General Attorney, GS-0905-11/12 (FPL-12) (TERM NTE 2 YEARS) (Excepted Service) (Open-Continuous)

APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, May 20, 2026. We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application. As a General Attorney, GS-0905-11, you will be responsible for: • With significant oversight, prepares preliminary memoranda/reports outlining facts and legal issues, analyzing the factual and legal issues involved, explaining the application of legal principles and precedents to the relevant facts, and justifying recommendations or conclusions. • Conducts research in connection with legal questions, such as questions concerning the interpretation and application of statutes, rules, and regulations as they pertain to Enforcement matters. • Reviews and synthesizes evidence to support legal theories. • With significant supervision, investigates and/or adjudicates borrower defense claims involving varied factual and legal issues.

As a General Attorney, GS-0905-12, you will be responsible for: • Prepares preliminary memoranda/reports outlining facts and legal issues, analyzing the factual and legal issues involved, explaining the application of legal principles and precedents to the relevant facts, and justifying recommendations or conclusions. • Conducts research of statutes, regulations, ED and FSA policies and legal opinions bearing on the legal issues involved in the development and implementation of investigation activities and borrower defense decisions. • Gathers, reviews, and analyzes evidence to support case development. • Investigates and/or adjudicates borrower defense claims involving varied factual and legal issues.

Condition of Employment: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: • your performance and conduct; • the needs and interests of the agency; • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. 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.

We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.

Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level.

We will review your application and documentation submitted to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications and competencies listed in this vacancy announcement.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the Subject Matter Expert assessment.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): We will refer the best qualified candidates to the Selecting Official of the job for further review and consideration.

You will be evaluated to determine if you meet qualifications required, and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with this position as defined below. Please be sure to give examples in your resume and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of people you interacted with, and the complexity and sensitivity of the issues you handled.

You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email [email protected] to schedule a session with a career counselor (“Veterans Counseling Session” should be placed in the subject line of the email). Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education.

If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment. Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check. Essential/Non-Essential: This position is considered essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.

Financial Disclosure: This position requires financial disclosure. Bargaining Unit: This position is included in the bargaining unit (American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252). Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized.

We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.

Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.

Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)). Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system.

You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system.

Click “Finish” to submit your application.

NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts. In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application.

We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If you have any questions regarding submitting your application, please contact the HR Specialist listed under the Agency Contact Information.

You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS): •A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire. You are not required to submit bar card or transcripts to apply to the vacancy announcement, but you will be required to submit them upon request from hiring panel or the HR Specialist. Writing sample and/or list of references may be required of selected applicants at later stages in the selection process.

If you are claiming Veterans' Preference you must submit: •A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR •A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR •The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference; AND/OR •Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces). Veteran's Preference: Department of the Education attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service. There is no formal system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Education considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor consideration in the attorney hiring process.

If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation, e.g., SF-15, DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.