ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: 12-NM-AUSA-6
As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement
THIS IS A TERM POSITION , NOT-TO-EXCEED 15-MONTHS. THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CANNOT MAKE ANY PROMISES CONCERNING EMPLOYMENT BEYOND THIS TERM APPOINTMENT.
About the Office: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico has approximately 165 employees and contractors. The main office is located in Albuquerque. The branch office in Las Cruces is located approximately 225 miles south of Albuquerque, is 50 miles from the Mexican border, and includes approximately 45 of the district employees and contractors. The District also has an unstaffed office in Santa Fe.
Location: Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico, located approximately 60 miles from the state capital of Santa Fe. As the Hot Air Balloon capital of the world, Albuquerque hosts the annual International Balloon Fiesta, one of the most photographed events in the world! Albuquerque and the surrounding areas offer an array of activities from hiking and skiing to cultural activities such as the opera, arts, celebrated museums, legendary historic sites, and majestic monuments. The metro area with approximately 860,000 residents sprawls over 100 square miles at elevations ranging from 4,500 feet above sea level in the Rio Grande Valley to 6,500 feet at the foot of the Sandia Mountains. Albuquerque enjoys blue skies and sunshine 310 days of the year, with low humidity and mild winters.
The State of New Mexico, also known as the “Land of Enchantment,” is a unique mix of Native cultures, blended with Hispanic and European traditions. Ranked the 5th largest state, it totals 121,593 square miles. New Mexico shares 180 miles of international border with the Country of Mexico.
Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The attorney selected will handle prosecutions of a wide variety of federal offenses, with the emphasis on the prosecution of immigration, firearms and narcotics crimes. Prosecutions of narcotics offenses include enforcement of Title 21 and cases involving organizations responsible for the trafficking of heroin, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and other controlled substances. Immigration offenses include re-entry after deportation, transportation of illegal aliens and other crimes.
Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member, in good standing, of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least one (1) year of post-J.D. experience.
Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability and the facility to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in a case and demonstrate superior oral and writing skills as well as strong research and interpersonal skills, and good judgment. Applicants must possess excellent communication and courtroom skills and exhibit the ability to work in a supportive and professional manner with other attorneys, support staff and client agencies. Applicants must have a demonstrated capacity to function, with minimal guidance, in a highly demanding office and courtroom environment.
Applicants will be expected to conduct their own legal research and writing and must be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day to day correspondence and pleadings. Applicants must also possess computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research, electronic court filing, electronic e-mail and word processing systems.
United States citizenship is required.
Travel: Moderate travel may be required.
Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorneys’ pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number years of professional attorney experience. The range of pay for this position is $50,894 – $134,702, including locality pay, depending on experience. Pay may be set based on highest previous rate received in civilian government service.
Relocation Expenses: Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.
Application Process and Deadline Date: Please send your cover letter and resume to (Please refer to vacancy announcement number 12-AUSA-NM-6 on your application/resume.)
Kenneth J. Gonzales
United States Attorney
ATTN: Human Resources
201 Third Street NW, Suite 900
Albuquerque, NM 87102
No telephone calls please. This vacancy closes on September 7, 2012.
Internet Sites: District of New Mexico Website: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nm/
This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at:
http://www.usdoj.gov/oarm/attvacancies.html
Department Policies: Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed. See 28 U.S.C. § 545 for district-specific information.
All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a time-limited (temporary) basis. Temporary appointments may, or may not, be extended or made permanent without further competition.
The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer.
Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a parent, membership or nonmembership in an employee organization, on the basis of personal favoritism, or any non merit factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the United States Attorneys’ Offices. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, non-U.S. Citizens may apply for employment with other organizations, but should be advised that appointments of non-U.S. Citizens are extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department’s mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
There is no formal rating system for applying veterans’ preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans’ preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans’ preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the “point” system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service-connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
* * *
The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.