PARALEGAL SPECIALIST - Pensacola

Summary

You will serve as a Paralegal Specialist in the Legal Assistance Division of NLSC.

***This Job Opportunity Announcement is using an additional online assessment tool to evaluate applicants. Please review the HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED, HOW TO APPLY, and WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT sections below for instructions.***

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Responsibilities

You will create and maintain database spreadsheets.

You will respond to telephonic inquiries, correspondence, and electronic mail and messages.

You will ensure timely processing of all purchase requests, equipment maintenance and service requests and timely coordinating travel and logistics arrangements of clients, attorneys, and witnesses.

You will review and recommend corrections and additions to correspondence, memorandums, pleadings, and other documents.

You will research relevant state and federal regulations, codes, directives, manuals, and other legal precedents.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status

No

Promotion Potential

9

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Must be a US Citizen.

Must be determined suitable for federal employment.

Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.

New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov

You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.

Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.

Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.

Qualifications

GS-09: Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-07) or pay band in the federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector performing most or all of the following duties: 1) Preparing legal pleadings, case summaries, legal memoranda, and written correspondence in compliance with a department's rules and regulations; 2) Creating and maintaining database spreadsheets utilizing tools such as Microsoft Office; 3) Interviewing potential witnesses and preparing summary interview reports; and 4) Performing paralegal duties within a personal injury/workers' compensation law firm or within a disability evaluation system.

GS-07: Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-05) or pay band in the federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector performing most or all of the following duties: 1) Responding to telephonic inquiries, correspondence, and electronic mail and messages; 2) Maintaining a centralized appointment calendar and independently scheduling appointments; 3) Analyzing and evaluating case files to assist attorneys; and 4) Preparing summaries of testimonies and depositions.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

This position allows for the following education substitution for experience:

GS-09: You must have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR successfully completed two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree; OR obtained an LL.B. or J.D. that is related to the position being filled. https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/students/federal-occupations-by-college-major/; OR have a combination of experience and graduate education that equates to one year of experience (the percentage of the required education plus the percentage of the required experience must equal one hundred percent).

GS-07: You must have successfully completed one full year of graduate level education; OR successfully completed a bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement; OR have a combination of experience and education that equates to one year of experience (the percentage of the required education plus the percentage of the required experience must equal one hundred percent).

Additional information

This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.

Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

ICTAP Applicants: To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority as an ICTAP candidate for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a rating in the highly qualified category or higher. For more information about ICTAP eligibility please review the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/federal-employees/ictap/

Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

Military Spouse Preference applicants will receive priority consideration at the Full Performance Level (FPL) and if determined to be Best Qualified at the FPL, and selected, must be placed at the FPL. A BQ military spouse possesses knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies comparable to others who meet the competitive referral criteria for the specific position.

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How You Will Be Evaluated

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

In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience.

When the application process is complete, we will review your resume to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this announcement. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and responses to the Occupational Questionnaire, along with your supporting documentation to determine your ability to demonstrate the following competencies:

Attention to Detail

Customer Service

Flexibility

Integrity/Honesty

Interpersonal Skills

Learning

Reading

Reasoning

Self-Management

Stress Tolerance

Teamwork

You will be evaluated and rated under Category Rating selection procedures. Additional points are not added for veterans' preference; however, preference is still applied. Applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over non-veterans.

If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be placed in one of three categories:

Best Qualified- Candidates in this category possess exceptional skills and experience to exceed well above the minimum requirements for announced position.
Highly Qualified-Candidates in this category possess good skills and experience above the minimum requirements for announced position.
Qualified- Candidates in this category meet the minimum experience requirements for announced position.

Please Note: Before attempting to take the assessments, applicants should view sample items to determine if the computer they are using is likely to experience any issues during testing. The sample items can be found at https://usahire.opm.gov/assess/default/sample/Sample.action. If you have questions about the computer requirements or require technical assistance please contact helpdesk@usahire.opm.gov.

If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

If after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities or you may be found ineligible/not qualified.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

All eligibility, qualifications, and time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Read more

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance

Secret

Drug test required

No

Required Documents

You are required to provide documentation that supports the eligibility and qualification claims made in your resume and assessment questionnaire . You must submit the applicable documents listed here and those listed with the eligibilities you select in the announcement questionnaire with your application package. Applicants who do not provide supporting documentation that fully support their claims will not be referred to the hiring manager. Cover letter is optional.

A complete resume is required. Your resume must show relevant experience, job title, duties and accomplishments. Your resume must show complete information for each job entry to support minimum qualifications.

Are you applying for a promotion? If you are a current GS employee applying for a higher grade than the grade that you currently hold you must provide an SF-50 that shows that you have held the next lower grade for at least one year. Some SF-50s effective within the last 52 weeks will not demonstrate you have held the next lower grade for at least one year (e.g. General Adjustment SF-50 from this year). In many cases, we need to see two (2) SF-50s to determine time-in-grade and eligibility for promotion. If you are a DoD employee, you can obtain a copy of your SF- 50(s) from MyBiz.

Are you claiming membership in any professional organizations, or possession of a license, certificate or credentials? Check the Conditions of Employment section above to see if any are required. If you claim membership, license, certification, or credentials, you must submit a copy of said document in your application package.

Are you using education as a substitute for some or all of the experience requirement? Is there a basic education requirement for this position? Check the Education section above to see what is allowed and what is required. Any claims you make in your resume or assessment questionnaire regarding education or degrees MUST be supported by official or unofficial transcripts or a list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned issued from your school. While unofficial transcripts are acceptable for initial application, an official transcript will ultimately be required if you are selected for the position. You may submit a copy your degree(s) if specific coursework does not have to be verified.

Are you a veteran claiming 5-point veterans' preference or claiming sole survivorship preference? You must submit a copy of your latest DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (any copy that shows all dates of service, as well as character of service [Honorable, General, etc.] is acceptable) OR a VA letter that shows dates of service or service connected disability AND character of service. If you have more than one DD-214 for multiple periods of active duty service, submit a copy for each period of service. If you were issued a DD-215 to amend aforementioned information on the DD-214 you must submit that too. If you are not sure of your preference eligibility, visit the Department of Labor's website: Veterans' Preference Advisor

Are you a disabled veteran or claiming 10-point veterans' preference?
If you are eligible to claim 10 point veterans preference you must submit a DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty as described above for 5-point preference.

You must also provide the applicable supporting documentation of your disability (e.g. disability letter from the VA) as described on Standard Form-15 (SF-15). http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf.

Are you an active duty service member? Active Duty Service Members are required to submit a statement of service printed on command letterhead and signed by the command. The statement of service must provide the branch of service, rate/rank, all dates of service, the expected date of discharge and anticipated character of service (Honorable, General, etc.).

Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents contain personal information such as SSN and DOB and some documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove said personal information before you submit your application. You must provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected.

If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here.

Benefits

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. 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.