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Job Description
Job Summary
Senior Legal Analyst - Administrative Unit
The Santa Monica City Attorney's Office seeks a dedicated, detailed-oriented person with five or more years of relevant work experience to join its Administrative Unit as a Senior Legal Analyst to collaborate with a small team that administers the California Public Records Act (PRA) function for the City.
Duties may include, but are not limited to:- Gathering, reviewing, redacting, and producing public records in response to complex requests under the California Public Records Act from members of the public and media;
- Providing guidance to City staff and assisting in searching for, identifying, and gathering potentially responsive records;
- Under the guidance of a Deputy City Attorney and Assistant City Attorney, interpreting and applying laws, rules, regulations, and policies; keep abreast of changes in relevant public records regulations and laws; and
- Performing various customer service and public relations tasks, including communicating with members of the public regarding public records requests and the public records process, create email search syntax to search the City’s email archive, collaborate with the City’s Record Management Coordinator on requests that require legal review or more complex responses, and maintain PRA tracking logs and calendar to adhere to PRA statutory deadlines.
- Additionally, and occasionally, providing training to CAO staff on document review and use of GovQA, train other City department staff on the public records process, present on public records at the monthly new hire presentation, create and update internal and external PRA processes, and assisting the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) records with email archive searches and responses to complex requests
Knowledge of:- Research techniques.
- Report writing.
- Principles of program planning, monitoring, implementation, and evaluation.
- Effective leading and coordinating techniques.
- Effective customer service techniques.
Ability to:- Independently manage voluminous records requests in a timely and highly organized manner
- Track and meet statutory deadlines for production of documents
- Perform duties with sound ethics and good judgment.
- Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
- Keep abreast of current developments in public records and government transparency laws.
- Maintain accurate records, including a searchable database of responses to public records requests.
- Prepare and present effective presentations.
- Establish and maintain effective and cooperative working relationships with City employees, various businesses and agencies, and the general public.
- Provide effective customer service.
- Analyze and solve administrative problems.
- Research and interpret public records laws under supervision of a Deputy City Attorney.
Skill in:- Organizing, reviewing, and reporting on large volumes of data and information. Using a personal computer and applicable software applications.
- Working effectively with persons from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds.
Preferred Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree and five years recent, paid experience that includes working in a law office (Legal Assistant, Paralegal) or five years public municipality performing complex analysis, legal research, and administrative duties. Paralegal certificate desirable. This position is part of the Public Attorney’s Legal Support Staff Union.
The hours of the position are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on alternate Fridays. This is a 9/80 work schedule. Hybrid remote work schedule is currently available. A background check will be required prior to beginning employment. Salary is dependent on qualifications/experience. The salary range are Steps 1 - 5, $107,616 - $132,852 annually. The City also offers excellent benefits. Equal Opportunity Employer.See the CAO EEO Policy on the City Attorney’s Office website . Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and the names and contact information of three references. These materials should be submitted in a single pdf document by email to: CAO.Opportunities@santamonica.gov with the subject line: “Application - Senior Legal Analyst-PRA Position - Administrative Unit”; closing date Friday, January 23, 2026, by 12:00 noon.
The City's liberal fringe benefits for full-time employment include sick leave, holiday and vacation pay, the Public Employees Retirement System, medical, dental and vision insurance, credit union, deferred compensation, tuition reimbursement, Dependent Care Assistance Plan and priority enrollment consideration at Hill & Dale Family Learning Center, Marine Park Child Development Center, and Santa Monica Early Childhood Lab School.
Closing Date/Time: 1/23/2026 12:00 PM Pacific -
Special Instructions
Please mention you found this employment opportunity on the CareersInGovernment.com job board. -
ABOUT THE COMPANY
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City of Santa Monica
Show moreSanta Monica is a beachside city of 8.3 square miles on the westside of Los Angeles County. Offering an environment of unparalleled natural beauty, the city is home to a mix of residential communities, commercial districts, and recreational venues. Recently named by National Geographic as one of the Top "10 Beach Cities in the World" and by TIME as one of the "Best Places to Live", Santa Monica features three miles of Pacific beaches and the Santa Monica Pier. Santa Monica’s residential population is approximately 93,000, increasing to an estimated 250,000 during the day with tourists, shoppers, and employees. Tourism attracts over 8 million visitors annually.
The City of Santa Monica was incorporated on November 30, 1886 and subsequently adopted a City Charter in 1945. In 1947, a City Council-City Manager form of government was established. The City Council consists of seven members elected by the community at large to four year terms.
The City of Santa Monica is a full-service city. City departments provide police, fire, a regional transportation network, water, refuse and recycling, streets, parking, planning, building, engineering, free public wifi, a high speed fiber optic network, parks, affordable housing, economic development, library, rent control, recreational, cultural, and educational services to the community.
The City-operated Big Blue Bus regional bus service provides over 16.5 million rides for customers each year, all powered by renewable natural gas. Breeze Bike Share was Southern California's first bike share system with 500 bikes at 85 locations. In 2016, the Metro Expo Line opened connecting Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles in under an hour.
The City of Santa Monica is a national leader in environmental, economic and social sustainability. The City is working toward aggressive climate action goals including: water self-sufficiency by 2020, zero waste by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2050.
The highly-rated Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District serves both Santa Monica and Malibu residents. Santa Monica College (SMC), one of the state's top two-year community colleges, serves over 30,000 full-time and part-time students on several campuses and offers more than 90 fields of study. Santa Monica's strong education institutions are complemented by the 5-star rated Santa Monica Public Library system.
Public safety is a top priority in the City of Santa Monica. Santa Monica Fire Department continues to maintain a Class 1 ISO rating, the highest possible rating.
Santa Monica has a strong and diverse economy. Known as “Silicon Beach,” local businesses are at the leading edge of the nation’s creative economy and startup scene.
Sana Monica is also home to three renowned and respected health facilities, Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente.
Connect with the City of Santa Monica by visiting www.santamonica.gov, follow @santamonicacity on Twitter, or sign up for the City's newsletter and emergency alerts at www.smgov.net/newsletter.
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