Attorney Advisor (General)

Attorney Advisor (General)

Department: Department of Justice

Location(s): Arlington, Virginia

Salary Range: $121785 - $197200 Per Year

Job Summary: This position is located in the Drug Enforcement Administrator (DEA), Office of Chief Counsel. This position primary purpose is to provide legal advice, review disciplinary proposals, defend DEA in employment-related administrative litigation, and support the defense of DEA and its employees in federal lawsuits. Department of Justice (DOJ) agencies post experienced attorney job announcements on the DOJ Careers page.

Major Duties:

• The Employment and Defensive Litigation Section (EDL) is a one-stop shop for all DEA personnel and employment law issues. EDL attorneys provide legal advice, review disciplinary proposals, defend DEA in employment-related administrative litigation, and support the defense of DEA and its employees in federal lawsuits. EDL handles a wide range of employment-related disputes and litigation matters. The ideal candidate will have strong analytical abilities, excellent advocacy and litigation skills, and experience managing complex cases in a fast-paced environment. Some duties of EDL attorneys include: Defending DEA in administrative, employment-law cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Serving as agency counsel working with United States Attorney offices to defend DEA in federal lawsuits across the country, including employment lawsuits (such as Title VII), Bivens lawsuits, and Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuits. Processing administrative tort claims for personal injury and/or property damage due to the actions or omissions of DEA personnel during the performance of their official duties. Providing advice to DEA management on employment and personnel matters. Preparing and submitting representation requests to the Department of Justice for DEA employees being sued individually in Bivens cases. Providing advice/review on grievances, performance improvement plans, reasonable accommodations, security clearance suspensions/revocations, disciplinary actions, and similar matters. Serving as DEA liaison in response to various employment-related investigations, including those by the Office of Special Counsel and Department of Labor.

Qualifications: All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. All applicants must be an active member of a bar in good standing (any U.S. jurisdiction) and possess: 1) a J.D. degree (or equivalent) and have at least 1-year post-J.D. (or equivalent) legal or other relevant experience; 2) excellent academic credentials; 3) strong oral and written advocacy skills; 4) superior legal research and analytical skills; and 5) a demonstrated ability to function with minimal guidance in a highly demanding environment. To qualify for each GS Level, the applicant should have the following: - Applicants applying for the GS-13 must have 2 or more years of cumulative post J.D. legal experience in employment law, litigation, and/or a judicial clerkship. - Applicants applying for the GS-14 must have 3 or more years of cumulative post J.D. legal experience in employment law, litigation, and/or a judicial clerkship. - Applicants applying for the GS-15 must have 4 or more years of cumulative post J.D. legal experience in employment law, litigation, and/or a judicial clerkship. Qualifying litigation experience may include civil, administrative, or criminal litigation. Applicants should have a strong interest in civil litigation and employment law. Preferred applicants will have prior experience in a judicial clerkship and/or civil or administrative litigation (particularly that is related to employment law). Applicants must possess superior research, analytical, and writing abilities.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. You may update your application documents and some questions related to your personal information at any time during the announcement open period. However, you will not be able to make changes to questions related to assessing the minimum qualifications and competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) mentioned in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section above. To make an allowed update to your application, return to your USAJOBS account (https://usajobs.gov). There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Application Deadline: 2026-05-19