General Attorney (Labor and Employment Law)

Full Job Description

The U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) is seeking multiple attorneys to join our legal team as Associate Legal Advisors (ALAs) in our Headquarters Labor and Employment Law Division (LELD) in Washington, D.C.

Unless otherwise noted, you must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time on 01/28/2026.

Please note that qualification claims will be subject to verification.

Applicants should be able to efficiently produce quality legal analyses of complex and novel issues, exercise sound legal judgment, prioritize competing assignments, and work effectively independently, as part of a team, and across work units.

Applicants should be detail-oriented and have a strong interest in supporting and providing stellar client services to program offices, including law enforcement officers, policymakers, attorneys, and agency senior leadership, and must be able to tailor communications to a particular audience.

Applicants should be able to take initiative and work in a reliable, decisive, and professional manner.

Applicants should possess the following characteristics and competencies: integrity, sound professional judgment, organizational skills, decisiveness, initiative, stellar client services, the ability to function independently and cooperatively, and superior written and oral advocacy skills.

Bar Membership: You must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees.

If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 C.F.R.

§ 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 C.F.R. § 315.707.

Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission.

If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. Major Duties:

OPLA is the largest legal program in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), employing nearly 2,000 attorneys nationwide.

In addition to Headquarters in Washington, D.C., there are 24 OPLA Field Locations in more than 60 cities throughout the United States.

OPLA provides a full range of legal services to all ICE programs and offices. LELD attorneys provide guidance and training to ICE supervisors and managers on personnel management.

This includes employee relations issues, such as conduct and performance, and labor relations issues, such as negotiating with bargaining units, responding to grievances, and litigating national-level arbitrations and unfair labor practice complaints.

LELD also assists ICE managers with taking adverse actions and provides advice regarding Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints.

LELD also represents ICE before the Merit Systems Protection Board and the EEO Commission and works with the U.S. Department of Justice to defend employment claims in federal courts.

Selected attorneys will immediately be given significant responsibilities and will be expected to craft persuasive, legally supportable positions to address the needs of agency operational components.

Selected attorneys will be expected to routinely provide timely legal opinions to ICE officers and agents, division management, and leadership within OPLA, ICE, and the DHS Office of the General Counsel Headquarters.