Summary
Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, seeks enthusiastic individuals to serve taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the IRS. Please click "Learn more about this agency" to find out more about Chief Counsel's various offices, to view some of the workplace attributes that Chief Counsel's workforce rates most favorably, and to hear from employees themselves.
Duties
The incumbent of this position serves as a Branch Chief responsible for the supervision and management of a Qualified Plans branch in the office of the Deputy Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits) (EEE). The branch prepares regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, and notices, announcements in connection with tax-qualified retirement plans and individual retirement arrangements. It also issues necessary legal opinions on matters relating to these areas, as well as private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda and Chief Counsel Advice relating to these areas. The branch also provides litigation support assistance in connection with the defense, settlement and processing of cases pending in the United States Tax Court, and refund cases filed in district courts and the Court of Claims inthese areas and reviews related tax legislation.
As a Supervisory General Attorney (Tax) Branch Chief, you will:
- Act as legal consultant to the IRS on some of the most difficult, important and complex professional and legal matters arising in the administration of the Internal Revenue laws. Direct exhaustive and detailed research on some of the most complicated legal problems and preparation of recommendations as to the position to be taken by the Service. Directs the participation by the branch in conferences with representatives of other interested offices concerning projects. Direct the branch employees in providing litigation support to other Counsel offices and the Department of Justice.
- Prepare or review proposed memoranda on various legal matters for submission to the Deputy Associate Chief Counsel (EB), Associate Chief Counsel (EEE), the Deputies Chief Counsel, the Chief Counsel, or the Treasury General Counsel for final approval. Prepare or review material for publication by the branch. Represent the Office in discussions with taxpayers on private letter rulings and in presentations to the public.
- Examine all matters assigned to the branch and assigns to each branch employee work appropriate to the employee's experience and skills.
- Exercise additional supervisory responsibilities over the branch as follows: plan the work of the branch that must be accomplished by the staff, including establishing priorities; insure timely performance of a satisfactory amount of high quality work; review work product of professionals and specialists in the branch for completeness, accuracy and consistency; evaluate performance of subordinates; give advice, counsel or instructions on both work and administrative matters, and resolve any issues raised; make recommendations for promotions, awards or reassignments; effect minor disciplinary measures such as warnings and reprimands and recommend actions in more serious cases; hear and resolve complaints from employees and, refer more serious unresolved complaints to Associate Chief Counsel; and identify and recommend developmental and training needs of employees.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Refer to "Additional Information"
- Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
Qualifications
In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements detailed below by the closing date of this announcement. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.
To qualify for this position of Supervisory General Attorney (Tax) Branch Chief you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement:
Basic Requirements for Supervisory General Attorney (Tax) Branch Chief:
- Possess at least the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association; AND
- Applicants must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a State, U.S. Commonwealth, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
GS-15 Experience Requirements:
- 1 year of general professional legal experience from any area of expertise; plus
- 3 year(s) of professional legal tax experience
Professional Legal Tax Experience is defined as: Legal knowledge and technical knowledge of tax law related to the role of the Office of Chief Counsel in qualification rules for qualified retirement plans; certain employee annuity plans; individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and Roth IRAs; certain eligible deferred compensation plans; governmental plans; church plans; exemption from tax for qualified retirement plan trusts; taxation of distributions from qualified retirement plans; withholding and rollover rules for distributions from qualified retirement plans penalties and excise taxes related to qualified retirement plan failures.
At least one year of this experience must be equivalent to the work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-14).
Note: Only experience gained after Bar Admission may be credited as Professional Legal Experience.
Education Substitution: An LL.M. degree in the field of the position (tax, employee benefits) may be substituted for the one year of the general legal experience listed above.
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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. 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/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Applicants will be considered based on their overall background as it relates to the position to be filled. Interviews may be held at the option of the office. All application materials and interviews, if conducted, will be used in the final evaluation and selection process.
Referral: Professional Order will be used to refer and select eligible candidates. Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference eligibles will be listed at the top of the certificate in alphabetical order and considered before non-preference eligibles. All other candidates will be listed in alphabetical order. If you are among the top qualified candidates, you may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview, such as travel to and from the interview site.
Required Documents
A complete application includes 1. A resume, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. 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).
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.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view .
In addition, applicants are required to submit:
- An unofficial or official transcript(s) for your J.D. degree or LL.M. degree (an official transcript is required if you are selected)
- A 4-5 page legal writing sample
- A memorandum of interest summarizing your interest in the position
- A copy of your most recent, signed, completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If it is not dated within the last 12 months or if you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application.
- A Supervisory Report for Supervisory or Management Positions (ERB Form 1-88, Rev 7/2020) regarding your suitability for the position as completed by your current supervisor. You are responsible for notifying your supervisor that this report must be received no later than five workdays after the closing date of this announcement.
Certificate of Good Standing: A certified original copy of your certificate of good standing from your State Bar will be required if you are selected.
VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Office of Chief Counsel considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. If you are claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge. Ten-point preference eligibles must also submit an , along with the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference, view .
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 .
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.