Assistant Director, Administrative Law (Hybrid)

A Government Entity

  • Lacey, WA
  • Not Specified
  • Remote
  • 2025-06849
  • 118,228 - 129,360 / Yearly
  • Not Specified
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Closing Date: 28th October, 2025

Description:

Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission
Respect. Professionalism. Integrity. Accountability.
Help protect the consumers of Washington state!

Assistant Director, Administrative Law Division
Range of Consideration: The starting salary offer will be determined based on the successful candidates' qualifications within the salary range of $118,228 – $129,360 annually, Exempt Management Service (EMS) - Band 3. However, there is the ability for growth and progression increases within approved budgetary resources.

This recruitment is open through Tuesday, October 28, 2025, with the initial review of applications beginning on Friday, October 17, and weekly thereafter.

UTC reserves the right to make a hiring decision and/or choose to close or extend this recruitment at any given time. It is in your best interest to apply as soon as possible.

The Opportunity:
The Assistant Director, Administrative Law Division plays a crucial role in advancing the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC)'s mission by providing top-tier leadership and guidance to a team of administrative law judges and legal support staff, cultivating a culture of inclusion and belonging in collaboration with the division director.

This position provides direction and guidance on legal analysis and case management, reviews and approves orders, notices, compliance letters and prepares final orders in cases over which the incumbent presides without the Commissioners.

Hybrid:
Although this is a hybrid opportunity, the successful incumbent must reside within Washington state and must be available to report to the Lacey, Washington headquarters building as business needs require.

The duty station for this position is the UTC's Lacey headquarters. Employees are not compensated for travel time between their residence and the duty station.

Travel:
This position will require travel during and outside normal work hours throughout the state to meet business needs.

Who We Are:
Our mission is to protect the people of Washington by ensuring that investor-owned utility and transportation services are safe, equitable, available, reliable, and fairly priced.

We protect consumers by regulating the rates, services, and practices of private or investor-owned utilities and transportation companies to ensure they are safe, equitable, reliable, and affordable.

The UTC is continually recognized for its excellence and integrity as a regulatory agency, as we challenge the status quo and ourselves to ensure equitable outcomes for our customers and the people of Washington State.

We recognize that our employees are the key to the agency's success. We are committed to our work but value balance with our personal lives. We demonstrate our commitment to employees by providing an environment that stimulates professional growth, and offers continuing learning opportunities, meaningful work, and a comprehensive benefits package. For more information about our benefits or working at UTC, please visit our website.

What We Offer Our Employees:
  • UTC fosters an environment of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, while striving to hire and retain a workforce from the communities we serve.
  • We place importance on a healthy balance between personal and professional lives; offering flexible work schedules, wellness programs, and mobile/telework opportunities.
  • Through the state, our employees (and their families) are offered options for medical, dental, vision and basic life insurance.
  • We offer enrollment into the state retirement programs and a deferred compensation plan.
  • Full-time and part-time employees are entitled to paid holidays and one paid personal holiday per calendar year.

Duties:
Some of what you'll do:
  • Independently manages and conducts simple and complex adjudicative proceedings that often involve multiple issues, many parties of record, and development or application of novel or unique issues of law and policy. The position ensures that Commission orders reflect sound and lawful policies and principles.
  • Responsible for managing adjudications and rulemakings. The position exercises independent judgment and prepares initial orders in cases over which the position presides without the Commissioners.
  • Prepares other orders, manages the case record, and makes recommendations for Commissioners' ultimate decision on matters that are the subject of final orders.
  • Supervision of administrative law judges and legal support staff. Provides directions on legal analysis and works with administrative law judges with guidance provided to the commission, ensuring it's practical, lawful, and consistent with public interest. Responsible and accountable for providing timely and sound legal decisions.
  • Resolves legal, policy, and factual disputes as the presiding officer or mediator in adjudications and as part of a team of commission staff in rulemakings.
  • Advises the Commissioners on procedural, legal, and policy matters, and to prepare final orders.
  • Provides advanced legal analysis and writing with creative and strategic thinking, applied in matters having significant long-range impacts in constantly evolving regulatory frameworks.

Additional duties include, but aren't limited to the following:
  • Establishes, implements, and supports procedures for effective management of work within the administrative law section.
  • In collaboration with the director, communicates roles and responsibilities among administrative law staff, including roles and responsibilities of administrative law judges.
  • In consultation with director, recruit, interview, and hire staff as needed and as vacancies occur. This includes updating position descriptions, working with Human Resources to post positions, developing criteria for scoring applicants, and leading interviews.
  • Independently manage and conduct simple and complex adjudicative proceedings that often involve multiple issues, many parties of record, and development or application of novel or unique issues of law and policy.
  • Develops tools and web platforms to organize and coordinate the work of the division and manage the workload of the staff under the position's direct supervision.
  • Consults with the administrative law director on decisions that may have a substantial impact on the Commissioners and the agency.
  • Prepares other orders, manages the case record, and makes recommendations for Commissioners' ultimate decision on matters that are the subject of final orders.

Qualifications:
Required Education, Experience, and Competencies:
  • Active Washington state Bar or another state Bar Association license, as a lawyer or under judicial status.
  • Expert knowledge and work experience serving as an administrative law judge, commissioner, attorney, advisor, or other comparable position within a state or federal utility commission or in matters involving utility or other regulation, administrative law, or comparable legal issues requiring legal analysis and the application of law to fact.
  • Excellent analytical and oral and written communication skills.
  • Judicial temperament, including the ability to be objective, balance competing interests, manage administrative hearing, and develop and implement policies consistent with applicable law and record evidence.
  • Good working knowledge of rules governing the admissibility of evidence and procedural issues consistent with pertinent law.
  • Ability to work effectively as a reviewing judge of draft orders, providing constructive feedback to administrative law judges in a thoughtful and helpful manner, with the ability to resolve potential disputes with patience.
  • Ability to work effectively as part of a team with commissioners, advisors, and stakeholder representatives.
  • Demonstrated effective supervisory skills, through effectively supporting or leading a team of individuals.
  • Demonstrated strong analytical skills by effectively gathering, interpreting, and evaluating data to support decision making process.
  • Proficient ability to convey information clearly and effectively both oral and written communication.
  • Exceptional ability to work effectively as part of a team with commissioners, advisors, staff, parties, and interested individuals.
  • Effective team management skills, demonstrating conflict management skills, including ability to calmly manage disputes between litigation parties, as well as between participants in agency proceedings.
  • Proficient ability to prepare and provide accurate detail-oriented written orders in a complex litigation with multiple parties in a timely manner.
  • Proficient organizational skills and attention to detail in ensuring hearings are scheduled promptly and in accordance with established timeframes.
  • Demonstrated proficiency in keeping interested parties informed, to include but not limited to the Executive Director/Secretary and Commissioners.

Agency Core Competencies focused on: Customer Focus, Trust and Integrity, Relationship Building and Teamwork, and Achieving Results, and Professional Expertise.

Leadership Principles: