Job Opportunities

This vacancy is open to US Citizens or those authorized to work in the United States as of the opening date listed on this vacancy announcement.

Salary Range:  $49,157 to $113,362/year
First Year Salary (no professional experience): $49,157

PDS Overview: 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, investigators, 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. 

Major Duties: This position works in concert with legal defense counsel to investigate allegations of suspected violations of criminal statutes and possible defenses to those allegations.  An investigative specialist, under the supervision of the assigned attorney, plans and conducts complete investigations of criminal cases as assigned.  This is accomplished by interviews with witnesses, researching records, contacting various sources for the purpose of obtaining facts, signed statements, etc.  An investigator verifies and corroborates all information obtained, analyzes findings, and presents findings in comprehensive reports for use by attorneys.  An investigator will perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications: In order to qualify for this position, an applicant must have sufficient education and experience to perform the duties of the Investigative Specialist position.  Also, applicants will be assessed based on the listed desired knowledge, skills, and abilities below.

Educational Requirement: All candidates selected for the position must possess: A Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration, Law, Criminology, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, English, Journalism/Mass Communication and/or other related field.

Highly Desirable Qualifications:  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 MS Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat (PDF), Criminal Justice Database usage, Social Media, criminal defense related data input/analysis and/or other proprietary software;
• The willingness to learn and utilize proprietary and evolving technology as related to investigations is also desirable.

Qualifications Required for the PDS Grade 7

All candidates must possess the above noted educational requirement.

Qualifications Required for the PDS Grade 9 

To qualify for the grade 9, a candidate must possess the aforementioned educational requirement and the following experience:

Specialized Experience:  Candidates must have at least one year of specialized experience as a criminal defense staff investigator or criminal defense investigative specialist (investigating felony level cases), including experience with word processing, criminal justice database usage, social media usage, data input, and criminal defense related data analysis.

Qualifications Required for the PDS Grade 11  

To qualify for the grade 11, a candidate must possess the aforementioned educational requirement and the following experience:

Specialized Experience:  Candidates must have at least three years of specialized experience as a criminal defense staff investigator or criminal defense investigative specialist (investigating felony level cases), including experience with word processing, criminal justice database usage, social media usage, data input, and criminal defense related data analysis.

Notes on Educational Requirements

NOTE: Education must be from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.  Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/search.aspx.  All education claimed by applicants will be verified by PDS.

Special Instructions For Foreign Education: Applicants who are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.  For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

 

Other Requirements: (1) Incumbent must have insured, reliable and available transportation; (2) incumbent must have no convictions as defined in D.C. Code Sec. 14.305(b)(1) (Impeachment by evidence of conviction of crime); and (3) applicant must be a US Citizen or have current authorization to work in the United States.

All candidates are subject to a criminal background check.

How you will be evaluated: Your application package includes your cover letter, resume and requested supporting documents. 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.

Rating: Your application package will be rated and ranked among other applicants, based on your experience, education, training, and awards relevant to the duties of this position. Your rating can be lowered if your application package is not supported by the requested documents.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application package will be referred to a hiring manager for consideration at which time you may be invited to participate in a selection interview.

Interview Structure:  Those who are selected for interviews will be required to interview via Web-X, Skype, or some other communications platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Benefits: 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)

How to Apply: You must provide a complete application package which includes: (1) a cover letter as noted above; (2) a resume, including email address; (3) copies of unofficial college transcripts upon application; and (4) a list of three references that include name, address, telephone number, and a statement of how each reference is able to evaluate your skills.  Copies of official college transcripts will be required if selected for the position.

Your cover letter must include your qualifications as follows:

• Your knowledge of the basic principles and techniques of investigating.  Please detail your knowledge of criminal defense investigations and/or mitigation.

• Your skill in conducting interviews and recognizing, exploring, and exploiting leads.

• Your skill in communicating clearly both orally and in writing.

Please submit your application package via email as MS Word or PDF documents to the following email address: PDSHRMailbox@pdsdc.org. The vacancy number and title of the vacancy (#PDS 2021-05, Investigative Specialist) MUST APPEAR on the subject line of the email. Application packages submitted with missing information can affect referring application package to the hiring manager. PDS does not accept application packages by mail or fax.

Application packages for vacancy announcement # PDS-2021-05 Investigative Specialist, will be reviewed.  

For applicants with disabilities, this organization provides reasonable accommodations which will be decided on a case-by-case basis. To request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or interview process, please contact Steve Yu, Lead HR Specialist at (202) 824-2339 or at SYu@pdsdc.org.

PDS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and an E-Verify Participating Agency

PDS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and E-Verify Participating Agency.