Paralegal Specialist (Fair Housing and Civil Rights)

Summary

This position is located at Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of General Counsel. This opportunity is also open to Status Candidates under Announcement 26-HUD-12993019. Please refer to that announcement for details on open period, eligibility, and how to apply.

Duties

HUD's Mission The mission of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is to foster strong communities by supporting access to quality, affordable housing, expanding the housing supply, and unlocking homeownership opportunities for the American people. The Department is committed to furthering the promise of self-sufficiency in every American while promoting economic development to revitalize rural, tribal, and urban communities across the country. This position is located in the Office of General Counsel (OGC), Deputy General Counsel for Fair Housing, Litigation and Enforcement (FHLE), Office of Fair Housing. OGC is the chief legal office of the Department, the principal legal adviser to the Secretary and staff of HUD, and the head of the Departmental Enforcement Center. OGC provides legal opinions, advice, and services with respect to all Departmental programs and activities, and assists in the development of HUD programs and policies. OGC also provides functional legal counsel on defensive and affirmative litigation and the development of legislation and regulations. The Deputy General Counsel for Fair Housing, Litigation and Enforcement (FHLE), Office of Fair Housing provides effective and comprehensive legal advice and services in connection with the administration and enforcement of civil rights and fair housing authorities, including the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). These include laws administered by HUD and those that apply to HUD's programs and activities. As a/an Paralegal Specialist (Fair Housing and Civil Rights), you will: - Read, edit, draft, and analyze documents, conduct legal and nonlegal research, review and proofread documents, check citations in briefs and clearance documents, prepare tables of authorities, attend meetings on behalf of and with the Associate General Counsel, and provide reports regarding such meetings. - Conduct independent research on and interprets new developments from case law, regulations, legislation, precedential cases, and legal opinions relating to all areas of work in the office and devise effective ways to communicate and summarize relevant changes to legal requirements and other information to the Associate General Counsel in order to inform decision making and resolution of contentious issues. - Prepare drafts of letters and legal memoranda, review clearance documents to identify basic, complex, and cross-cutting legal issues and prepares draft concurring and non-concurring comments. - Assist with the overall work of the office, including fair housing and civil rights matters, creating, maintaining, and organizing files on behalf of the Associate General Counsel, assisting the Associate General Counsel and OFH attorneys. - Analyze legal documents, including complaints, affidavits, depositions, pleadings, motions, memoranda, regulations, and legislation, and any other policy and legal documents necessary for conducting the work of the office. - Serve as a reader and paralegal specialist to the Associate General Counsel who is a blind attorney executive, including by reading complex and lengthy legal documents aloud and interacting with legal and administrative systems on behalf of the Associate General Counsel.

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Specialized Experience: For the GS-12 grade level, you must have one year (52 full weeks) of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized Experience for this position includes: - Experience regularly performing independent legal research, analysis, and writing relating to fair housing, civil rights, or the Violence Against Women Act; OR - Experience regularly performing independent legal research, analysis, writing, and substantive legal support functions that require a specialized knowledge of fair housing, civil rights, public benefits, disability law, housing programs, including federal or state case law, regulations, statutes and legislative histories, agency policies and practices, law reviews, or administrative and judicial proceedings; OR - Experience drafting and reviewing investigative materials, complaints, letters, legal opinions or determinations, factual findings, legal and policy memoranda; OR - Experience preparing detailed factual summaries and written analyses of facts in investigation, litigation, or benefit determinations under a Federal or state law or regulations that prohibit discrimination, prohibit domestic violence, or establish eligibility requirements for a benefit provided under Federal or State law, such as Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, public housing or another program for low income persons, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or a comparable Federal, State, or local government program. The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. 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/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your resume.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and the result of the online assessments required for this position. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination. In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Rating: You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories: Best (highest quality category), Better (middle quality category), or Good (minimally qualified category) depending on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, and training related to this position. Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of their assigned category and considered before non-preference-eligibles in that category. Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview. If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan(CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)) you must be assigned the middle category or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

Required Documents

A complete application includes: 1. A resume: All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) USA Jobs restricts resume uploads to a maximum of 2 pages. Resumes attached in other sections (such as "Documents" or "Other") will not be considered in the determination of specialized experience. If multiple resumes are submitted, the resume submitted last (based on time stamp) will be the only one reviewed as a part of your application. To ensure readability, resumes must be formatted using an easy-to-read font (such as Lato, Calibri, or Arial) with a minimum font size of 10-points and margins no smaller than 0.5 inches. Failure to follow these formatting guidelines may result in disqualification from further consideration. To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. For resume writing guidance, please visit USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job? 2. Vacancy question responses: All applicants are required to complete vacancy question responses by clicking the apply online button of this vacancy announcement. 3. Submission of any required documents identified below, if applicable: 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). VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans preference, please see applicant guide for required documentation. In order to be considered for veterans preference, you must submit all required documentation as outlined in the applicant guide. CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (CTAP) OR INTERAGENCY CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (ICTAP) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS: If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee, click CTAP/ICTAP for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents you must submit in order to be eligible.?????

How to Apply

HUD has partnered with the Department of Treasury to provide certain personnel services to its organization. Fiscal Service's responsibilities include advertising vacancies, accepting and handling applications, and extending job offers. Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). The application process is as follows: To begin the application process, 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 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account. To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, 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 verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account at https://www.usajobs.gov. On the Home page, scroll down and locate your job application. Once the job has been located, click the "Track this application" link on the right under the application date. The page will refresh to display the Agency's Application Information page where you can scroll down and review any notifications the agency has sent you. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/. Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position. For more information regarding the job and applicant status, please refer to USAJOBS Help Center - How to see your application and job status To preview the application questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12993018 The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits specific inquiries concerning an applicant's criminal or credit background unless the hiring agency has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant. An applicant may submit a complaint, or any other information, to the agency within 30 calendar days of the date of alleged non-compliance by contacting: FairChanceAct@hud.gov What are criminal history inquiries?

What to Expect Next

After you have completed your initial application, you will be presented with instructions on how to access the USA Hire system to complete the online assessments. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the close of this announcement. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation for the assessment should you have a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Your assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments. We will review your resume and transcript(s) (if appropriate) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each appli...

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Specialized Experience: For the GS-12 grade level, you must have one year (52 full weeks) of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized Experience for this position includes: - Experience regularly performing independent legal research, analysis, and writing relating to fair housing, civil rights, or the Violence Against Women Act; OR - Experience regularly performing independent legal research, analysis, writing, and substantive legal support functions that require a specialized knowledge of fair housing, civil rights, public benefits, disability law, housing programs, including federal or state case law, regulations, statutes and legislative histories, agency policies and practices, law reviews, or administrative and judicial proceedings; OR - Experience drafting and reviewing investigative materials, complaints, letters, legal opinions or determinations, factual findings, legal and policy memoranda; OR - Experience preparing detailed factual summaries and written analyses of facts in investigation, litigation, or benefit determinations under a Federal or state law or regulations that prohibit discrimination, prohibit domestic violence, or establish eligibility requirements for a benefit provided under Federal or State law, such as Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, public housing or another program for low income persons, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or a comparable Federal, State, or local government program. The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. 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/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your resume.