Federal Position Descriptions
Print

General Counsel

General Counsel, Department of the Treasury
Responsibility
Management Scope

In fiscal 2015, the department had $485,623 million in outlays and 84,050 total employment. The Office of General Counsel provides legal and policy advice to the secretary and other senior departmental officials. The General Counsel also is the head of the Treasury Legal Division, a separate bureau within the department that is composed of approximately 2,000 attorneys and 1,500 support staff located in Treasury offices and bureaus. The Office of General Counsel includes two general counsels, four principal assistant general counsels and three principal tax counsels. The Legal Division is made up of the Office of General Counsel and the chief counsels of Treasury’s bureaus, excluding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serves as the chief legal officer of the department and as the senior legal adviser to theSsecretary, the Deputy Secretary and other senior departmental officials
• Heads the Treasury Legal Division and, as such, has responsibility for all legal work in the department
• Major program areas include banking and finance; enforcement and intelligence; general law, ethics and regulation; international affairs; and tax

Strategic Goals and Priorities
[Depends on the policy priorities of the administration.]
Requirements

• Broad understanding of all aspects of the department’s activities, including the enforcement of immigration laws, the prevention of terrorism, the combating of the illegal movement of people and goods to and within the United States and the safeguarding and securing of cyberspace.
• Leadership and management experience

Competencies

• Collaboration & Influencing: Works effectively with peers, partners and others who are not in the line of command.
• Strategic Orientation: Demonstrates complex thinking abilities, incorporating both analytical and conceptual abilities to manage and develop plans and strategies.
• Results Orientation: Drives for improvement of results, as demonstrated by a track record of substantially enhancing the performance of the organization under this individual’s leadership. Sets appropriate metrics and tracks progress and results in line with the administration’s policy objectives.
• Team Leadership: Inspires teams to achieve excellence by attracting and developing exceptional talent in the organization. Fosters an environment of openness, respect and desire for achievement.

Past Appointments
  • Priya Aiyar (2015 – 2017) (Acting), Deputy General Counsel at Department of Treasury; Deputy General Counsel at Department of Energy; Deputy Chief Counsel at National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
  • Christopher Meade, (2012 – 2015), Deputy General Counsel at Department of Treasury; Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP; Law clerk to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and to Judge Harry T. Edwards of the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
  • George Madison (2009 – 2012), Executive Vice President and General Counsel at TIAA-CREF; Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Comerica Corporation; Partner at Mayer Brow
AGENCY

Department of the Treasury

Mission: The Department of the Treasury is the executive agency responsible for promoting economic prosperity and ensuring the financial security of the United States.

COMPENSATION

Level IV $161,900 (5 U.S.C. § 5315)1

REPORTS TO

Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

SENATE COMMITTEE

Finance

Appointee Tracker

Check out our Political Appointee Tracker

Go to the tracker
Footnote
  1. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Public Law 115-31, May 5, 2017), contains a provision that continues the freeze on the payable pay rates for certain senior political officials at 2013 levels during calendar year 2017.
This position description was created with the help of Egon Zehnder, a global executive search firm.
More federal position descriptions