Regional Counsel

Job Announcement

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Office of Chief Counsel

Position Title: Regional Counsel

Duty Station: FEMA Region 5 (Chicago, Illinois)

Grade: GS-14/15

PLEASE READ THE APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS CAREFULLY. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING THOSE WITHOUT A COVER LETTER, WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

OPENING DATE: Wednesday, August 13 , 2024

CLOSING DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 2024, by 11:59 PM ET

POSITION TITLE AND LEGAL DIVISION:

Regional Counsel for FEMA Region 5, within FEMA’s Office of Chief Counsel’s (OCC) Regional & Field Operations Legal Division (RFOLD)

SERIES, PAY PLAN, GRADE, SECURITY CLEARANCE, AND TRAVEL:

0905-Supervisory Attorney-Advisor, GS-14/15. This means that OCC may fill the position at either the GS-14 or GS-15 level. An individual hired at the GS-14 level may later be promoted to the GS-15 level. The position has a full performance level of GS-15.

This is a public trust position and does not require a security clearance.

Occasional travel may be required.

DUTY STATION LOCATION AND REMOTE WORK ELIGIBILITY:

This position has a duty station of Chicago, Illinois. This position is not eligible for remote work. This position is eligible for telework pursuant to FEMA policy.

POSITION TYPE:

This is a Permanent Full Time (PFT) position in the Excepted Service.

POSITION SUMMARY AND IDEAL CANDIDATE:

RFOLD seeks qualified applicants for the position of Regional Counsel for FEMA Region 5. FEMA Region 5 serves Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The successful candidate will be a supervisory attorney reporting directly to the Deputy Associate Chief Counsel for Regional Operations.

The ideal candidate possesses strong research, writing, and communication skills, and the ability to operate independently, with minimal guidance, in an uncertain and complex environment. The ideal candidate must effectively represent the agency’s interests before other federal agencies and senior officials from state, tribal, territorial, and local governments. The ideal candidate possesses strong moral character and excellent interpersonal skills.

The ideal candidate should have specialized legal experience in emergency management, including expertise in the Stafford Act, FEMA response and recovery programs, and the delivery of federal disaster assistance.

While prior supervisory experience and experience advising on complex public assistance projects, individual assistance, and hazard mitigation issues are preferred, they are not required.

DUTIES OF THE POSITION:

• Supervising a dedicated and talented team of attorneys at the regional office in Chicago, Illinois.

• Serving as the principal legal advisor to the Regional Administrator, regional management, and other regional office members on FEMA’s program responsibilities and various mission support areas.

• Independently analyzing and interpreting FEMA’s statutory authorities, including the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 USC § 5121-5207 and other relevant laws, regulations, policies, and Executive Orders.

• Providing solution-oriented, articulate, legally sufficient, and timely written and oral legal advice on a wide range of matters involving complex legal or factual questions.

• Independently advising and coordinating within OCC on legal issues related to disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation, flood insurance and floodplain management, procurement, contracts, grants, personnel, environmental and historic preservation, property, finance, financial management, claims, freedom of information, privacy, ethics, training and education, and administrative procedures.

• Keeping the region informed of new legal developments and the status of relevant cases and matters.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED/SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:

Minimum Requirements include:

• U.S. Citizenship,
• Ability to successfully pass a background investigation (public trust),
• Ability to obtain and maintain a government travel card,
• Selective Service registration for males born after 12/31/59,
• A graduate of a law school accredited by the American Bar Association,
• Membership in good standing of the Bar of a State, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• Agreement with Every Employee is an Emergency Manager requirement.

Minimum Experience:

You qualify for this position at the IC-14 level if you possess the following experience:

• Applicants must have at least three (3) years of full-time legal experience. Legal experience means experience in which the candidate’s job duties required the provision of legal advice or representation, and which required the candidate to be an active member in good standing of the Bar of any state or territory, or the District of Columbia.

• Applicants must have at least two (2) years of specialized experience that is directly related to the line of work of this position, which has equipped the applicant with knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. At least one of the two years of specialized experience must be at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the IC-13 level.

• Attorneys at the IC-13 level are mid-level attorneys that perform substantive work on moderately complex, novel, or significant matters; have excellent writing skills, conduct demanding legal analysis, draft and review motions, subpoenas, complaints, memoranda, and comparable legal documents; possess strong communication skills; contribute to tactical and legal policy decisions; be able to assume some supervisory role over legal interns, and IC-11/12 attorneys, or non-attorney staff on a project-specific basis; and require only moderate level of supervision or review of written work product.

You qualify for this position at the GS-15 level if you possess the following experience by the closing date of this announcement:

• Applicants must have at least five (5) years of legal experience. Legal experience means experience in which the candidate’s job duties required the provision of legal advice or representation, and which required the candidate to be an active member in good standing of the bar of any state or territory, or the District of Columbia.

• Applicants must have at least four (4) years of specialized experience that is directly related to the line of work of this position, which has equipped the applicant with particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. At least two of the four years of specialized experience must be at a level of difficulty and responsibility to that of an attorney at the GS-14 level. Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Independently analyzing and interpreting federal and state statutes, regulations, and policies; Executive Orders; and judicial and administrative decisions in the course of rendering advice.

• Experience providing legal advice and/or representation on complex administrative law, personnel law; fiscal law; procurement; grants management; environmental law; floodplain management and hazard mitigation; disaster response and recovery; environmental and historic preservation laws, and emergency preparedness.

Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Independently analyzing and interpreting federal and state statutes, regulations, and policies; Executive Orders; and judicial and administrative decisions in the course of rendering advice.

• Working in one or more of the following areas: administrative law, personnel law; fiscal law; procurement; grants management; environmental law; floodplain management and hazard mitigation; disaster response and recovery; environmental and historic preservation laws, and emergency preparedness.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

At time of application, the applicant must submit a:

• Cover letter explaining their interest in the position and how their experience will make them an outstanding Regional Counsel for FEMA Region 5; and
• Resume.

Prior to tentative job offer, the applicant must also provide:

• Proof of bar admission
• Law school transcript from an accredited law school

OCC LEGAL AFFAIRS CADRE AND EMERGENCY MANAGER ASSIGNMENT:

The incumbent to this position will be required to train for and attain qualification as a disaster field attorney. In addition, every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee’s official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY:

OCC is a diverse workplace, promotes equal opportunity, and welcomes all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit-based factors.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION:

Please contact the Hiring Manager listed below if you require a reasonable accommodation for the application process as soon as possible.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter to Chuck McLeod via email at occ-rfold-regions@fema.dhs.gov by the closing date of this announcement. The subject line of the email should reference that you are applying for the Regional Counsel for FEMA Region 5 position.