About HIDTA: The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program enhances and coordinates drug control efforts among local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies. The program provides agencies with coordination, equipment, technology, and additional resources to combat drug trafficking and its harmful consequences in critical regions of the United States. The Washington, D.C./Baltimore area is a HIDTA headquarters. The mission of the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA is to improve interagency collaboration, promote the sharing of accurate and timely information and intelligence, and provide specialized training and other resources to W/B HIDTA participating law enforcement and treatment/ criminal justice agencies that will enhance their ability to provide superior services and meet their operational objectives. Through its state-of-the-art Intelligence Center, its highly trained and skilled professional staff will enhance and help to coordinate drug control efforts throughout the W/B HIDTA region and, when practical, in other areas of the country with the aim of bringing about measurable reductions in drug availability, drug trafficking, drug use and the social public health, public safety and financial consequences associated with illicit drugs.
About the United States Attorney’s Office: The Alexandria Office of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia is located in Old Town Alexandria. As part of the metropolitan Washington, DC area, many federal agencies including the Defense Department, the CIA and Washington’s two major airports are located in the Alexandria jurisdiction. Washington’s cultural, social, and historic attractions are just minutes away. The District also has offices in Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News.
About the Virginia Office of the Attorney General: The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is the Commonwealth's law firm. Its clients are the Virginia state government and the state agencies, boards and commissions that compose that government. The full time staff includes a chief deputy attorney general, six deputy attorneys general and approximately 150 senior assistant and assistant attorneys general, 40 additional full time lawyers appointed as special counsel to particular agencies, and 140 legal assistants, legal secretaries and other professional support staff.
Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered: The Office of the Attorney General has partnered with the Eastern District of Virginia to offer an Assistant Attorney General the opportunity to be cross-designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) and work out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria. The Alexandria Office has nearly 60 SAUSA’s, on detail from a variety of military, state, and federal agencies, who handle a wide variety of complex cases, including drug trafficking, money-laundering, firearms and other violent offenses, white-collar, immigration, and environmental crimes, as well as misdemeanor offenses occurring on federal property. Currently, three SAUSA’s serve in the Narcotics Unit of the Alexandria Office. These SAUSA’s handle a caseload equivalent to the Assistant United States Attorneys in the Narcotics Unit that includes, but is not limited to, prosecuting cases involving drug trafficking, money-laundering, illegal firearms possession and use, racketeering, and murder. The individual hired for this position will be assigned to the Narcotics Unit. As a HIDTA funded position the person selected for will be hired by the OAG as an Assistant Attorney General. That person will also be designated as a SAUSA and placed under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Alexandria division Narcotics Unit in the United States Attorney’s Office. The individual will, in addition, have reporting requirements to the OAG Special Prosecution and Organized Crime Section Chief.
Qualifications: Required qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the Virginia bar, and have at least two years post-J.D. experience, possess superior oral and written communication skills as well as strong interpersonal skills, exhibit good judgment and function with minimal guidance in a highly demanding environment.
Preferred qualifications: Experience litigating narcotics and/or violent crime cases in the federal sector or in the federal courts. Prior judicial clerkship experience is valued.
Travel: Travel within and outside the district may be required, but should be minimal.
Salary Information: Commensurate with experience.
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.
Application Process and Deadline Date: All applicants must complete an Office of the Attorney General State Employment application (attorney application form). Application available at www.vaag.com. Also please send your completed application and resume to:
Office of the Attorney General of Virginia
Human Resources Section
900 East Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
with copy to:
Raymond E. Patricco, Narcotics Unit ChiefU.S. Attorney’s Office2100 Jamieson AvenueAlexandria, Virginia 22314
No telephone calls please. Position is open until filled. Resumes must be received by June 30, 2007.
Internet Sites: This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at: www.vaag.com.
Department Policies: 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.