Supervisory Administrative Officer

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• $100K — $120K *
Legal & Accounting
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of relevant experience in managing administrative and legal operations.
  • Proven leadership capability in supervising diverse teams, ideally in legal or administrative contexts.
  • Strong background in developing and implementing administrative workflows that enhance operational effectiveness.
  • Expertise in advising leadership on resource requirements and organizational priorities.
  • Experience in evaluating and improving administrative processes through technology and standardization.

Responsibilities

  • Manage the administrative and legal support operations for a divisional team of over 200 attorneys and staff.
  • Supervise a team of approximately 20 administrative personnel, balancing workloads and assessing performance.
  • Oversee the intake and assignment process for a high volume of legal matters and requests annually.
  • Lead efforts to standardize and automate administrative workflows for improved efficiency.
  • Coordinate onboarding processes for new attorneys and staff, ensuring readiness for operations.
  • Evaluate staffing and development needs, supporting recruitment and training initiatives.
  • Advise division leadership on staffing and administrative operations critical to organizational success.

Benefits

  • Access to a comprehensive benefits package as a federal employee.
  • Eligibility for various incentives, including moving expenses and student loan repayment.
  • Potential for a work-life balance with flexible work options as a federal employee.
  • Opportunities for professional development and training to enhance career growth.
Full Job Description
Summary

This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Council (OGC), located in Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Kansas City, Missouri; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia.

This announcement will close at 11:59 PM, on the day that 250 applications have been received or the closing date of the announcement, whichever comes first.

Duties

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As a Supervisory Administrative Officer, you will:

  • Serve as the Division's principal official for managing its administrative and legal support workforce and coordinating support operations.
  • Direct and manage administrative and legal support operations for a division of more than 200 attorneys and staff, ensuring services are organized, responsive, and aligned with Division priorities.
  • Supervise approximately 20 paralegals, operations specialists, and support staff, assigning work, balancing workloads, evaluating performance, coaching employees, and addressing conduct or performance issues.
  • Oversee intake, tracking, routing, and assignment of thousands of legal matters and requests annually, ensuring work is promptly and accurately directed to appropriate attorneys, managers, or teams.
  • Evaluate administrative workflows and implements improvements through standardization, technology, automation, consolidation, and reassignment of responsibilities to improve operational effectiveness.
  • Lead administrative onboarding of attorneys and staff by coordinating systems access, credentials, equipment, workspace, records, orientation requirements, and other resources needed to begin work.
  • Assess staffing and developmental needs, supports recruitment and selection activities, facilitates cross-training, and advise leadership on workforce composition and utilization.
  • Advise Division leadership on staffing, administrative operations, resource needs, and organizational priorities and represent the Division on administrative matters with Department-level offices.


Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required
  • Selective Service: Males born after December 31, 1959, must be registered or exempt from Selective Service - http://www.sss.gov.
  • If not previously completed, a background security investigation will be required for all appointees. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Must meet time in grade requirements.
  • One-year probationary period may be required.
  • If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System.
  • All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.
  • Financial disclosure statement may be required.
  • Bargaining Unit Position: No
  • Drug Screening Required: No
  • Research Position: No
  • Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.


Qualifications

ALL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

Your resume (limited to no more than 2 pages) must include detailed information as it relates to the responsibilities and specialized experience for this position. Evidence of copying and pasting directly from the vacancy announcement without clearly documenting supplemental information to describe your experience will result in an ineligible rating. This will prevent you from being considered further.

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Specialized Experience requirements as noted below.

Specialized Experience:

GS-15: You must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-14 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing (3) of the (4) duties listed below:

  • Planning and managing administrative operations by developing and maintaining standardized procedures for intake, routing, and tracking of high-volume legal matters, ensuring timely and accurate processing and consistent execution of critical support functions.
  • Identifying operational gaps and implementing process improvements to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and continuity of administrative and/or legal support services.
  • Advising senior leadership on administrative operations, staffing concerns, resource requirements, or management matters affecting organizational priorities.
  • Supervising staff through work assignment, workload management, performance evaluation, and resolution of employee conduct or performance issues.


Documenting Experience:

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume.

Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

In accordance with Office of Personnel Management policy, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable, however, when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignment. The documentation must indicate whether the duties were performed full time or, if part time, the "percentage of times" the other duties were performed. It is expected that this documentation is included in the employee's official personnel record. In order to receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate documentation of such experience as indicated above.

NOTE: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through national Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to gain employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. If such experience is on a part-time basis, you must provide the average number of hours worked per week as well as the beginning and ending dates of the experience so it can be fully credited.

Time-in-Grade Requirement: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying). You must include an SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one) that supports meeting this requirement with your application package.

OPM Qualification General Policies Website

www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=app

Education

Education may not be used or combined to qualify for this position.

Additional information

Salary: The salary range indicated in this announcement will be adjusted to include locality payment for selected duty location. General Schedule locality pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.

INCENTIVES

Incentives may be authorized; however, this is contingent upon multiple factors, including funds availability. If authorized, certain incentives may require you to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a period of up to 3 years. Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid. Incentives may include the following: moving expenses, recruitment or relocation incentive; student loan repayment, superior qualifications appointment, creditable service for annual leave for prior non-federal work experience or prior uniformed military service, etc.

Applicants selected for this position will be subject to reasonable suspicion and post-accident drug testing upon hiring.

Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA): To be eligible for a VEOA appointment under Merit Promotion consideration, the veteran must be: 1) a preference eligible; or 2) a veteran separated after 3 or more years of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions (you must submit a DD214-member copy 4).

Special Hiring Authorities for Veterans - https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job-seekers/veterans/veterans-preference/#contentSpecial Hiring Authorities for

Military Spouses and Family Members - https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job-seekers/spouses-of-active-duty-military-members/#contentPeople With

Disabilities (Schedule A) - https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/individuals-with-disabilities/

Career Transition Assistance Program/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP/ICTAP): For information on how to apply as an CTAP/ICTAP eligible see http://opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#ictap. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 85.0 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To receive selection priority for this position, individuals on the RPL must meet the qualification requirements, complete all required assessments and be rated as qualified. RPL candidates are ranked using Category Rating procedures.

Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Human Resources Office.

For additional information about USAJOBS visit the Help Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

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