Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens and U.S. Nationals; no prior Federal experience is required.

The Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration (PA) is comprised of approximately 100 attorneys and 50 support personnel. The office's responsibilities include legal issues arising out of the assessment and collection of Federal taxes, bankruptcy, ethics, abatement, credits, refund of Federal taxes, disclosure of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act matters, and judicial proceedings which include technical electronic discovery (eDiscovery) litigation support.

As a General Attorney (Tax) (Senior Counsel), you will:

• Provide expert advice and litigation support services on the most complicated tax matters involving the procedural aspects of filing returns and paying taxes; assessment and collection of taxes (including interest and penalties); abating, crediting or refunding over assessments or overpayments of tax; disclosure, privacy and FOIA; bankruptcy practices and procedures; summonses and the gathering of information; ethics; and judicial practice and procedure.
• Plan, develop and complete complex legal work products without review, and provide technical guidance and review of other staff work products. Ensure such products are technically complete and adhere to office policy and exercises signatory authority on own and others' products in accordance with delegated authority.
• Apply a high level of sophisticated analysis and research to identify and assess approaches to make recommendations on behalf of the Office to program executives and managers. As appropriate, interact with personnel from other Counsel offices, IRS, Treasury, other Federal agencies, and/or others on behalf of PA to exchange information or coordinate actions in the handling and completion of assignments.
• Serve as team leader on large-scale PA guidance and publication projects that may include representatives from other Counsel Divisions or IRS offices. Direct and coordinate the work of other team members and oversee all related administrative and logistical matters.
• Develop procedural guidelines to assist PA attorneys in the development of complex advisory opinions, private letter rulings, technical advice memorandums, closing agreements, published guidance (revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, announcements and regulations), pleadings, defense letters, and Chief Counsel Advice memoranda.
• Research complex issues and trends affecting PA legal services and determine likely legal ramifications on PA programs. Ensure that the legal or administrative consequences of potential actions to handle these issues are fully considered, and write decision papers to determine Counsel's position on these matters.
• Serve as a primary reviewer on proposed legislation with potential impact on PA programs, and prepare final comments and recommendations on behalf of the office. Develop and draft new procedures and regulations to implement new or amended legislation to ensure that policies are consistent with the intent of the law, are administratively sound, economical in operation, and enable PA to effectively meet its mission.

Conditions of employment

• Refer to "Additional Information"
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements detailed below by the closing date of this announcement. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

Basic Requirements for General Attorney (Tax) (Senior Counsel):

• Possess at least the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association; AND
• Applicants must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a State, U.S. Commonwealth, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

GS-15 Experience Requirements:

• 1 year of general professional legal experience from any area of expertise; plus
• 3 year(s) of professional legal tax experience

Professional Legal Tax Experience is defined as: Comprehensive knowledge of procedural tax law, as well as other areas of law and legal concepts as they affect the tax laws, and experience in one or more of the following specialization areas: The procedural aspects of filing returns and paying taxes; Circular 230; the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct; the Administrative Procedure Act; assessment and collection of taxes (including interest and penalties); abating, crediting, or refunding over assessments or overpayments of tax; matters relating to disclosure, privacy and FOIA; matters relating to bankruptcy practice and procedure; matters relating to summonses and the gathering of information; judicial practice and procedure; and electronic discovery in litigation. At least one year of this experience must be equivalent to the work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-14). Note: Only experience gained after Bar Admission may be credited as Professional Legal Experience.

Education Substitution: An LL.M. degree in Taxation/Tax Law or a FOIA/Disclosure related field may be substituted for the one year of the general legal experience listed above.

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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants will be considered based on their overall background as it relates to the position to be filled. Interviews may be held at the option of the office. All application materials and interviews, if conducted, will be used in the final evaluation and selection process.

Referral: Professional Order will be used to refer and select eligible candidates. Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference eligibles will be listed at the top of the certificate in alphabetical order and considered before non-preference eligibles. All other candidates will be listed in alphabetical order. If you are among the top qualified candidates, you may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview, such as travel to and from the interview site.

Bargaining Unit Chief Counsel employees will be given first consideration. If you are a GS-14 applying for a promotion or you are a GS-15 reassignment (non-hardship), please apply to the announcement. In regard to this announcement, the Master First Consideration List (MFCL) is only for hardship reassignments of employees currently occupying GS-15 Senior Counsel positions. Current GS-15 Senior Counsel employees seeking reassignment due to a hardship will be given first consideration and must be on the MFCL.

A complete application includes items described below. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

1. RESUME - All applicants are required to submit a resume (max of 2 pages in length) either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. Resumes MUST contain specific information that can be used to make a qualification determination, including employment beginning and ending dates for each position (ex. MM/YY - MM/YY), whether employment is Full-time or Part-time, or average number of hours worked per week, and position titles. If the position is/was in the Federal government, you will need to detail the position series and grade level. The resume should detail relevant experience and education, as well as support the required specialized experience. Please view resume tips.

Note: Resume must be presented in a font size and font style that is legible, no less than 10-point size with no less than half an inch margin all around.

2. VACANCY QUESTION/ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES:Responses are automatically submitted through USA Jobs when you apply to this vacancy.

3. ADDITIONAL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:Applicants are required to submit the following supporting documentation if applicable:

• An unofficial or official transcript(s) for your J.D. degree or LL.M. degree (an official transcript is required if you are selected) Transcripts must detail degree awarded/conferred including date.
• Proof of Active Bar Admission
• A memorandum of interest summarizing your interest in the position.

• A copy of your most recent, signed, completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If it is not dated within the last 12 months or if you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application
• A Supervisory Report regarding your suitability for the position as completed by your current supervisor. You are responsible for notifying your supervisor that this report must be received no later than five workdays after the closing date of this announcement.

Education Documentation: For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. See "Education" for more details.

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