Legal Administrative Specialist (Victim-Witness Assistance Program Manager)

Summary

This position serves as the Victim-Witness Assistance Program Manager within the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division and the Criminal Section's specialized Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. The incumbent will handle a broad array of issues pertaining to victims of human trafficking, hate crimes, offenses committed under color of law, and other federal civil rights crimes, and to witnesses in federal investigations and prosecutions of these crimes.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

04/03/2024 to 04/24/2024

• Salary

$117,962 - $153,354 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 13

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Washington, DC

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-as determined by the agency policy.

• Travel Required

25% or less

• You may be expected to travel for this position.

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent -

• Work schedule

Full-time -

• Service

Competitive

• Promotion potential

14

• Job family (Series)

0901 General Legal And Kindred Administration

• Supervisory status

No

• Security clearance

Not Required

• Drug test

Yes

• Position sensitivity and risk

Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

• Trust determination process

Credentialing

Suitability/Fitness

National security

• Announcement number

24-GMS-CRM-004-MPP

• Control number

784700300

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This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.

• Family of overseas employees

Family members of a federal employee or uniformed service member who is or was, working overseas.

• Federal employees

• Competitive service

Current or former competitive service federal employees.

• Individuals with disabilities

• Land & base management

Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.

• Military spouses

• Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista

• Special authorities

Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.

• Veterans

Clarification from the agency

You may apply if you are a current or former career/career conditional Federal employee with competitive status, VEOA eligible, or are eligible for a non-competitive hiring authority (i.e. 30% or more Compensable Veterans, reinstatement eligibles, interchange agreements, etc.). Please read the "This job is open to" section above, to ensure you are eligible for consideration.

Help This job is also open in another announcement to:

• The public

• Veterans

Help This job is also open in another announcement to:

• The public

• Veterans

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Duties

The incumbent will serve as a Legal Administrative Specialist (Victim-Witness Assistance Program Manager). Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provides expertise, advice, and guidance on victim/witness issues related to federal civil rights crimes, particularly the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

• Serves as subject matter expert on immigration protections, benefits and services available to victims of human trafficking and other civil rights crimes.

• Represents the Criminal Section and its Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit in Departmental and Interagency expert working groups addressing issues of victim services and victim-witness protections.

• Collaborates with Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and Criminal Section management on strategic planning to strengthen victim-centered criminal justice responses to human trafficking and civil rights crimes and to lead the development of the Victim-Witness Assistance Program.

• Coordinates the provision of services and assistance to victims of federal civil rights crimes as mandated by the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance.

• Provides advanced training and conducts outreach on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000's provisions to other government victim/witness coordinators, related federal agencies, and non-governmental service providers who assist victims of trafficking.

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

• You may be required to complete a pre-employment security screening to initiate your background investigation, which includes a drug screening. Continued employment is contingent upon successful completion and adjudication of your investigation.

• Selective Service registration is required for males born on, or after, December 31,1959. Those not registered should have an approved exemption on file.

• You may be required to complete a one-year probationary period.

• Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level) by the closing date of this announcement. Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

• ALL APPLICANTS, regardless of eligibility(ies) selected, MUST submit their most recent (within the past 15 months) performance evaluation or appraisal, which shows a final rating. If an evaluation or rating is not available, you must provide a statement indicating the reason. If you do not submit an appropriate appraisal or statement, you WILL NOT receive consideration for this position.

• DOJ uses E-Verify, an internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, by visiting www.e-verify.gov/.

• DOJ's Residency Requirement applies to all DOJ applicants whose job location is within the U.S. In addition, for a total of three years (not necessarily consecutive years) of the five years immediately prior to applying for a position, the applicant must have: 1) resided in the U.S.; 2) worked for the U.S. overseas in a Federal or military capacity; or, 3) been a dependent of a Federal or military employee serving overseas.

Qualifications

Selective Placement Factors (SPFs)

If you do not possess these required SPFs, you will not be given consideration for this position. SPFs for this position includes ALL of the following:

• Do you have extensive experience in enforcing victim-witness protections in compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the Crime Victim Rights Act, and the Attorney General Guidelines on Victim and Witness Assistance or similar victim-witness protections under state law?
• Do you have extensive experience applying victim-centered best practices in the federal or state criminal justice system, experience working with victims of human trafficking, criminal civil rights violations, and related crimes, experience coordinating among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and non-governmental victim advocates, experience training others in victim-witness issues in the context of federal or state criminal investigations and prosecutions, and experience producing substantive written work product related to victim-witness issues in the federal or state criminal justice system?

