Job Description

PLEASE READ THE APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS CAREFULLY. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING THOSE WITHOUT A COVER LETTER, WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Position Title: Deputy Associate Chief Counsel, Litigation

Duty Station: FEMA Headquarters (Washington, DC)

Grade: GS-15 | Job Series 0905

OPENING DATE: October 7, 2026

CLOSING DATE: October 21, 2026, 11:59 PM EDT

POSITION TITLE AND LEGAL DIVISION:

Deputy Associate Chief Counsel, Litigation, FEMA Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), Resilience Legal Division.

SERIES, PAY PLAN, GRADE, SECURITY CLEARANCE, AND TRAVEL:

This position is in the job series 0905-Attorney-Advisor, GS-15. This position has a full performance level of GS-15. This is a public trust position and does not require a security clearance. Occasional travel may be required.

DUTY STATION LOCATION AND REMOTE WORK ELIGIBILITY:

The position has a duty station at FEMA HQ in Washington, DC. This position is not eligible for remote work, as defined by FEMA policy. This position is eligible for limited telework only pursuant to FEMA policy.

POSITION TYPE:

This is a Permanent Full Time (PFT) Supervisory Attorney position. This position is being announced under FEMA’s General Schedule (GS) program. This is an Excepted Service position and will be filled at the GS-15 level.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Resilience Legal Division (RLD) is seeking an attorney to fill the Deputy Associate Chief Counsel (DACC) position to lead RLD’s Litigation team. In this senior supervisory role, the DACC oversees and directs the legal defense of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs in federal and state litigation across the nation. The DACC serves as the primary legal advisor and strategist on high-profile, high-impact defensive litigation arising under FEMA’s Resilience portfolio, which encompasses the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP), and the Grant Programs Directorate (GPD).

The DACC leads a specialized branch of litigators handling complex civil litigation involving statutory and regulatory challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), Presidential Executive Orders, DHS Standard Terms and Conditions for grants, and federal grant administration frameworks (e.g., 2 C.F.R. Part 200). Matters under the DACC’s purview include emergency motions for injunctive relief, constitutional claims, and widespread programmatic challenges to the NFIP, such as the implementation of Risk Rating 2.0, floodplain management standards, and nationwide flood mapping initiatives.

Working in close coordination with the Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the FEMA Associate Chief Counsel for Resilience, the Department of Homeland Security Office of General Counsel, and agency executive leadership, the DACC provides executive-level direction on litigation strategy, case development, settlement negotiations, and appellate risk. In addition to substantive legal leadership, the DACC manages branch operations, mentorship, performance management, and professional development for branch attorneys and legal support personnel.

IDEAL CANDIDATE:

The ideal candidate is an accomplished litigator, strategic advisor, and empowering leader capable of directing high-stakes, fast-moving federal litigation while fostering a collaborative, resilient legal team. Reporting to the Principal Deputy Associate Chief Counsel for RLD, the DACC must be adept at counseling Senior Executive Service (SES) leaders across Resilience, the Department of Homeland Security Office of General Counsel (DHS OGC), and FEMA OCC on complex legal risks and strategic decisions.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Supervisory Excellence & People Development: Demonstrated ability to lead, motivate, and mentor a team of attorneys and support staff; promote initiative, accountability, and self-reliance; foster an inclusive, high-performing culture; and keep an open mind to innovative methods and new technologies that enhance branch efficiency.
• Executive Counsel & Stakeholder Influence: Proven record of delivering clear, solution-oriented, and politically astute counsel to senior leadership and program clients; adeptness at influencing client decisions to ensure legal sufficiency; and experience building strong, collaborative partnerships with DHS OIG and state, local, tribal, and private sector stakeholders.
• Complex Federal Court & Administrative Law Expertise: Extensive background directing or executing federal court litigation involving administrative law and APA matters, complex statutory schemes (such as the NFIP, HMGP, NEPA, ESA, and CAA), constitutional claims, emergency motions for injunctive relief, and federal grant authorities (such as 2 C.F.R. Part 200 and DHS Standard Terms and Conditions).
• Effective DOJ & Interagency Case Strategy: Substantial experience partnering with the DOJ to develop defense strategies, oversee high-quality briefs and declarations, guide defensible Administrative Record production, and educate co-counsel on technical agency programs and data.
• Agility & Sound Judgment Under Pressure: Exceptional intellectual agility and composure to quickly assess and respond to sudden shifts in facts, legal landscape, or operational realities in dynamic, high-visibility matters.
• Modern Case & Discovery Management: Case management discipline, strong legal writing and oral advocacy, and practical familiarity with managing modern e-discovery tools (e.g., Relativity, Veritas) to organize legal work product and manage complex electronic records.

