The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) is a federally funded, independent organization governed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees. PDS provides legal representation for indigent individuals who are charged with criminal offenses in the District of Columbia and face a loss of liberty. PDS has approximately 200 employees, most of whom work at the main office at 633 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. PDS’s staff consists of approximately 100 attorneys and approximately 100 social workers, investigative specialists, administrative, and technical staff. PDS is funded by federal appropriations, and all employees are entitled to participate in certain federal benefits plans: health and life insurance, federal retirement, and Thrift Savings Plan. Transferring employees will receive recognition of creditable federal service for leave accrual and retirement purposes. The investigative specialist position is located in the Investigations Division of PDS.

Employment at the Public Defender Service is at will and is not federal employment.

Additionally, the following knowledge, skills, and abilities and/or experiences are deemed highly desirable:

• The ability to fluently speak and write Spanish;
• Training and/or internship experience in criminal defense investigations;
• Training and/or experience in criminal defense mitigation;
• The skills and ability to provide quantitative and qualitative analysis and assessment of data evidence;
• Possess computing skills and proficiency in Adobe Acrobat Pro (PDF), Criminal Justice Database usage, researching Social Media content, criminal defense related data input/analysis and/or other related proprietary software;
• Experience in organizing for and/or serving the homeless, incarcerated, underserved and/or immigrant communities;
• The willingness to learn and utilize proprietary and evolving technology as related to investigations is also desirable.

Your application package includes your cover letter, resume and requested supporting documentation. Please ensure your application package includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position. Failure to provide sufficient evidence in your application package and requested supporting documents can result in a rejection of your application package. Prior to the closing date of the announcement, PDS reserves the right to conduct rolling interviews.

PDS is funded by federal appropriations, and employees are entitled to participate in federal benefits plans, federal retirement systems, and the workers compensation program.

Transferring federal employees will receive recognition of creditable federal service for leave accrual and retirement (if applicable) purposes. Benefits include:

Federal Employees Retirement Systems (retirement annuity) Thrift Savings Plan (similar to a 401K program)
Federal Employees Health Benefits (health insurance) Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (life insurance) Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program
Flexible Spending Accounts (for health care and dependent care)
Long Term Care
Parking Space (for Investigative Specialists)
Employee Assistance Program
Federal Occupational Health (access to health clinic and services)

For consideration applicants must submit the documents listed below. Failure to submit will result in an incomplete application. If you have trouble submitting your documents, please upload cover letter, resume, transcripts and narrative statement as one attachment.

Please ensure your application package includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position. Failure to provide sufficient evidence in your application package and requested supporting documents can result in a rejection of your application package.

Cover letter and traditional résumé (with day telephone and email contact); copy of graduate school transcripts but must submit original copy prior to offer/employment; narrative statement a list of three professional references to include name, address, telephone number and a statement on how each reference is able to evaluate your skills.