforces the rights of servicemembers under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The Section conducts investigations, brings lawsuits, and monitors compliance with court orders and settlements.

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: 

As Chief, the successful candidate will plan and direct a nationwide program to enforce the federal civil rights laws and executive orders prohibiting discrimination in housing, lending, zoning and land use, and places of public accommodation. Responsibilities include:

· Managing directly and through subordinate supervisors, a staff of more than 80 lawyers, non-lawyer professionals and support staff.

· Overseeing the preparation, review, and editing of complaints, other pleadings, discovery requests and responses, motions, briefs, proposed consent decrees and other legal documents. Overseeing all aspects of pretrial discovery and motion practices to ensure the development of testimonial and documentary evidence for trial. Personally handling the most sensitive and difficult cases. Intervening in significant cases brought by private litigants.

· Meeting, coordinating, and fostering good working relationships with the United States Attorneys' Offices, other DOJ components, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, federal regulatory agencies, and other partner agencies.

· Consulting and advising the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and the Deputy Assistant Attorneys General.

· Coordinating with the Division's other Section Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs as appropriate.

· Resolving cases through settlement agreements, consent decrees, or litigation. Speaking at meetings and conferences to educate other governmental agencies, industry, and/or the public about the work of the HCE Section. Meeting and conducting outreach to community organizations and other interested parties.

· Coordinating with counsel for private litigants in cases in which the Government intervenes; conferring with the United States Attorneys' Offices at all important stages of litigation; and meeting with the public (and their delegations), law enforcement entities, and others.

Qualifications: 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is required by law to review the executive qualifications of each new career appointee to the Senior Executive Service (SES) prior to appointment. To be considered for this position, you must submit a written statement addressing the five (5) Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) listed below at section 3. Failure to address both the mandatory technical/professional qualifications and the ECQs as set forth below will adversely affect your chances for selection. Current members of the career SES, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, and OPM/QRB certified candidates need not address the ECQs.

You must submit a separate narrative statement that addresses each of the Technical Qualifications (TQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) related to this position; limit your responses to no more than one page for each TQ/MTQ. Unless you are a current Senior Executive Service (SES) career appointee, a former SES member having reinstatement eligibility, or an OPM-certified graduate of an approved SES Candidate Development Program, you must also submit a separate narrative statement (10-page limit) addressing each of the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) related to all positions in the SES. You must address how you have demonstrated progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior executive level managerial capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined in this job announcement. Qualified candidates typically gain experience of this nature at or above the GS-15 grade level in the Federal service or its equivalent with state or local government, the private sector, or nongovernmental organizations. For examples and guidance on writing effective ECQ narrative statements, you are strongly encouraged to review the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualifications. You must use the Challenge- Context- Action- Result (CCAR) model when describing your accomplishments.

(1) Technical Qualifications:

· Ability to manage a complex organization and tackle challenging organizational issues.

· Ability to manage a diverse workforce that includes lawyers, non-lawyer professionals, and support staff.

· Ability to establish and implement an organizational vision, develop a strategic plan and implement strategic change, develop and advance policy initiatives, and build coalitions and identify opportunities for collaboration, both within the organization and outside the organization, to enforce the applicable statutory provisions effectively.

· Ability to communicate effectively on complex legal and technical issues, both orally and in writing, including the ability to advocate successfully with diverse stakeholders, external partners and individuals or groups having differing and often conflicting interests, on matters related to the successful execution of a large-scale organization's mission, programs and projects.

· Demonstrated experience supervising, developing, or resolving issues through effective oral and written communication.

· Ability to consult and provide advice on complex legal and technical issues.

· Demonstrated experience in developing or litigating cases and negotiating settlements.

(2) Mandatory Technical Qualifications:

· Must have extensive experience working with one or more of the applicable statutory provisions (i.e., the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act).

Salary: 
ES-0905-00 - $123,175.00 to $185,100.00 / Per Year
Travel: 
Occasional travel will be required
Application Process: 

The complete Application Package must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time Zone) on Friday, February 12, 2016.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package, which includes: Your application package must include:

· resume

· narrative statement addressing each of the TQs and MTQs (limit to one page per TQ/MTQ)

· narrative statement addressing each of the ECQs (10-page limit) (if required)

· current performance appraisal (if none exists, a statement to that effect)

To apply for this position, see page at: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/427015700.

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: 
Friday, February 19, 2016
Relocation Expenses: 
Relocation expenses are not authorized.
Number of Positions: 
1 - Full-Time Position
Updated February 11, 2016

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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.

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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.