DUTIES OF THE POSITION:

Reporting to the Principal Deputy Associate Chief Counsel for RLD, the supervisory DACC for Litigation, performs the following primary duties:

• Supervisory & Team Leadership: Lead, direct, and supervise a branch of attorneys and legal support staff handling defensive litigation across FEMA's Resilience portfolio. Assign, coordinate, and review the work of branch litigators to ensure the delivery of timely, solution-oriented, legally sufficient, and high-quality legal advice, written work product, and advocacy. Motivate, mentor, and foster the professional development of staff attorneys.
• Strategic Litigation Management & DOJ Partnership: Direct FEMA’s legal defense in complex, high-visibility lawsuits across federal district courts and appellate courts nationwide. Partner closely with the DOJ Civil Division, U.S. Attorney's Offices, and the DHS OGC to:
• Formulate comprehensive litigation strategies, case defenses, and settlement approaches.
• Direct and review the compilation, review, and certification of complex Administrative Records.
• Review, edit, and substantively shape pleadings, answers, dispositive motions, declarations, and appellate briefs, ensuring agency arguments are accurately and persuasively presented.
• Educate DOJ attorneys and federal litigators on complex statutory regimes, administrative frameworks, and operational nuances of FEMA programs.
• Executive Advice & Counseling: Provide authoritative legal counsel and risk analyses to SES leadership within Resilience, the FEMA OCC, DHS OGC, and client program leadership on active litigation, emerging legal threats, and agency-wide legal positions. Ensure agency leadership is proactively briefed on case milestones, emerging trends, and settlement opportunities.
• Program & Grant Litigation Oversight: Provide oversight and legal guidance on challenges arising under FEMA’s preparedness and mitigation grant programs (including HMGP and GPD), environmental and historic preservation compliance (NEPA, ESA, CAA), and NFIP policies and operations (including Risk Rating 2.0 implementation, flood mapping, and floodplain management).
• E-Discovery, Case Records & Operational Innovation: Oversee the branch’s case management practices, document retention protocols, and litigation hold compliance. Direct the strategic deployment of enterprise e-discovery platforms (e.g., Relativity, Veritas) and modern legal technologies to streamline document review, manage large-scale discovery productions, and safeguard organizational legal records.
• Interagency & Stakeholder Collaboration: Maintain productive working relationships and liaise strategically with external and internal partners—including DHS OGC, DHS OIG, other OCC divisions, grants practice groups, and state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector stakeholders. Develop and deliver training on grant legal authorities and litigation readiness to internal and external partners.

Candidates must also have strong research, writing, and communication skills; the ability to work independently; excellent team building skills, and the ability to represent the agency at a high level both internally and externally.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED/SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:

Applicants must meet the qualifications requirements for the grade level to which they are applying by the closing date of this announcement.

Minimum Requirements include:

• U.S. Citizenship,
• Ability to successfully pass a background investigation (public trust),
• Ability to obtain and maintain a government travel card,
• Selective Service registration for males born after 12/31/59,
• A graduate of a law school accredited by the American Bar Association,
• Membership in good standing of the Bar of a State, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and
• Agreement with Every Employee is an Emergency Manager requirement.

Minimum Experience:

Attorneys at a GS-15 level render supervisory and/or highly specialized expert legal advice and services with respect to the most complex issues facing FEMA, including thorough analysis of relevant case law, constitutional law, statutes, regulations, executive orders, directives, treaties and other international agreements and standards, and agency policies and practices. The nature of the legal work performed by GS-15 attorneys is of the utmost complexity, requires strategic thinking, excellent judgment, and often involves innovative or precedent-setting solutions. The GS-15 attorney is able to provide expert legal advice and develop clear, concise written and other products to support and implement that advice, including legislative proposals, litigation documents, regulations, directives, contracts, agreements, policies, strategies or negotiations. GS-15 attorneys are expected to:

• Handle the most complex legal and factual issues; novel issues or issues without clear legal precedent; issues with significant impact and sensitivity; issues with significant public interest; and issues involving powerful adversaries.
• Operate at an extremely high level of responsibility in terms of the supervision and guidance received, the senior level of officials with whom the attorney interacts, and the degree to which the attorney speaks for OCC and FEMA.
• Have outstanding writing skills, conduct demanding legal analysis, draft and review draft motions, subpoenas, complaints, memoranda and comparable legal documents.
• Have excellent communication skills.
• Coordinate substantive legal matters with the inter-agency and actively participate in inter-agency legal discussions.
• Lead substantive legal discussions in representing the department in the inter-agency process and by participating in inter-agency working groups.
• Be able to supervise the work of others in OCC, either on a continuous basis or on particular projects.
• Require little to no review of work product by supervisor. A GS-15 attorney's work is reviewed for success in achieving the desired result.

Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Independently analyzing and interpreting federal and state statutes, regulations, and policies; Executive Orders; and judicial and administrative decisions in the course of rendering advice.
• Working in one or more of the following areas: Federal litigation, administrative law, personnel law; fiscal law; procurement; grants management; environmental law; floodplain management and hazard mitigation; disaster response and recovery; environmental and historic preservation laws; and emergency preparedness.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

At time of application, the applicant must submit a:

• Resume (no more than 2 pages),
• Short writing sample, and
• Cover letter of 1 page or less explaining their interest in the position.

Prior to tentative job offer, the applicant must also provide:

• Proof of current bar admission
• Law school transcript from an American Bar Association accredited law school

OCC LEGAL AFFAIRS CADRE AND EMERGENCY MANAGER ASSIGNMENT:

In addition, every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee’s official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants should submit a resume, short writing sample, and cover letter to Phil Yoo at RLD-Applications@fema.dhs.gov by the closing date of this announcement. The subject line of the email should refer to the title of this position. Please let us know in your email or cover letter where you saw this announcement.

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