This position is in the Civil Rights Division (CRD) of OGC. The Deputy Associate General Counsel for Civil Rights reports to the Associate General Counsel for Civil Rights and provides and oversees provision of complex and highly significant legal counsel to OGC senior management officials, as well as senior officials in the Office of the Secretary, OCR, and other HHS agencies, and to other officials throughout the Executive Branch. This management role includes overseeing the legal review of all activities in relation to civil rights, conscience, and equity-related legal work conducted by the Division - including key enforcement activities, significant regulatory and guidance documents, and proposed legislation.
The Deputy Associate General Counsel for Civil Rights supervises the day-to-day activities and the work performed by attorneys in the Civil Rights Division and supervises support staff. Determines which matters have broad policy implications or are sensitive policy or enforcement matters to warrant elevation to the Associate General Counsel for Civil Rights and the Immediate Office of the General Counsel. The Deputy works to ensure consistent legal interpretations throughout the Division and with other OGC offices and maintains and effectuates administrative procedures for the Civil Rights Division.
Responsibilities of the position include exercising considerable independence, often dealing directly with the Associate General Counsel of the Division, Deputy General Counsels, the General Counsel, the OCR Director and OCR's senior staff, and with other federal agencies, including the Department of Justice. The Deputy also resolves complex and difficult matters of interpretation of the applicable statutes and regulations, oversees, and provides strategic legal counsel on the applicability of existing laws and regulations to specific and often unique and complex situations relating to assigned program areas. Further, the Deputy develops plans of service to provide legal advisory and litigation assistance to clients, recommends the staff and other resources necessary to provide such services, determines priorities, and monitor's progress. The Deputy regularly meets with client components to discuss priorities and planning. And the Deputy manages relevant litigation activities.
The Deputy provides first-level guidance and direction to attorneys, participates in making assignments, and exercises personnel functions, including performance reviews and recruitment of new civil rights attorneys and staff into CRD. The Deputy participates with the Associate General Counsel and other Division managers in the overall planning, reporting, and budgeting of the work of the Division. The Deputy plans and administers the use of human resources, fiscal, and material resources necessary to support program and policy implementation and the agency's mission and goals. The Associate General Counsel may assign other administrative duties to the Deputy, as appropriate.
In accordance with Executive Order 12564 of September 14, 1986, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is A Drug-Free Federal Workplace. The Federal government, as the largest employer in the Nation, can and should show the way towards achieving drug-free workplaces through programs designed to offer drug users a helping hand, and at the same time demonstrating to drug users and potential drug users that drugs will not be tolerated in the Federal workplace. The use of illegal drugs, on or off duty, by Federal employees is inconsistent not only with the law-abiding behavior expected of all citizens, but also with the special trust placed in such employees as servants of the public. Applicants tentatively selected for this position may be required to submit to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment and be subject to reasonable suspicion and post-accident drug testing upon hiring. If required to submit to urinalysis, the appointment to the position will be contingent upon a negative applicant drug test result. In order to demonstrate commitment to the HHS goal of a drug-free workplace and to set an example for other Federal employees, employees not in a testing designated position may volunteer for unannounced random testing by notifying their Drug-free Federal Workplace Program Point of Contact upon hiring.
