Clerk of Court

Position: Clerk of Court

Location: Wheeling, WV

Salary Range: JSP 15-16 (136,908 – $195,000). Salary is subject to periodic adjustment based on Court’s filings levels and is commensurate with qualifications and experience. An applicant hired at the JSP 15 level will have promotion potential to a JSP 16 without further competition.

Application Closing Date: March 2, 2023

Position Overview:

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Clerk of Court. The Clerk is located at and operates from the Court’s headquarters in Wheeling, WV. In addition, the Clerk supervises a satellite office in Clarksburg, WV.

The Clerk of Court is appointed by the Bankruptcy Judge under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. §156. This is a high-level management position. The Clerk of Court serves as the chief executive officer for virtually all the non-judicial functions of the Court and, as such, manages a wide variety of administrative and operational activities. Included among the Clerk’s responsibilities are planning and budgeting, personnel administration, research and problem solving, policy development and implementation, financial management, information technology management, security, liaison with various court and administrative components of the judiciary, public relations and information resource services, case flow and calendar management, space and facilities management, procurement, court reporting and transcript management, records management, drafting local rules and internal operating procedures, and statistical compilation, analysis, and reporting.

Qualifications:

• Experience: A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible administrative experience in public service or business that provides a thorough understanding of organizational, procedural, and human aspects of managing an organization. At least three of those ten years must have been in a position of substantial management responsibility. An attorney who is in the active practice of law in either the private or public sector may substitute said active practice on a year-for-year basis for the management or administrative experience requirements.
• Educational Equivalents: A bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized standing may be substituted for three years of the required general experience. A postgraduate degree in public, business, or judicial administration from such a college or university may be substituted for one additional year of required general experience. A degree from an accredited law school may be considered as qualifying for two additional years of the required general experience.
• Preferred Qualifications: Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school. Experience in court management.

Benefits:

The Court is part of the Judicial Branch of the United States Government. Employees are not part of the Office of Personnel Management’s civil service classifications or regulations and are considered “at-will” employees. Electronic Fund Transfer for payroll deposit is required. Court employees are entitled to the following benefits:
• Paid annual and sick leave;
• Optional enrollment in Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage;
• Optional enrollment in group Federal Dental and Vision Insurance Program;
• Optional participation in the Federal Employees Life Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance, Professional Liability Insurance, Commuter Benefit Program, and Flexible Spending Plan;
• Mandatory participation in the Federal Employee Retirement System;
• Automatic enrollment in Thrift Saving Plan with matching contributions up to 5% of pay;
• 11 paid holidays per year; and
• Time in service with other federal agencies and military service is taken into consideration when computing employee leave benefits.
Please visit https://www.uscourts.gov/careers/benefits to learn more.

Application Process:

To apply, please submit a single PDF document to wvnb_hr@wvnb.uscourts.gov containing (1) a cover letter detailing your qualifications and experience as they related to the position, (2) a resume that includes the name, title, and contact information of three professional references, (3) an Application for Judicial Branch Federal Employment (Form AO 78) available at https://www.uscourts.gov/forms/human-resources-forms/application-judicial-branch-federal-employment. Please be advised that candidates are required to complete questions 18-20 of the AO 78 regarding criminal history.

Please reference Position Announcement 23-1 in the email subject line. Only those candidates selected to be interviewed will be contacted.

Conditions of Employment: 

Applicants must be United States citizens or be eligible to work in the United States. The Clerk is a highly sensitive executive position within the federal judiciary. Therefore, the final candidate will be subject to a ten-year background investigation, and subsequent favorable suitability determination. The successful candidate will be subject to reinvestigation every five years thereafter. Employment is considered provisional until the successful completion of the background investigation.

The U.S. Courts require employees to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Judiciary Employees.

The Court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, or to withdrawal the job announcement.

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia is an Equal Opportunity Employer.