Senior Counsel

The Division of Petroleum Market Oversight (DPMO or the Division) at the California Energy Commission seeks an Investigative Counsel (Attorney III / Attorney). The Division is the first-in-the-nation petroleum market oversight agency and Division attorneys have an opportunity to work directly and closely with the states principal energy policymakers.

Under the general direction of the Assistant Division Chief, the Investigative Counsel will be responsible for advising the Division, which operates as an independent statutory authority with the administrative support of the California Energy Commission. The Division conducts independent oversight and analysis of the transportation fuels markets for the protection of consumers by identifying market design flaws, market power abuses, and any other manner by which market participants act to harm competition or act contrary to the best interests of consumers. The Division also provides guidance and recommendations to the Governor, members of the Energy Commission, and the Legislature on issues related to transportation fuels markets.

The Investigative Counsel will provide legal advice and support to DPMO on implementation of Senate Bill X1-2 (Stats. 2023, 1st Ex. Sess. 2023), which added chapter 4.6, Article 3, to Division 15, of the Public Resources Code, and perform a variety of functions, including:

Provide legal advice concerning competition-related matters that impacts transportation fuels markets, including antitrust analyses and counseling.
Perform difficult and complex legal work related to investigations, including drafting subpoenas to compel attendance, testimony, and obtain evidence and production of any documents concerning current and historical pricing and sales data and contracts with other petroleum industry participants, and refer potential violations to the Attorney General.
Coordinate and facilitate communications with other state and federal agencies working on similar issues.
Provide legal advice on a variety of related matters, including laws concerning confidential information, conflicts of interest, and transportation decarbonization policy issues.

Minimum Qualifications (MQs): The MQs for this classification can be found at Attorney Series - CalHR . The documents you submit in your application package must highlight how you meet the MQs. If the MQs are not met, you will not be considered for this position.

Education Information: If you are using education to meet the minimum qualifications for this classification, please provide your unofficial transcripts. Applicants who completed their education outside of the United States (with foreign degrees/transcripts) must provide evaluated transcripts. The transcript evaluation must state the number of units to which foreign coursework is equal. Foreign education evaluation services can be found at . Official transcripts and official foreign degree transcripts will be required prior to appointment. If you are not using education to qualify for this classification, you do not need to submit transcripts. To bypass the required document, select Choose/Upload and select Bypass File.

Please let us know how you heard about this position by taking a brief survey at CEC Recruitment Survey .

The CEC supports a hybrid workplace model with office-based and remote-centered workers. Limited in-person attendance and occasional travel may be required based on the needs of the division. Regular and consistent attendance is essential to successful performance. This position is remote-centered, which means the incumbent works 50 percent or more of their time from an alternate work location.

Teleworking is only available for employees who reside in California. You must be located in California and provide your in-state address prior to your start date.