Attorney Advisor

Summary

This position is located in the Office of General Counsel, National Endowment for the Arts (Arts Endowment). The incumbent serves as an Attorney Advisor and a principal subject-matter attorney for federal financial assistance and the legal development and implementation of the Arts Endowment programs. Who May Be Considered: U.S. Citizens View common definitions of terms found in this announcement.

Duties

In this position, you will serve as an Attorney Advisor. Typical work assignments include: Serving as a legal advisor to leadership on grants, cooperative agreements, and other federal financial assistance, including the design, development, implementation, administration and oversight of agency programs. Advising leadership and program officials on whether proposed activities comply with statutory authority and agency appropriations. Interpreting and applying federal frameworks, including the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act and the OMB Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), appropriations provisions and other statutes, regulations, executive orders, government-wide requirements and agency policies governing agency financial assistance. Providing legal review of public-facing materials, including program solicitations, application guidelines, eligibility requirements, and award terms and conditions. Counseling program grants-management, budget, civil rights and other agency personnel-on applicant eligibility, cost allowability, and compliant merit-review panel procedures. Advising on complex or sensitive award administration issues, such as changes in project scope, budget revisions, subawards, recipient noncompliance, suspension, termination, and intellectual property provisions.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation May be required to successfully complete a probationary period Selective Service registration required. All employees are required to participate in Direct Deposit/ Electronic Funds Transfer for salary payments. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume. Relocation expenses are not authorized. Other recruitment incentives may be authorized. In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to the four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answers to these questions are not scored or rated. Your answers to the essay questions will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration.

Qualifications and evaluation

Once the application process is complete, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. Qualified candidates will be assigned to one of 3 quality categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, and Qualified. The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies required for this position. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics): Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Rule of Many: This announcement uses the cut score method under 5 CFR § 332.402. All applicants tied at the cut line will be referred. We will provide the selecting official with a sufficient number of names, when available, to consider at least three candidates per vacancy. If fewer than three eligible and available candidates per vacancy result, we will expand the group in accordance with our pre-announced supplement strategy and OPM policy. Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview. Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the best-qualified category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. This position is not considered scientific/professional. Other 10-point preference eligibles and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligibles within the category in which they qualify. View information on www.fedshirevets.gov If you are determined qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. Preview the Application Questionnaire, click

Education

Education must be from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For additional information, refer to the U.S. Department of Education web site at http://www.ed.gov.Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) or you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the courses. Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

How to apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/05/2026 to receive consideration. Failure to submit a complete application package will result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration. To begin, click Apply Online to access an online application. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account. You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To preview the online questionnaire click here https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13077152 If you are unable to apply online please contact staffacq-applicant@opm.gov.

Required documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes: A resume: 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.) USA Jobs restricts resume uploads to a maximum of 2 pages. Resumes attached in other sections (such as "Documents" or "Other") will not be considered in the determination of specialized experience. If multiple resumes are submitted, the resume submitted last (based on time stamp) will be the only one reviewed as a part of your application. To ensure readability, resumes must be formatted using an easy-to-read font (such as Calibri, or Arial) with a minimum font size of 10-points and margins no smaller than 0.5 inches. Failure to follow these formatting guidelines may result in disqualification from further consideration. To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. For resume writing guidance, please visit USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job? Vacancy question responses: All applicants are required to complete vacancy question responses by clicking the apply online button of this vacancy announcement. Submission of any required documents identified below, if applicable: 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). VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: Submit member copy 4 of your dd-214 or other (certificate of release or discharge from active duty) or notice form. Those applying for 10-point preference must fill out the sf-15 and provide an official document dated 1991 or later, from the department of veterans affairs or from a branch of the armed forces, and/or any other associated documentation based on your preference. If applying based on eligibility under the veterans opportunity to work (vow) act, you must submit certification from the armed forces that you will be discharged or released from active duty within 120 days from the date you submit your application. This must indicate your dates of service, your rank, and confirm that you will be separated under honorable conditions. Other supporting documents: Cover Letter, optional Official or unofficial College Transcript(s) , if qualifying based on education Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g., DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service, SF-15 Form and related documentation, VA letter, etc.) CURRENT OR FORMER POLITICAL SCHEDULE A, SCHEDULE C, NON-CAREER SES OR PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEE EMPLOYEES: Submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment: 1) a copy of your agency notice; 2) a copy of your most recent performance rating; and 3) a copy of your most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, noting your current position, grade level, and duty location.

Additional information

Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. Additional selections may be made from this vacancy. VETERANS PREFERENCE: If claiming 5-point veteran preference you MUST submit copy number 4 of the DD-214. If you are claiming 10-point veteran preference you MUST submit an SF-15, Application for 10-point Veteran's Preference AND all other required documents in order to be granted the preference. All documents must be received by 11/05/2026. Additional information on veteran's preference is available at: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/veterans.aspx If you are selected for this Federal position, you will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failure to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on the application may be grounds for not hiring you or dismissing you after you begin work, and may be punishable by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001). The application contains information subject the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 U.S.C. 552a). The information issued will be used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5 U.S.C. Section 3302 and 3361. Recruitment methods and selection procedures will based solely on merit after fair and open competition, and will be made without regard to political, religious, or labor organization affiliation or non-affiliation, marital status, race, color, sex, national origin, non-disqualifying disability, sexual-orientation or age. If you are unable to apply online please contact staffacq-applicant@opm.gov. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply online if at all possible. Applying online, through your USAJOBS account, will expedite the application process and allow you to check your application status as well as verify the documentation submitted with your application.