In addition to the SPFs, you must also possess the specialized experience below.

Specialized Experience Requirements

To qualify at the GS-13 grade level, candidates must have one (1) year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service, public or other private sectors that is directly related to the position as listed above and which has equipped the candidate with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this position includes ALL of the following:

• Developing and implementing strategies for spreading information about victim and witness protection laws, policies, and programs;

• Providing training and guidance to prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and other official personnel on victim and witness-related matters and other relevant victim services;

• Offering in-court support to victims and witnesses during hearings and trials.

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the SPFs and specialized experience requirement - please be sure to include this information in your resume. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade of the position to be filled. These requirements are defined as experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants applying for a grade higher than the grade you currently hold, must provide an SF-50, which shows type of service appointment, tenure group, grade, and salary. Your SF-50 Form must also show the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s over one year old). No award SF-50s will be accepted.

All qualifications, time-in-grade, and education requirements (if applicable) must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.

YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire and provide specific details as to how your experience meets the SPFs specialized experiences as described above. If you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements, please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the SPF and specialized experiences requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions.

Education

This position does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

The bullets below outline the various groups of applicants that fall under the term "status candidates". This vacancy is open to applicants from any of the groups listed below: When you apply you'll have the chance to claim an eligibility pathway, be sure you fully read each statement and any links provided to make sure select the applicable eligibilities.

See a full list and learn more at USAJOBS, see: What does Status Candidate mean? or Which Jobs am I Eligible to Apply for?

• CURRENT AND FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: For more information, see USAJOBS - Federal Employees.
• CAREER TRANSITION PROGRAMS (CTAP or ICTAP): For more information visit: USAJOBS Career Transition Programs
• VETERANS : Please see USAJOBS - Veterans Preference for more details.
• MILITARY SPOUSES: Please see USAJOBS - Military Spouses
• SCHEDULE A, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES: Learn more at USAJOBS - Individuals with Disabilities. DOJ welcomes and encourages applicants from persons with disabilities and 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 advance on the basis of merit. The Civil Rights Division also encourages eligible Schedule A applicants to submit their resumes directly to Diane Turner by email to Diane.M.Turner@usdoj.gov.
• PEACE CORP & AMERICORPS VISTA: Please see: USAJOBS - PEACE CORP & AMERICORPS VISTA
• LAND MANAGEMENT: Please see: USAJOBS - LAND MANAGEMENT

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.

DOJ EEO Statement/Policy: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/page/file/1394116/dl?inline

Residency Requirement: The Residency Requirements ensure an adequate background investigation can be completed. It applies to all DOJ applicants, both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens, whose job location is within the U.S. In addition, for a total of three years (not necessarily consecutive years) of the five years immediately prior to applying for a position, the applicant must have: 1) resided in the U.S.; 2) worked for the U.S. overseas in a Federal or military capacity; or, 3) been a dependent of a Federal or military employee serving overseas.

The Division's telework policy requires employees to be in the office at least four (4) days per pay period, or as required by the Division's policy.

Please Note: Additional candidates may be selected if more positions become available in the Division within 90 days after the HR office issues the selection certificate.

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• Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window

Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated and rated under DOJ's Merit Promotion Procedures. Once the announcement closes, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be conducted by the HR Specialist. This information will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your eligibility for Federal employment, and then whether you are qualified for this particular position. If it is determined you meet minimum qualification requirements, you will be further evaluated and placed in one of three groups: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, or Qualified.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, subject matter experts (SME) will review your resume to determine your qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. Applicants passing the SME resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures or special hiring authorities will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

If a determination is made that you have inflated your responses when compared to your application materials, you may be deemed ineligible, or your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your skills and abilities.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies:

• Attention to Detail

• Customer Service

• Decision Making

• Oral Communication

• Problem Solving

We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process. You may preview the assessment questionnaire by clicking here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12353573.

APPRAISALS/AWARDS: Hiring Managers use objective methods and consider previous performance appraisals and awards in the selection process. Current Federal Civilian employees should list any relevant performance related rating and/or awards in your resume.

Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/federal-employees/career-transition/