Paralegal 2

WASHINGTON UTILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

Respect. Professionalism. Integrity. Accountability.

Help protect the consumers of Washington state!

Paralegal 2

Salary Consideration: Range 55, Step A ($59,844) – Step L ($78,468) annually.

The starting employment offer will be determined based on the successful candidates’ qualifications. Typically Step M of the pay range is a longevity step. 

This recruitment is open until Sunday, December 1, 2024, at 11:59pm.

 UTC reserves the right to render a hiring decision and/or choose to close or extend this recruitment at any given time.

The Opportunity:

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) is seeking to fill the role of Paralegal 2 within the Legal Support section of the Administrative Law Division. This position will be responsible for providing a range of legal administrative support to the staff and leadership of the Administrative Law Division. Including assisting in hearing preparations, litigation management, records management, and additionally maintains the agency library.   

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 needed. 

Travel: 

Occasional travel may be required, which could be outside standard business hours, to meet agency 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, 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. 
• Throughout a calendar year, employees receive a minimum of 14 days of vacation leave per year and 11 paid holidays and 1 personal holiday in addition to accruing sick leave.

Our Values:

• Respect - We treat every person and interaction with consideration and goodwill.
• Professionalism - We are committed to excellence in our work and conduct.
• Integrity - We do the right things for the right reasons - trusting others to do the same.

UTC Leadership Principles: 

Consistently reflect the commission’s values in how you behave, interact with others, and in the decisions you make. Among those, actively support the direction of the agency. Work cooperatively on issues and to find solutions that meet the needs of the whole commission, not just individual section needs. Communicate and carry out the decisions of the management team in a complete and timely manner. 

Our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Competencies:

1. EDI Knowledge, Understanding, & Commitment. 
2. Self-Awareness and Commitment to Growth. 
3. Cultivating Mutually Beneficial and Trusting Strategic Partnerships. 
4. Inclusive Excellence & Allyship. 

The Position: 

Reporting to the Division’s Assistant Director, performs routine substantive legal work. Tasks include assisting in hearing preparation and litigation management; drafting commission orders and other legal documents; and gathering and organizing information to track and manage legal records and processes. This position also maintains the agency Library.

What you’ll do: 

Working closely with team members, provide substantive legal support to the Administrative Law Division. You’ll compose legal correspondence, draft notices, and orders in adjudications and rulemakings for the ALD Director or Executive Director’s review and signature. Proofread, edit, and format various legal documents prepared by the Commissioners or Administrative Law Judges for processing.

This position has oversight of the agency’s library with tasks including processing items being added to the collection along with media returning from patron usage, creating requisitions for renewal of serial publications, cataloging and indexing the agency’s library resources in the state catalog, and maintaining the physical library collection and library space.

Additional duties include, but aren’t limited to the following: 

• Assist Administrative Law Judges at various stages of the adjudicative process, including drafting notices, drafting orders, and preparing exhibit lists.
• Review requests for mitigation of penalty assessments and draft orders granting or denying mitigation and/or requests for hearing for the Executive Director’s review and signature.
• Review requests for payment arrangements and draft orders granting or denying those requests for an ALJ’s signature.  
• Receive and process serial publications, including loose-leaf filing, routing, and table-of- contents service.
• Locate, collect, log and identify, compile, organize, analyze, maintain, and track legal records and factual information when received and follow up when not received.
• Provide information to internal and external customers in response to inquiries regarding commission and ALD processes, procedures, policies, and legal requirements.
• Provide legal administrative support to ALD Director, ALJs, and supervisor.
• Schedule hearings, public meetings, and court reporters, and arrange for hearing rooms and resources, both local and statewide.
• Lead annual adoption by reference rulemaking.
• Schedule meetings/training for ALD staff. Prepare training requests and other administrative forms.

Required Qualifications: 

High school diploma or GED and two (2) years of paralegal or equivalent experience.

Position Specific Competencies:

Demonstration of:

EDI Competencies (expected of all employees): 

1. EDI Knowledge, Understanding, & Commitment.
2. Self-Awareness and Commitment to Growth.
3. Cultivating Mutually Beneficial and Trusting Strategic Partnerships.
4. Inclusive Excellence & Allyship.

