Senior Regulatory Attorney

Basic Qualifications: A J.D. from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association; Active membership, in good standing, of the Bar of a State, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia; and At least one full year of experience comparable in difficulty and responsibility to at least the GS-14 level in the Federal service.

01Preferred Qualifications

In addition to meeting the basic requirement, applicants must demonstrate professional legal experience that equipped them to perform the duties of this position at the GS-15 level. Qualifying experience should demonstrate substantial expertise in several of the following areas: You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement. This is principally a rulemaking position.

The ideal applicant will demonstrate experience in all of the areas listed below, and a strong applicant will have some or many of them. Substantial hands-on experience with Federal rulemaking is essential to this position; other legal experience, however strong, will not substitute for it. Applications will be rated on the depth and breadth of experience across these areas.

Drafting or reviewing proposed and final rules, including preambles, regulatory text, and responses to public comments; Applying the Administrative Procedure Act and other procedural requirements governing Federal rulemaking, and interpreting the statutes, regulations, and Executive orders that supply an agency's rulemaking authority; Coordinating regulatory review under Executive Order 12866, including working directly with OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; Preparing documents for publication in the Federal Register consistent with Office of the Federal Register requirements; Managing a regulatory docket or rulemaking program spanning multiple program offices, including intake, clearance, tracking, and meeting publication deadlines; Developing legal positions and recommendations on novel or unsettled regulatory questions, where governing authority is limited, competing interests must be reconciled, or the outcome carries significant policy or litigation consequences; Advising senior agency officials or executives on legally complex, high-visibility, or time-sensitive regulatory matters; and Leading, supervising, or providing substantive direction to attorneys, including reviewing legal work product for legal sufficiency and consistency with established legal positions.

Describe this experience directly in your resume. Identify the specific rules and regulatory matters you worked on and your own role in each. You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this 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. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The senior regulatory attorney (Supervisory Attorney Advisor) serves as the agency's lead rulemaking attorney, regulatory advisor, and first-line supervisor responsible for expert legal advice on complex policy, regulatory, and administrative law matters and for managing the OGC processes that support the development, review, clearance, and publication of OPM rules, regulations and related regulatory materials.

In this role, the incumbent will: Serve as OGC's senior attorney and principal legal advisor on Federal rulemaking involving OPM's statutory authorities, civil service programs, and governmentwide personnel-management responsibilities. Draft, review, and clear proposed and final rules, interpretive rules, policy statements, and responses to public comments, ensuring legal sufficiency and compliance with applicable statutes, Executive orders, and procedural requirements.

Analyze complex and novel legal questions arising under the Administrative Procedure Act, OPM's enabling statutes, Executive orders, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Privacy Act, the Congressional Review Act, and other authorities affecting Federal rulemaking. Coordinate regulatory review under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, Oct. 4, 1993), serving as OGC's primary point of contact with OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Oversee preparation of documents for publication in the Federal Register consistent with Office of the Federal Register requirements. Manage OGC's regulatory docket - intake, assignment, clearance, tracking, and publication deadlines - across OPM program offices, and develop the procedures, templates, and quality-control practices that keep it running. Advise OPM program offices on developing, revising, implementing, and defending regulations and regulatory initiatives.

Advise senior OPM officials on new legislation, Executive orders, litigation developments, regulatory priorities, legislative proposals, and oversight inquiries affecting OPM programs or regulatory authorities. Provide legal advice concerning litigation or potential litigation involving OPM regulations and support the Department of Justice or agency litigation counsel through legal analysis, regulatory history, administrative-record support, and subject-matter expertise.

Direct a small professional staff of attorneys and analysts - reviewing legal work product for legal sufficiency and consistency with established OGC positions, balancing workload, and developing staff through mentoring, feedback, and performance management. Supervise and provide substantive direction to attorneys advising OPM program offices on a wide range of legal questions, offering exposure to the full range of the agency's programs and operations.