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Legal Careers

Director of Operational Management

Hiring Organization
Civil Rights Division (CRT)
Hiring Office
Office of the Assistant Attorney General
Job ID
23-CRT-SES-001
Location:
Washington, DC 20530 - United States
Application Deadline:
About the Office

The Civil Rights Division ("CRT" or "Division") of the Department of Justice, created by the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, 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 an experienced attorney to serve as the Director of Operational Management. The Director of Operational Management reports to CRT's Assistant Attorney General and provides advice to senior managers in the Division on personnel, management, oversight, and other matters.

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 the Director of Operational Mangement, the successful candidate:

  • Reviews the Administrative Management Section ("ADM Section") on behalf of the Office of the Assistant Attorney General ("OAAG"). The ADM Section provides administrative and management support to the Division in the areas of human resources, budget, accounting, internal controls and financial audit procedures, procurement, litigation and contractor support, protection of personnel, facilities and classified information, direction of space and related logistical functions, automated office support system (e.g., JCON systems), information technology, records and information resources management, telecommunication, and correspondence, including the Civil Rights Reporting Portal.
  • Serves as the OAAG reviewer of the Office of Chief Counsel ("OCC"). OCC represents and advises the OAAG and Division management on a wide range of general law areas, typical of the subjects handled by federal general counsels: audits and investigations; delegations of authority; employment law and labor relations; Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. § 552) / Privacy Act (PA) (5 U.S.C. § 552a); information law; intellectual property; memoranda of understanding; third party subpoenas; and various government-wide administrative mandates such as the Federal Records Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, e-Government Act, and obligations relating to e-discovery.
  • Reviews the Professional Development Office ("PDO"). The PDO develops training and professional development opportunities for CRT employees and ensures that employees comply with mandatory training requirements.
  • Reviews and proposes updates as appropriate to Division policies to ensure that they comport with federal law, EEO, and merit system principles, that they are administratively sound and effective, and that they are consistent with Department and Division priorities.
  • Ensures Division oversight procedures comport with Department oversight procedures, manages Division's oversight compliance program, and works closely with senior members of the Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Associate Attorney General, and the Office of Legislative Affairs on oversight matters. Serves as a senior liaison to the Office of the Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, and other oversight bodies.
  • Oversees the development and execution of the Division's long-term executive management strategy and ensures that CRT's strategy informs and comports with the Department's strategy. Plays a leading role in the Division's strategic planning, including decisions about resource allocation. Works closely with CRT executives, including the Section Chiefs, the Executive Officer, the Chief Counsel, and the Director of PDO to develop and implement strategic priorities, objectives, measures, targets, and action plans.
  • Plans, directs, and reviews work to be accomplished by subordinates. As required, establishes program emphasis, develops operating policies and guidelines, and communicates policies and priorities. In furtherance of these functions, determines and implements internal organizational practices, training, and improvements in work processes and procedures.
  • Provides strong advocacy and commitment to the Division's priorities, including diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of hiring, selection, development, and performance management of employees, as well as principles of merit promotion. Ensures that internal policies, practices and the Division's overall operation promote these principles.
  • Works with the Component Head and other Division senior managers to devise and implement strategies to improve employee morale and engagement.
  • Acquires and leverages needed fiscal and human resources to achieve results-oriented outcomes. Develops budget enhancements within his or her area of responsibility that include both performance measures and outcomes that reflect the Division's and Department's strategic goals and objectives. Uses efficient and cost-effective approaches to integrate technology into the workplace for improved program effectiveness.
  • Performs other work as assigned.
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) and three (3) Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) listed below.

Failure to address both the ECQs (as applicable) and MTQs separately as set forth below will remove you from consideration for this position
.

If 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 are not required to submit the ECQ narratives; however, you must submit the appropriate SF50 (showing SES status) or an OPM Qualifications Review Board certificate.

You must submit a separate narrative statement that addresses each of the Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) related to this position; limit your responses to no more than one page for each MTQ.

The ECQ narrative is limited to no more than two pages per ECQ (must not exceed 10 pages total).
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.

Mandatory Technical Qualifications:
MTQ 1 - Demonstrated experience overseeing legal and administrative services related to two or more of the following: (1) employment law, merit systems principals, and equal employment opportunity; (2) appropriation and fiscal laws; (3) compliance with federal information disclosure, privacy law, and the Freedom of Information Act; and (4) the conduct of independent reviews by the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector General.
MTQ 2 - Demonstrated experience managing a complex organization, a diverse workforce (including lawyers, non-lawyer professionals, and support staff), and challenging organizational issues while enforcing the law.
MTQ 3 - Demonstrated experience communicating effectively on complex legal and technical issues through oral and written communication, 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.

Executive Core Qualifications:

  • Leading Change: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.
    • Leadership Competencies for ECQ-1: creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, vision.
  • Leading People: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.
    • Leadership Competencies for ECQ-2: conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others, team building.
  • Results Driven: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.
    • Leadership Competencies for ECQ-3: accountability, customer service, decisiveness, entrepreneurship, problem solving, technical credibility.
  • Business Acumen: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.
    • Leadership Competencies for ECQ-4: financial management, human capital management, technology management.
  • Building Coalitions: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.
    • Leadership Competencies for ECQ-5: partnering, political savvy, influencing/negotiating.
Application Process

The complete Application Package must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time Zone) on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. 

To be considered for this position, you must provide a complete application package which includes:

- A comprehensive resume that also indicates the name of the college or university, and month and year, from which you obtained your J.D.

  • Your resume should demonstrate the necessary level of management skills, characteristics, qualities, specialized knowledge, and technical competence that would indicate successful performance in the SES. This evidence must include clear and concise examples that emphasize the applicant's level of responsibilities, scope, and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments, policy initiatives, and level of contacts.

- ECQ narratives (each ECQ must not exceed two pages; not to exceed 10 pages total)
- MTQ narratives (1 page per MTQ)
- Recent SF-50 that shows Official Title, Grade Level, Status
- Certification of OPM QRB approval (for graduates of SES Candidate Development Programs)
- Other supporting documentation as required.

Applicants who fail to submit all information as described in this job announcement (i.e., page limits on ECQs, page limits on MTQs, etc.) and documents (i.e., resume, and other documents as applicable) WILL NOT receive consideration for this position.

It is highly encouraged that applicants submit their most recent performance appraisal.

To apply for this position, see page at https://www.usajobs.gov/job/703389000

 

Salary

ES-00 $141,022.00 to $212,100.00 Per Year

Number of Positions
1 Full Time
Travel
Not Required
Relocation Expenses
Not Authorized

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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.   

Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs:  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.

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.

Updated February 22, 2023