Title: Section Chief, Health Professions
State Role Title: Senior Assistant Attorney General
Hiring Range: Commensurate with Experience
Pay Band: UG
Agency: Attorney General & Dept of Law
Location: Office of the Attorney General
Agency Website: https://www.oag.state.va.us/
Recruitment Type: General Public - G
Job Duties
Chief Objective
This attorney serves as Section Chief of the Health Professions Section and will take on the duties of managing and supervising Section attorneys and staff, aid in advising the Virginia Department of Health Professions (DHP), and supervise and engage in administrative prosecutions involving misconduct before Virginia health professions boards.
The Section conducts the administrative prosecution of cases involving health care practitioners licensed, certified, or registered to practice in Virginia and certain health care establishments permitted to operate in Virginia before the 13 thirteen health regulatory boards within the Virginia Department of Health Professions (DHP). The Section’s attorneys provide advice and representation of a prosecutorial nature to the boards within DHP, including Virginia’s Boards of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, Counseling, Dentistry, Funeral Directors & Embalmers, Long-Term Care Administrators, Medicine, Nursing, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Psychology, Social Work, and Veterinary Medicine. This attorney manages the three attorneys in the Health Professions Section to ensure that high quality legal services are provided in a timely manner. In addition, this attorney manages their own caseload as necessary.
The Attorney General’s Office has a three-day in-office policy, with two days of telework per week after an initial probationary period for new hires.
Work Tasks and Duties:
• Manage and supervise Section attorneys and staff.
• Review legal advice provided by Section attorneys.
• Review pleadings and memoranda on legal issues arising in DHP cases.
• Assist Section attorneys in providing legal advice as necessary.
• Represent the Commonwealth at formal hearings.
• Draft and review memoranda of agreement between OAG and DHP.
• Serve as liaison between DHP and OAG on disciplinary matters.
• Draft and finalize weekly reports for senior OAG management.
• Draft and finalize annual report of the Section’s accomplishments.
Minimum Qualifications
• Active license in good standing to practice law in Virginia.
• Knowledge of Virginia law.
• Knowledge of Virginia administrative law.
• Knowledge of statutory and regulatory law pertaining to professions regulated by the Health Professions Boards within DHP.
• Knowledge of legal research procedures and the ability to perform thorough legal research.
• Knowledge of the preparation of Notices of Formal Hearings, Statements of Allegations, Formal Hearing Orders, Summary Suspension Orders, and Consent Orders for disciplinary cases before the DHP Boards.
• Knowledge of the preparation and presentation of arguments for cases before the DHP Boards.
• Knowledge of the practices and procedures of the OAG.
• Knowledge of the applicable rules and procedures in administrative proceedings before the DHP Boards.
• Ability to manage attorneys and administrative staff.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to use good judgment, tact, and discretion.
• Ability to quickly assimilate oral and written data, to analyze facts, and draw logical conclusions.
• Ability to express legal interpretations or conclusions of law clearly and logically in oral and written form.
• Ability to provide direction to other attorneys and to adjudication specialists and consultants within DHP.
• Ability to maintain records, and prepare reports and correspondence related to work,
• Ability to coordinate and function as a lead attorney in highly complex cases.
• Ability to identify and analyze issues and problems in human relations and to recommend and implement solutions.
• Ability to organize work, establish priorities, and maintain good interpersonal relationships and communications with other attorneys and support staff, as well as effective working relationships with other government officials and the general public.
• Ability to maintain favorable public relationships and good interpersonal relationships with DHP staff.
• Ability to supervise and lead.
• Ability to persuade and build consensus.
• Computer literacy to include proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Net Documents, and LawBase.
• Ability to manage time effectively and to record time for billing purposes.
Special Instructions
Please use the Virginia Jobs website (https://www.jobs.virginia.gov) to submit your application. Applications sent to the Recruitment email address below will not be reviewed for the hiring process. We do not entertain phone calls or email messages inquiring about application status; instead, please log in to the PageUp/RMS system for updates on your application’s status.
Contact Information
Name: OAG Recruitment
Phone: 804-786-2071
Email: recruitment@oag.state.va.us
In support of the Commonwealth’s commitment to inclusion, we are encouraging individuals with disabilities to apply through the Commonwealth Alternative Hiring Process. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants will need to provide their AHP Letter (formerly COD) provided by the Department for Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS), or the Department for the Blind & Vision Impaired (DBVI). Service-Connected Veterans are encouraged to answer Veteran status questions and submit their disability documentation, if applicable, to DARS/DBVI to get their AHP Letter. Requesting an AHP Letter can be found at AHP Letter or by calling DARS at 800-552-5019.
Note Applicants who received a Certificate of Disability from DARS or DBVI dated between April 1, 2022- February 29, 2024, can still use that COD as applicable documentation for the Alternative Hiring Process.
The Commonwealth of Virginia is located in the South Atlantic region of the United States. It was the 10th state to be admitted to the Union on June 25, 1788. Home to approximately 8 million residents, Virginia is the 12th most populous state in the United States. The capital is Richmond, and its most populous city is Virginia Beach.
The narrative history of the Commonwealth of Virginia often begins with the founding of Jamestown in 1607, near what is now modern day Williamsburg, Virginia. Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in the New World, and the Virginia General Assembly, established on July 30, 1619, is now recognized as the oldest legislative body in the western hemisphere. When Virginia became a royal colony in 1624, the robust tobacco trade that had been developing in Virginia helped establish the American colonies as a powerful economic force. During the American Revolution, Virginia witnessed the final surrender of British forces at Yorktown and later became known as the birthplace of many revolution-era figures and future American presidents, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. To date, 8 United States presidents have been born in Virginia, more than in any other state.
The modern government of Virginia is nearly identical in structure to the federal government, and is divided into 3 branches, these being the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches. The Virginia General Assembly is comprised of the 100-member House of Delegates and the 40-member Senate. A governor and lieutenant governor are elected every 4 years. Governors cannot be elected to or serve consecutive terms. Virginia’s judicial system consists of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia, the Circuit Courts, and the lower General District Courts and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts. Virginia has 13 electoral votes in presidential elections, and possesses 11 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
