Assistant United States Attorney (Criminal)

Hiring Organization
USAO Southern District of Florida
Hiring Office
Criminal Division
Attorney Appointment Type
Attorney Permanent
Job ID
26-FLS-AUSA-12863620-06

Location:
99 NE 4th Street
Miami, FL 33132 - United States
About the Office

The United States Attorney's Office (USAO), Southern District of Florida (SDFL) is seeking experienced attorneys to serve as Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) in our Criminal Division. AUSAs may be hired for a position in any of our offices throughout the District, located in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce, Florida.

Job Description

Criminal Division. The Criminal Division investigates and prosecutes federal crimes impacting the South Florida community, from Key West to Fort Pierce, Florida. The Criminal Division is divided into seven sections, each of which is dedicated to prosecuting distinct domestic and international criminal violations impacting not only this community, but the safety and security of the country as a whole. A brief description of the work of those sections follows.

Narcotics leads the nation in prosecuting high-level narcotics traffickers. This Section has distinguished itself by prosecuting some of the most notorious narco-traffickers in the world, from dismantling the leaders of the infamous Medellin, Cali, and Norte Valle cartels, to the extradition and conviction of high-ranking commanders of Colombian paramilitary and guerilla groups. The Section also targets the transnational money laundering networks utilized by the narco-traffickers to financially devastate their organizations.
Violent Crimes & Special Victims conducts complex investigations and prosecutions of violent, exploitative, and enterprise crimes, both domestically and internationally, where victims are seriously injured or killed. The Section consists of a special victims unit and a violent crimes unit. The Section also coordinates the Project Safe Neighborhoods, Project Safe Childhood, Violent Crime, and Anti-Gang Enforcement efforts throughout the District. The Section targets criminal enterprises, gangs, murder and murder for hire, kidnapping, child exploitation, human trafficking, threat cases, and aggravated violent and sexual abuse offenses. The Section also prosecutes reactive cases that are time-sensitive and require immediate action, such as investigations into threats against the judiciary, law enforcement, and other AUSA's, as well as violent crimes committed against United States citizens abroad.
Economic & Cyber Fraud investigates and prosecutes fraud and regulatory offenses that target individuals, corporations, and governmental entities. The Section consists of a securities and investment fraud unit, a cyber fraud unit, and a health care fraud unit. EC is consistently one of the leading fraud units in the country based on the complexity, size and number of cases it prosecutes, often working closely with its counterparts in DOJ's Fraud Section.
Border & Immigration Crimes Enforcement was created to strengthen South Florida's border security posture, protect maritime and land points of entry, enforce federal immigration law, and dismantle transnational smuggling networks operating through the region. The Section brings together narcotics, immigration, fraud, and violent-crime expertise into a single coordinated unit focused on border-driven threats.
Public Corruption and Civil Rights prosecutes corrupt federal, state, and local officials, as well as civil rights violations, hate crimes, and bias-motivated threatening communications. Recent convictions include a county supervisory employee convicted of demanding bribes for county contracts; a woman convicted of making numerous serious anti-Semitic threats to the former Executive Director of the Tree of Life Synagogue; a police sergeant who abused his position to force women to engage in sexual activity with him; a police officer conducting traffic stops to steal drugs and drug proceeds; and numerous high-level city officials who used their positions and authority to extort bribe payments from local businesses seeking city services.
Collateral Litigation is responsible for addressing the majority of post-conviction matters and filter projects in the office on complex white collar, narcotics, violent crime, and national security cases.
General Crimes addresses a broad array of federal violations from narcotics and money laundering violations to Hobbs Act robberies, carjackings, felon in possession cases, and bank robberies, to possession of child pornography and other child exploitation cases, to frauds of all kinds including credit card fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:
Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and have at least 1* year post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience.

United States citizenship is required.

You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement. Required: Proof of active bar membership must be submitted along with your application.

Preferred Qualifications:
Applicants should possess superior oral and written communication skills, strong interpersonal skills, and the capacity to function in a highly demanding environment with minimal guidance. The successful candidate should have strong academic credentials and at least 3 years of post J.D. experience.

Application Process

Applicants are required to apply online via the website link USAJOBS to this vacancy announcement 26-FLS-AUSA-12863620-06 by the closing date of January 20, 2026.

You must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Required: Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).
• Required: Your resume cannot exceed two pages - you will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration if your resume exceeds two pages - see USAJOBS for formatting requirements. Include relevant employment history as outlined below for each job:

Official position title (if Federal, include series/grade),
Employer name and contact information,
Start and end dates (for full consideration you must include month, day, and year),
Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time, and
A list of duties performed and accomplishments.

• Required: Proof of bar membership
• Required: Cover letter. When applying, please note in your cover letter which division and office location you are interested in.
• Required: Writing Sample

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.

To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on January 20, 2026, to receive consideration.

1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.

2. Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package. (It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date.)

3. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. However, should you not be able to apply online, please contact Southern District of Florida at 305-961-9026 or email at Melissa.Innocent@usdoj.gov, prior to the closing date of this announcement to request an alternate method of applying.

The Point of Contact for this vacancy announcement is Southern District of Florida who can be reached at 305-961-9026 or Melissa.Innocent@usdoj.govYou will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Evaluation Method: Once your complete application package is received, it will be reviewed to ensure you meet all job requirements. An attorney interview panel will then review all qualified applicants and make recommendations for invitation to interview. You will be notified if selected for an interview.

The Occupational Questionnaire will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflicts of interest or disqualification issues that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.

Salary

Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorney's pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of the total pay for AD 21 to AD 29 is $120,086.00 to $195,100.00 which includes 24.67% locality pay.