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Attorney Vacancy Announcement

ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

Southern District of Iowa
09-SDIA-01

About the Office: The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa serves 47 of Iowa’s 99 counties and a little over 50% of Iowa’s 2.9 million people. Interstates 80 and 35 run through the district, placing the district at the intersection of two of the major traffic-ways in the country. The Avenue of the Saints, connecting St. Louis, Missouri, and St. Paul, Minnesota, and Interstate 29 also run through the district. The district includes within its boundaries the Iowa State Capitol, the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and Drake University. The district is bordered on the east by the Mississippi River and on the west by the Missouri River.

The permanent attorney staff of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa currently consists of the United States Attorney, a First Assistant United States Attorney, a Criminal Chief, a Civil Chief, a Branch Chief, a Senior Litigation Counsel, 18 Assistant United States Attorneys, and 3 full-time Special Assistant United States Attorneys. The headquarters for the United States Attorney’s Office is located in the Federal Courthouse Annex in Des Moines, Iowa, with a staffed branch office in Davenport, Iowa. There is also an unstaffed branch office in Council Bluffs, Iowa, part of the Omaha, Nebraska-Council Bluffs, Iowa metropolitan area. This branch office is currently served as part of an expanding commitment by the Des Moines Headquarters Office.

Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: This vacancy is for one position in the Criminal Division in the Des Moines office. Employment as an Assistant United States Attorney offers a unique and challenging experience for the highly motivated attorney. In this position, you will be provided an opportunity to work on some of the most significant, complex and visible cases being litigated today. As part of a dedicated team, you will be responsible for prosecuting a variety of criminal cases involving fraud and white collar crime, narcotics, firearms, immigration, violent crime, and asset forfeiture, among other program areas.

Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree from an accredited law school, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of a State, territory, or the District of Columbia. Ideal qualifications include at least 3-5 years of post-J.D. litigation experience.

Applicants must demonstrate a quick analytical ability and the ability to accurately and precisely articulate the critical issues in a case. Applicants must 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 environment.

Applicants will be expected to do their own legal research and writing and will be substantially self-sufficient in preparing day-to-day correspondence and pleadings. Applicants must also demonstrate excellent computer literacy skills to include experience with automated research on the Internet, electronic court filing, and electronic e-mail and word processing systems.

Travel: Occasional travel, both within and outside the District, may be required.

Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorneys' pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. Starting salary will be up to $90,000 per year including locality.

Location: This vacancy is for one position in the Des Moines office.

Des Moines, Iowa. As Iowa's capital city, Des Moines is a hub of government action, business activity, arts and cultural affairs. Des Moines is recognized as having one of the largest concentrations of insurance and banking enterprises in the world. With a city population approaching 200,000 and a metro population of nearly 500,000, Des Moines offers some of the nation's best schools, superb public services, and friendly, caring neighborhoods. Affordable housing, one of the nation's shortest commute times, and an increasingly diverse population are also wonderful benefits to living in Des Moines.

Des Moines is a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.

Application Process and Deadline Date: Applicants should send a resume and questionnaire that can be accessed at: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ias/Employment/Attorney%20Questionnaire.pdf to:

Sue Cross, Human Resources Specialist
United States Attorney’s Office
110 East Court Avenue, Ste. 286
Des Moines, IA 50309-2053

No telephone calls please.

Applications must be received by 4:30 p.m. on the closing date of October 31, 2008.

Internet Sites: More information about the Southern District of Iowa may be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ias/index.html

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.

The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, color, race, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, disability, age, status as a parent, membership or nonmembership in an employee organization, or personal favoritism. 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 are encouraged to include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214 or other substantiating documents) to their submissions.