Paralegal Specialist

The Market Participants Division (MPD or Division) leads the Commission's efforts in protecting market participants and their funds by ensuring the financial integrity, fitness, and fair business conduct of derivatives market participants, such as swap dealers (SDs), major swap participants (MSPs), futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, commodity pool operators, commodity trading advisors, and floor brokers.

The Division consists of three branches: the Registration and Compliance Branch, the Financial Requirements Branch, and the Examinations Branch, along with their respective subordinate sections. As a Paralegal Specialist, the incumbent is primarily responsible for assisting attorneys, financial analysts, and examiners in the Division by providing comprehensive legal and regulatory support in all aspects of MPD's daily activities, including the assessment of the appropriateness of current regulations, the assessment of registrants' compliance with current regulations, the development of revised and new regulations to address dynamic market structures and operations, drafting of orders and letters, and the publishing of guidance to provide legal clarity to market participants by defining regulatory obligations. • Provide Comprehensive Legal Support: Organize and maintain examination and legal files for all aspects of the Division's operations, compile records, prepare exhibits, coordinate document collection and production; conduct document reviews; assist with tracking internal and external deadlines, and drafting examination and legal reports and summaries. • Conduct Foundational Legal Research: Use legal databases (e.g., Westlaw, Lexis) to research statutes, case law, and agency guidance on a broad range of issues. • Assist with FOIA and Privacy Act Requests: Help review and redact documents, apply legal exemptions, and draft responses to public information requests under attorney supervision. • Collaborate Across the Agency: Work with program offices and legal staff to gather information, coordinate responses, and build professional communication skills in a legal environment. Perform other duties as assigned.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency (knowledge, skills and abilities) in the following areas: 1. Legal, Government & Jurisprudence- Behavioral indicators: Interprets statutes, case law, and federal regulations; applies agency policies correctly; flags legal risks; advises on procedural requirements. 2. Research- Behavioral indicators: Frames research questions; retrieves authoritative sources efficiently; synthesizes findings; documents methods; distinguishes binding vs. persuasive authority. 3. Writing- Behavioral indicators: Writes clear, legally defensible work products; tailors tone to audiences (attorneys, financial analyst, examiners, and the public); uses citations and record references accurately. 4. Attention to Detail- Behavioral indicators: Catches inconsistencies; follows chain‐of‐custody protocols; reconciles document indexes; meets filing/production standards without errors.

Please refer to the OPM 0950-11 OPM Qualification Standards for the specific Education/Experience requirements for this position. To be creditable, education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. You must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions that are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criterion, see www.ed.gov. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you 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