Listed on Orbital Diplomat 15 Sept 2026
NASA's Office of the General Counsel provides comprehensive legal services to the Agency across its full programme portfolio — from human spaceflight and science missions to commercial partnerships and institutional governance. The General Law Practice Group within the OGC focuses on employment, ethics, fiscal, information, civil rights, and other administrative law matters, and represents the Agency in formal litigation and administrative proceedings. This Attorney-Adviser position will serve as legal counsel for NASA Headquarters on employment and general law matters. The postholder will advise senior NASA managers on federal personnel law, employment discrimination, labour relations, and EEO matters; prepare legal interpretations of statutes, federal regulations, and agency directives; review proposed legislation, executive orders, and Congressional testimony; and represent NASA in litigation before federal courts, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the EEOC, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority, serving as liaison with the Department of Justice on related proceedings. For space law practitioners, this role offers embedded experience within the legal infrastructure of the world's leading civil space agency. General law experience in ethics, fiscal law, environmental compliance, information disclosure, or safety and security is explicitly desirable alongside the core employment portfolio — reflecting the breadth of NASA's institutional legal needs. The position is based at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. No security clearance required. US citizenship mandatory. Resume must not exceed 2 pages.
Juris Doctor (J.D.) or LL.B. from an ABA-accredited law school Active bar membership in good standing in any US state, territory, or DC GS-14: 1 year of specialised experience at GS-13 level including legal counsel on federal employment discrimination, labour relations, and EEO matters; litigation in federal employment or general law; and/or general law advisory in fiscal, ethics, environmental, or information disclosure areas GS-15: 1 year of specialised experience at GS-14 level including expert-level counsel on complex federal personnel and EEO matters; independent litigation management; and senior leadership advisory in general law practice areas OR: LL.M. plus 1 year of equivalent professional legal experience at the relevant level US citizenship required Resume must not exceed 2 pages; law school transcript required