Attorney-Advisor (General)

US Department of Energy Headquarters; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Inspector General seeks an Attorney-Advisor (General) to support auditors and investigators in performing audits, inspections, and investigations into alleged violations. The role requires strong legal analysis and writing.

You will work with a team of attorneys in the Office of Counsel to ensure compliance and to prepare formal opinions, briefs, and summaries. Applicants must meet federal qualifications and the closing date is 10/22/2026.

Qualifications

• Must possess ABA-accredited J.D./LL.B. and bar admission.
• Experience as an attorney and ability to perform complex legal work.

Responsibilities

• Support auditors and investigators through legal analysis.
• Present oral and written opinions for review by senior attorneys.
• Review statutes, regulations, and legal documents for case work.

Skills

Legal analysis

Oral advocacy

Legal writing

Research

Education

J.D. or LL.B.

Bar admission in DC/US state

Tools

Westlaw

LexisNexis

Job description

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Inspector General is currently looking for an Attorney-Advisor (General) in the Office of Counsel. Join our professional team of attorneys supporting auditors and investigators who help support DOE's mission through performance and financial audits, inspections of management issues and administrative allegations, and investigations into alleged violations of law.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (10/22/2026) of this announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 and/or GS-13 grade level(s), you must possess all of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

1. Must meet the minimum education requirements of successful completion of a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) with a professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.); AND
2. Must be a current, active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

For GS-12: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate: One year of professional legal experience as an attorney and active membership in a state or District of Columbia bar and advanced educational attainments that clearly indicate the ability to independently perform complex legal work. The educational background should include course work beyond the first professional degree in a field directly related to the work of this position (i.e., law). Attained professional legal experience may be in diverse areas such as administrative law, ethics law, information law, personnel law, whistleblower law, procurement law, and/or investigating violations of regulations or civil or criminal statutes.

For GS-13: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate: One year of professional legal experience as an attorney and active membership in a state or District of Columbia bar and advanced educational attainments that clearly indicate the ability to independently perform complex legal work; AND One additional year of professional legal experience as an attorney at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience that meets the GS-12 equivalency level requirement is defined as three (3) or more of the following:

1. Assisting with legal research and analysis to make recommendations to other attorneys and/or staff for case development and appropriate legal action.
2. Presenting complete oral and written legal opinions for review by a senior attorney on basic legal issues impacting an organization.
3. Reviewing, evaluating, and summarizing pertinent statutes, case law, regulations, or other regulatory documentation for general consumption or application to legal case work.
4. Acquiring, maintaining, and applying basic legal knowledge on laws, regulations, procedures, and guidance impacting an organization.
5. Coordinating with internal and external entities on legal matters and working collaboratively as part of a team engaged in legal work.

Applicants must demonstrate this specialized experience in their resumes. When describing your experience, please give examples that demonstrate the complexity of the knowledge you possess, the level of the people with whom you have interacted, and the sensitivity of the issues you have handled.

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined above by the closing date of the announcement.

Volunteer Experience:

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.