Land Law Examiner
What you'd do
A Land Law Examineranalyzes land records to determine ownership, rights, and legal document validity. These positions are with the Bureau of Land Management, Arizona State office in Phoenix and Yuma Field Office, Yuma AZ. Information about the location and surrounding area can be found at Phoenix, AZ and Yuma, AZ We expect to fill 2 vacancies total at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.
Major duties
Prepares a variety of legal documents and responses to protest, contest, disclaimers, and appeals. Ensures data quality and integrity by adherence to quality control standards and procedures. Present evidence and recommendations to members of the public, and land and energy related agencies. Provide advice, assistance, and instruction in legal interpretation and other information on land leasing laws. Utilizes data, systems, and applications to collect, enter, manipulate, update, and maintain data according to prescribed Bureau and program standards. Conduct legal research, analyze regulations, judicial decisions, Solicitor opinions, and other decisions that impact land adjudications. Cases may involve conflicting laws, resource conflicts such as endangered species or archeological issues, policy conflicts which may require negotiations and extensive research. Adjudicate complex cases that are received or referred for final examining decision including cases with complicated title evidence, land status issues, overlapping withdrawals, and title restrictions. Provide advice and guidance to other examiners, management, and Solicitors on general legal principles, precedent decisions, and proper application and use of public land laws. Serve as the technical expert in a combination of lands leases adjudication functions and requirements.
What you need to qualify
In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience. All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 07/31/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For GS-05: A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in any field and 3 years of experience, 1 year of which was equivalent to at least GS-4 in the career field -OR- One (1) year of experience that provided a familiarity with real property laws and legal land descriptions, land titles, tract maps, and legal documents, or other experience that involved explanation, application, or interpretation of laws, regulations, policies, etc. Such experience may have been gained in positions such as law clerk, claims examiner, contact representative, or other work dealing with laws, rules, regulations, procedures, etc. -OR- Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate undergraduate/graduate education. Undergraduate/graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. For GS-07: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-05 in the Federal service as a Land Law Examiner or directly related position. Specialized experience includes the examination of applications and claims for land or resources use; title searching; interpreting land records; work as a land appraiser; general practice of law that included involvement in legal transactions involving the acquisition, lease, or disposal of land - OR- One (1) full year (18 semester hours) of graduate level education leading to a master's degree or equivalent that included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours or course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation - OR- 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. Superior Academic Achievement (See OPM's General Policies, Application of Qualification Standards Section 4.f.) S.A.A. must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled. -OR- Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate undergraduate/graduate education. Undergraduate/graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. For GS-09: You must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-07 level that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity. Specialized experience is defined as work in the automated system for case recordation, experience generating reports from multiple automated systems, reading and interpreting customer needs from various forms of correspondence, and interpreting and applying guidance, policy, and regulations as appropriate. -OR- Education: A master's or equivalent graduate degree in a directly related field such as surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising or land use planning water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. -OR- Two full years (36 semester hours) of graduate level education leading to a master`s degree or equivalent or LL.B or J.D., in a directly related field such as surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising or land use planning water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. -OR- Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. 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; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.604. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level. Volunteer Experience: 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; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.
Before you apply
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