Description

Assistant/Associate Counsel Personnel Notice: 2026-024

Date Announced: 02-24-2026
Closing Date: 03-31-2026
Command: NAVSEA
Grade: GS-11, GS-12, GS-13, GS-14, GS-15
Type: Assistant/Associate Counsel

The Department of the Navy (DON) Office of the General Counsel (OGC) invites qualified attorneys to apply for the position of Assistant/Associate Counsel, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS&IMF). The position is located at/in Bremerton, Washington. Multiple vacancies may be filled under this announcement.

PSNS&IMF provides our Navy with high quality, on-time maintenance, modernization, recycling and support that helps assure America's dominance at sea. The shipyard in Bremerton is the Pacific Northwest's largest naval shore facility and one of Washington state's largest industrial installations. The PSNS&IMF Office of Counsel is a field office within the Office of Counsel for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and part of DON OGC. PSNS & IMF Office of Counsel has a varied workload covering the full range of OGC practice, with emphasis on civilian personnel and labor law, federal acquisition law, litigation, environmental law, fiscal law, standards of conduct, ethics, Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act matters.

The successful candidate will practice primarily in civilian personnel law, including litigating before the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, federal district court, and union grievance arbitrations. The successful candidate will also provide legal services in the areas of ethics, standards of conduct, the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, and fiscal law.

POSITION OVERVIEW

• This position will be filled at the General Schedule (GS) GS-11, GS-12, GS-13, GS-14, and GS-15 level.
• A relocation incentive may be available but is not guaranteed.
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS) funding may be available to eligible applicants but is not guaranteed.
• This Personnel Notice will close on March 31, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time. Complete application packages must be received by this closing date and time to be considered.

QUALIFICATIONS

At the time of application, you must:

• Have a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.
• Be admitted to, eligible to practice in, and an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia.
• Be a U.S. citizen able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.

GS-11 Qualifications

• At least one year of recent professional legal experience; or
• The second professional law degree (Master of Laws (LL.M.)), provided it required one full academic year of graduate study.
• If you are a recent law school graduate and/or have less than one year of professional legal experience, you must have superior law school credentials as demonstrated by: academic standing in the top third of your law school's graduating class, work or achievement of significance as a member of an official law review or journal, a special high-level honor for academic excellence, e.g., membership in the Order of the Coif, winning a moot court competition, membership on the law school's official moot court team, or other evidence of clearly superior accomplishment or achievement.

GS-12 Qualifications

• At least two years of recent professional legal experience at or equivalent to the GS-11 level; or
• The second professional law degree (LL.M.) plus one year of recent and relevant professional legal experience at or equivalent to the GS-11 level.

GS-13 Qualifications

• More than two years of recent and relevant professional legal experience commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position.

GS-14 Qualifications

• At least three-and-one-half years of recent and relevant professional legal experience commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position.

GS-15 Qualifications

• At least five-and-one-half years of recent and relevant professional legal experience commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

You will be evaluated on:

1. The depth, breadth, and quality of your experience in Civilian Personnel Law and Litigation;
2. Your research, analytical, and communication skills (both oral and written);
3. Your interpersonal skills, including your ability to establish effective attorney-client and professional relationships; and
4. Your experience advising clients.

APPLICATION PACKAGE

You must submit:

1. A cover letter that explains why you are interested in and qualified for the position.
• If applicable, you must include any requests for a relocation incentive or PCS funding in your cover letter.
2. A current resume, no more than two (2) pages in length, that shows relevant experience, including:
• Job titles (with GS level(s), if applicable);
• Dates of employment (month/year); and
• Bar membership, stating jurisdiction(s).
3. Two brief legal writing samples (no more than ten (10) years old and no more than ten (10) pages each) that demonstrate analytical and advocacy abilities (excerpts of lengthier written work products are acceptable).
4. Your two most recent performance evaluations (if unavailable, please explain).
5. The names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of at least three references, including a supervisor, who may be contacted.
6. Current and former Federal employees must also provide a copy of their most recent Standard Form-50 (SF-50) showing title, series, grade, and current salary information (if unavailable, please explain). Do not submit SF-50s for performance awards.

7.      If you are not currently a member of DON OGC, you must also submit a copy of your law school transcript(s) for all legal degrees held, showing award of the degree, final GPA, and final class rank where available. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted, but official transcripts will be required before the applicant is selected.

Social security numbers and dates of birth should be redacted from all documentation submitted.

Send your application package electronically to usn.ncr.sea-00.mbx.navsea-ogc-vacancies@us.navy.mil. Include your surname and this Personnel Notice Number in the subject line of your transmittal e-mail and in the file names of any attachments. Hard copy applications will not be considered.

Interested attorneys should contact Lisa Foster  at 360-476-6597 or lisa.n.foster.civ@us.navy.mil for more information.

Interested attorneys who are not currently members of DON OGC should review the posting at https://www.secnav.navy.mil/OGC/Pages/Careers.aspx for additional information.

NOTICE OF VETERANS' PREFERENCE

There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor for attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must specifically claim such eligibility in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., Department of Defense (DD) Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty" or other supporting documentation) to their submissions.

Although the point-preference system is not used, applicants eligible to claim a 10-point preference must submit a Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference," and supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed. (SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preference and the required supporting documents, is available from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website at www.opm.gov.)

Not all veterans are preference eligible. For a summary of time periods, campaigns, and conditions that entitle an applicant to preference eligibility, please visit OPM's Feds Hire Vets webpage, USAJOBS' Dedicated Veterans Website, and the Department of Labor's Veterans' Preference Advisor.