UTC Values (expected of all employees):

1. Respect: We treat every person and interaction with consideration and goodwill.
2. Professionalism: We are committed to excellence in our work and conduct.
3. Integrity: We do the right things for the right reasons- trusting others to do the same.

UTC Core Competencies (expected of all employees):

1. Accountability - With courage, we hold ourselves and each other accountable for exhibiting respect, professionalism, and integrity.
2. DEI Knowledge, Understanding, & Commitment - Ability to be exposed to, know, and understand the language and concepts of DEI and be committed to being part of creating, maintaining, and improving a diverse, equitable, respectful, and inclusive workplace.

3. Self-Awareness and Commitment to Growth – Engages in self-reflection, lifelong learning, and growth.

4. Cultivating Mutually Beneficial and Trusting Strategic Partnerships - Conducts themselves in a manner that builds trust, enhances work relationships, and meaningfully partner and engage with those they serve and serve with.
5. Inclusive Excellence & Allyship – Ability to demonstrate that all people are valued and engaged as members of the group, team, organization, or community through equitable, inclusive, and respectful behavior.
6. Measuring Success and Improvement – Ability to develop, implement, evaluate, and continually improve strategies that promote equity and inclusion in their organization and with the communities they serve.
7. Customer Focus – Responsive to both internal and external customers. Works with customers to identify needs; assumes responsibility for own role in meeting those needs. Ensures commitments to customers are met. Receptive to customer feedback.
8. Results Focus – Accepts personal accountability for individual results or share of team results. Manages workload and interpersonal relationships to achieve results: prioritizes tasks appropriately, overcomes obstacles, works with others as necessary, and meets deadlines and quality standards.
9. Communication Skills – Demonstrates communication skills (reading comprehension, writing, listening, speaking) appropriate to the position. Shows respect and courtesy in interpersonal communications.
10. Adaptability/Flexibility – Open to new ideas. Responds constructively to changing and stressful situations. In consultation with supervisor, adjusts plans to meet changing needs.
11. Self-Development – Demonstrates proactive learning. Keeps knowledge and skills up to date. Solicits and accepts constructive feedback. Seeks developmental assignments to improve skills. Turns challenges into learning opportunities.
12. Continuous Process Improvement – Utilizes Lean tools and principles to continuously identify improvements, solve problems, and improve work processes. Participates on process improvement projects/teams. Actively engages in section/division huddles and incorporates visual management into daily work.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Completion of legal secretarial courses offered by a community college or business school.
• Knowledge of legal terms, forms, and documents and how to process them. Knowledge of processes and procedures to support legal hearings, meetings, and rulemaking procedures.

READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMPLETELY: 

• This position is represented by the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE). 
• This position is overtime exempt per the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• Ensure the accuracy, spelling, and grammar of your application and any requested attachments before submitting.

How to Apply: 

If you’re interested in joining our Team, please read the instructions below carefully; click “Apply” at the top of the page to begin the process.   Your application will only be considered complete if the following attachments are submitted in addition. Please note: a resume will not substitute for completing the "work experience" section of the application or vice versa.

1. Letter of Interest describing how you meet the position qualifications and why you believe you are the ideal candidate. 
2. Resume detailing your applicable experience and education.
3. References: At least three (3) professional references with current telephone numbers and email addresses; one (1) contact MUST be your current or most recent supervisor.

The initial screening of candidates will be solely based on the contents and completeness of the application, including answers provided to the Supplemental Questionnaire, along with the required attachments - letter of interest, resume, and references submitted as part of the application process. 

All information may be verified, and documentation may be required for verification. Candidates may be disqualified if the education and/or work experience does not include information used to meet the minimum qualifications of the job.

The UTC is an equal opportunity employer. We want to make sure you have an equal opportunity to join our team. Our commitment is making sure current and future employees are treated fairly and equally without regard to age, sex (including gender identity), race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status, or religious or political affiliation.

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact humanresources@utc.wa.gov.  For TTY service, please call the Washington Relay Service at 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6384.

For more information about the UTC, please visit:

www.utc.wa.gov, www.twitter.com/wautc and www.facebook.com/wautc

The State of Washington:

http://access.wa.gov