Paralegal Specialist

Summary

The Senior Paralegal Specialist performs substantive legal duties in support of NNSA/NA-LA. Duties include: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act review/coordination; Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP) liaison; NA-LA liaison for external auditing groups such as OIG, GAO, or U.S. Department of Labor; NNSA ethics reviews/file management; LANL litigation coordination, invoice reviews, and use of the Litigation Management Tracking System (LMTS).

Duties

• As a Paralegal Specialist, you will: Perform legal analysis of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act (PA) requests under the provisions of applicable statutes and determines if documents or segregable portions can be released.
• Reviews proposed FOIA responses submitted by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) contractor for accuracy, coordinates final responses with the NNSA FOIA Officer/team, and performs related support.
• Serve as NA-LA's liaison for the DOE Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP).
• Coordinates and integrates EEOICP activities resulting from claims filed by current or former employees of LANL, follows up on DOE/NNSA or Department of Labor data requests as needed, and performs related support.
• Serve as NA-LA's liaison with external auditing groups and agencies such as the Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S.
• Government Accountability Office (GAO), and other entities as needed.
• Handles management referral process for NA-LA and coordinates with LANL.
• Receives requests for management to investigate or review anonymous hotline reports or written allegations of potential waste, fraud, or abuse by LANL employees, brings substantive issues to the attention of management, coordinates referrals to management or LANL as appropriate, consolidates and develops responses, and closes out actions.
• Provide oversight support for LANL contractor litigation, reviews litigation reports, tracks contractor outside attorney costs, conducts reviews of contractor legal invoices to assess accuracy/compliance, prepares correspondence for the contracting officer/counsel as needed, and coordinates with NNSA General
• Counsel and NA-LA staff attorneys on issues as appropriate.
• Compiles, maintains, and prepares litigation reports using the agency's Litigation Management Tracking System (LMTS).
• Supports other litigation related functions as needed.
• Support NNSA/NA-LA ethics program officials, identifies and provides appropriate DOE/NNSA ethics guidelines/federal regulations, assists ethics counselors in addressing staff questions, and serves as a local system administrator for the Department's Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE 450) system.
• Helps NNSA attorneys prepare ethics documents (e.g., recusals, 5 C.F.R. 2635.502 authorizations, post-employment restrictions, etc.), conducts research as needed to support legal opinions on various matters of agency interest, and performs related duties as required.

Requirements

• Subject to Random Drug Testing Must pass a pre-employment drug test.
• Favorable suitability determination required.
• Must be able to obtain/maintain a Q level Security Clearance.
• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males must abide by Selective Service registration requirements.
• Compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-12) governing personal identity which will require that you provide two forms of identification.
• May be required to successfully complete a one (1) year probationary period.
• Employees serving on a probationary or trial period may be terminated at any time during the probationary or trial period for performance, conduct, or business-related reasons in the interest of Federal service.
• Please limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages.
• If more than two pages are submitted, you will be disqualified.
• Probationary periods are required for new employees appointed to competitive service positions for the first time; or reinstated employees who return to Federal service after a break in service of 30-days or more and who have not completed a probationary period will need to complete the requirement.
• Trial periods are required for all excepted service employees.
• Trial periods served in the same position and agency with no break in service will satisfy the requirement.

Education

NQ-2: Master’s or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. NQ-3: No education substitution at this grade level.

Required Documents

• ALL APPLICANTS: You must submit a resume supporting your specialized experience and responses to the online questionnaire.
• Your two (2) page RESUME showing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of the each employer; start and end dates (month/day/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent);
• Salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).
• Cover Letter, optional, expressing additional information not covered in your resume may not be considered.
• Transcripts, if specific educational requirements are indicated in this job announcement.
• Unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned (semester or quarter hour) and final grade is acceptable.
• It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the educational requirements.
• If selected, it is mandatory that you provide official transcripts.
• For more information about what to include in your resume, please view this USAJOBS Resume Tutorial video on YouTube.
• NNSA will accept a resume in the format of your choice (as an attached document or as a USAJOBS Resume Builder format).
• You will be notified at the time you click 'Apply Online' which type of resume is acceptable.
• It is important that you are complete and thorough in your resume.
• If any of the above information is not included in your resume, we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience.
• Submit one or more of the following to support your eligibility(s) to apply to this job announcement: SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" (current/former federal employees): To properly verify status eligibility, your SF-50 must show the following.
• If you do not submit an appropriate SF-50, we cannot verify your status eligibility!
• Full position title; appointment type; occupational series; pay plan, grade, and step; tenure code; and service computation date (SCD).If your current position SF50 does not indicate you have competitive/excepted service status or does not reflect the pay plan
• And grade of the highest position you have held in the competitive/excepted service, in addition to your current SF50, you must provide your previous SF-50s that provide the proof of competitive/excepted status and highest grade held on a
• If specific educational requirements are indicated for this vacancy: Documentation verifying your educational claims which can include unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned and final grade.
• Please see the Education section for more information.
• Veterans applying under VEOA: DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; current active duty members- certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter.
• For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center & OPM CHCOC website for VOW information.
• Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package.
• It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.