Open: 11/14/2018 – 1/10/2019

Salary: $134,789 to $164,200 per year

 

The Section Research Manager (Supervisory Attorney) for the Congressional Research Service (CRS) leads a section of high-performing legislative attorneys who provide written and oral advice to Members of Congress and their staff on legal issues of interest to Congress involving all facets of American public law with an emphasis on nationally significant questions of constitutional law, administrative law, and statutory interpretation.

Manages legal advice provided to Congress, leads staff of attorneys, and advises the Assistant Director and Deputy Assistant Director. Ensures that legal research and analysis is conducted in a collaborative manner, reflects the congressional agenda, and is relevant to congressional policy making. Leads, plans, organizes and coordinates legal research, including major projects related to sensitive or complex public policies of national or international significance, which can be multidisciplinary in nature. Ensures that legal advice provided is of the highest quality and meets CRS' standards of objectivity, timeliness, authoritativeness, and accessibility, while maintaining attorney-client confidentiality. Critically reviews legal research and analysis to ensure that it is of the highest quality; is accurate, well-organized, and cogent; meets professional and service standards; adheres to CRS guidelines; and is responsive to the legislative needs of Members and committees of Congress. Establishes and maintains relationships with Members and committees of Congress.

Directly supervises attorneys in the section and may, as directed by the Assistant/Deputy Assistant Director, coordinate legal research and analysis on other projects and initiatives involving members of the American Law Division. Leads staff toward meeting the Library’s and CRS’s vision, mission, and goals by managing performance, communicating effectively, fostering continuous improvement and innovation, building and maintaining relationships, leveraging diversity and inclusiveness, thinking systematically and inspiring change. Exhibits commitment to the Library’s Supervisor Core Competencies.

Contributes to and helps develop CRS-wide strategic goals and priorities. Communicates those goals and priorities to staff. Oversees implementation of CRS-wide policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines by staff. Effectively communicates management initiatives to staff and ensures that staff can acclimate to the changing needs of Congress and the CRS research community. Conveys to senior management information and concerns from staff. Performs supervisory functions relative to section staff.

The Research Manager’s responsibilities will include:

• Ensuring that attorneys produce objective, authoritative analysis that enables Congress to assess legal issues that inform the legislative agenda, congressional oversight of executive agencies, and the scope of Congress’s power;
• Critically reviewing written analyses produced by legislative attorneys to ensure accuracy, authoritativeness, objectivity, and overall quality;
• Identifying and coordinating legal research and analysis conducted by the section on matters of legislative importance  and, as directed by the Assistant/Deputy Assistant Director of the American Law Division, engaging in such functions for Division-wide projects;
• Proactively establishing relationships with committees of jurisdiction, building long-term relationships with clients, and taking initiative to seek out new congressional contacts for CRS;
• Managing congressional requests for legal analysis from attorneys in the section;
• Collaborating with other managers to ensure an integrative approach to the work by fully identifying significant issues facing Congress, developing legal analytical approaches to address them, and applying appropriate resources;
• Managing and supervising legislative attorneys, communicating performance standards/expectations to staff, assessing performance and giving feedback; and
• Performing special assignments as directed by the AD/DAD.

Candidates with management experience in intensive legal environments (e.g., law firms, federal agencies), who have strong interpersonal skills, and are capable of leading a highly motivated, talented team of attorneys committed to providing Congress nonpartisan, authoritative, objective legal analysis are encouraged to apply. Prior experience as a judicial clerk on a federal or state court benefits any candidate.

CRS is fully committed to workforce diversity. Interested applicants must applyhttps://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/516764200.