Paralegal Specialist with Security Clearance

Duties Providing paralegal support within the State Staff Judge Advocate's Office providing ancillary legal research and analysis. Serving as a point of contact for claims, ethics determinations, and legal assistance for Army and Air National Guard personnel and their families. Provides technical legal guidance and support to National Guard unit commanders and their assigned legal personnel. Requirements Conditions of Employment Participation in direct deposit is MANDATORY. Must be able to obtain and maintain the appropriate security clearance of the position within one year of appointment. May be required to successfully complete a probationary period. Federal employment suitability as determined by a background investigation. The incumbent of this position description must have at a minimum, a completed National Agency Check (NAC) prior to position assignment. Irregular and/or overtime (compensatory) hours may be required to support operational requirements or contingencies or may be required to work hours outside of the normal duty day. Qualifications General Experience: For positions for which individual occupational requirements do not specify otherwise, general experience is 3 years of progressively responsible experience, 1 year of which was equivalent to at least GS-4, that demonstrates the ability to: Analyze problems to identify significant factors, gather pertinent data, and recognize solutions; Plan and organize work; and Communicate effectively orally and in writing. Such experience may have been gained in administrative, professional, technical, investigative, or other responsible work. Experience in substantive and relevant secretarial, clerical, or other responsible work may be qualifying as long as it provided evidence of the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) necessary to perform the duties of the position to be filled. Experience of a general clerical nature (typing, filing, routine procedural processing, maintaining records, or other nonspecialized tasks) is not creditable. Trades or crafts experience appropriate to the position to be filled may be creditable for some positions. Experience, education or training that demonstrates the ability to analyze the legal impact of legislative developments and administrate and judicial decisions, opinions, rulings and determinations on agency programs, conduct research for the preparation of legal opinions on matters of interest to the agency. Practical knowledge and use of basic legal principles and concepts to interpret and apply or explain to others the application of a body of law, regulations, precedents, and practices covering one or more recurring types of legal actions encountered in an agency. Specialized Experience: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Applicants who have the 1 year of appropriate specialized experience, as indicated in the table, are not required by this standard to have general experience, education above the high school level, or any additional specialized experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements Must possess 1-year specialized experience, education, or training equivalent to at least the next lower grade level applying the principles, concepts, and methods of legal research and reference sources such as agency manuals and directives. Experience applying the techniques and skills necessary to analyze both issues of fact and issues of law in order to prepare digests of case decisions, evaluate the applicability of precedents, or to draft briefs, other litigation papers, advisory opinions, or findings. Education Education requirements - Not applicable for this position Additional information Additional Conditions of Employment: "This position is designated as Essential Personnel and may be subject to duty in preparation for, or in response to, a state emergency or disaster declaration. This designation will not exceed 14 calendar days per year unless otherwise approved in advance by the TAG." If you are a male applicant who was born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency ( Register Selective Service System : Selective Service System (sss.gov) ). If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application . Benefits Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window Learn more about federal benefits . Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered. How You Will Be Evaluated You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. Once the announcement has closed, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine if you meet the qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application package, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this position. If you are found to be among the top qualified candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):Information Management, Researching, Technical Credibility, and Writing Benefits Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window Learn more about federal benefits . Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered. Required Documents As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies. To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes: 1. Resumé which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates specified in month and year format, and indicate hours worked per week. Resume must have from and to dates for each position worked in. Must state whether each experience is full or part-time status. In order to qualify, your resume must reflect experience gained in the general and specialized experience listed on the announcement. If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade. If your resume does not have any of the above requirements, you will automatically be disqualified for the position. 2. Other supporting documents: - Official college transcripts, if qualifying based on education. - Other Supporting Documents, if applicable, such as: Current/Former Federal employees: Your most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50 or equivalent), as well as the highest grade (or promotion potential) held, on a permanent basis and containing information which shows you meet time-in-grade (e.g., STEP increase, etc.) No award SF-50 will be accepted. Former Federal Employees separated from Federal Government over a year ago: Your separation Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50 or equivalent) showing your permanent status and your last Federal performance appraisal plan/rating. You must submit an SF-50(s) that shows permanent career or career conditional tenure to be considered (No award SF-50 will be accepted). Your last Federal performance appraisal plan must reflect a rating of Fully Successful or equivalent. 3. SF50 OR M-DAY/DSG/FORMER/RETIRED NYNG MEMBERS MUST SUPPLY PROOF OF ENLISTMENT OR NGB FORM 22 OR 22A SHOWING AN HONORABLE DISCHARGE OR A GENERAL DISCHARGE UNDER HONORABLE CHARACTERIZATION If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education . Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating. How to Apply To apply for this position, you must complete the online application/Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. To view the Occupational Questionnaire, click the following link: A co