Assistant City Attorney I/II/III

City of Mes; Mesa (AZ); On-site; USD 109,000 - 184,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Mesa is recruiting for Assistant City Attorney I–III to support the Land Use Unit and potentially the Administrative Unit. The assignments may include land-use planning, zoning matters, public safety and real estate matters.

These are non-classified, at-will positions with progression through the attorney levels based on experience and performance. Salary ranges are listed for I, II, and III levels, and the office seeks attorneys with strong writing and legal research skills to

Qualifications

• Graduation from a school of law, ABA-accredited, with a Juris Doctor degree.
• Active membership in the State Bar of Arizona at the time of hire.
• Experience in municipal or public law or land use is desirable for certain assignments.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal research, drafting, representation and practical legal advice to City clients on departmental matters, programs and projects.
• Advise City departments and officials on land use, development law, and related matters.
• Draft and negotiate complex agreements, policies, ordinances or resolutions.
• Represent the City at administrative hearings and attend meetings as counsel for boards and committees.
• Mentor or lead attorneys in higher classifications and handle more complex work over time.

Education

Juris Doctor

Job description

The first review of all applications will be Tuesday, September 8, 2026, and weekly thereafter until filled.

The current vacancy will be filled at either the Assistant City Attorney I, II, or III level. The City Attorney’s Office is recruiting primarily for an assignment in the Land Use Unit, where the attorney will advise City departments and officials on a wide range of land use and development matters. Accordingly, land use and development law experience is preferred. Depending on the needs of the City Attorney's Office and the applicant’s experience, the successful applicant may instead be assigned to the Administrative Unit.

These classifications have been designated as non-classified, non-merit system, at-will positions.

Assistant City Attorney I ($108,674.59 - $151478.50 annually)

An Assistant City Attorney I performs professional civil municipal legal work involving a wide variety of legal issues, cases, and projects. Depending on assignment, an Assistant City Attorney I’s practice area will be in administrative law, land use and development law, or civil defense litigation. All assignments require excellent writing and legal research skills. Attorneys in this classification provide legal research, drafting, representation, and practical legal advice to City clients on departmental matters, programs, and projects. An Assistant City Attorney I works initially with the assistance of a more experienced attorney, with progression to handling their duties independently. Some assignments may involve specialization or a primary focus (such as land-use planning, public safety, environmental law, public utilities, procurement, human resources, public records law, commercial real estate transactions, or the defense of federal claims); however, employees are expected to assist in a variety of areas as this class performs related duties as required or assigned.

Administrative and Land Use Municipal Law Units: Administrative and Land Use Unit attorneys must have knowledge of general municipal law impacting the City as they serve as legal counsel to the City Council, City management, and the City’s numerous departments, boards, and committees. Assigned attorneys are responsible for: providing legal services to the City Council and City management; performing difficult professional and administrative legal work, including the drafting and negotiation of agreements, policies, ordinances, and resolutions; representing the City at administrative hearings; and attending meetings as counsel for the various advisory boards and committees. Administrative Unit attorneys generally handle matters involving human resources, City-owned facilities, finance, purchasing, public service programs, and public safety. Attorneys assigned to the Land Use Unit work primarily on issues related to the development and use of public and private land, including advising planning and zoning matters, advising on the construction of buildings and infrastructure, and drafting complex real estate or land use-related legal documents. Two assignments of note within the Administrative and Land Use Units are the Utilities/Environmental Assignment and the Police Legal Advisor Assignment. Responsibilities for the Utilities/Environmental Assignment attorneys include handling legal issues involving environmental and natural resource topics such as water rights; negotiating water leases; liability for environmental contamination; and all legal issues related to water, sewer, gas, and electric utility services. Attorneys with the Police Legal Advisor Assignment work with the Mesa Police Department on criminal and civil law issues, such as advising on department policy, criminal investigations, and constitutional law matters; providing training to new recruits; the negotiation and drafting of contracts; and other public safety matters.

An Assistant City Attorney I receives general supervision from a Deputy City Attorney who reviews work through conferences and meetings. An Assistant City Attorney I may also receive training or assistance with assigned duties from an Assistant City Attorney II or III. Work requires initiative and independent judgment within established guidelines. Employees in this class may progress by noncompetitive promotion to Assistant City Attorney II upon meeting the specific criteria-based promotion requirements of experience and performance. This class is distinguished from the Assistant City Attorney II class by the structured guidance provided to Assistant City Attorney I employees, the relative complexity of assigned work, and the progression toward independently handling a full range of matters. This class is FLSA exempt-professional.

Assistant City Attorney II ($119,788.24 - $166,968.88 annually)

An Assistant City Attorney II performs professional civil municipal legal work involving a wide variety of legal issues, cases, and projects. Depending on assignment, an Assistant City Attorney II’s practice area will be in administrative law, land use and development law, or civil defense litigation. All assignments require excellent writing and legal research skills. Attorneys in this classification generally provide practical, timely legal advice to City clients on departmental matters, issues, and projects. An Assistant City Attorney II performs most work with independent judgment and discretion, while more complex or novel issues are handled with the assistance of a more experienced attorney with progression to handling these duties independently. Some assignments may involve specialization or a primary focus (such as land-use planning, public safety, environmental law, public utilities, procurement, human resources, public records law, commercial real estate transactions, or the defense of federal claims); however, employees are expected to assist in a variety of areas as this class is responsible for performing related duties as required.

Administrative and Land Use Municipal Law Units: Administrative and Land Use Unit attorneys must have knowledge of general municipal law impacting the City as they serve as legal counsel to the City Council, City management, and the City’s numerous departments, boards, and committees. Assigned attorneys are responsible for: providing advanced legal services to the City Council and City management; performing difficult professional and administrative legal work, including the drafting and negotiation of complex agreements, policies, ordinances, and resolutions; representing the City at administrative hearings; and attending meetings as counsel for the various advisory boards and committees. Administrative Unit attorneys generally handle matters involving human resources, City-owned facilities, finance, purchasing, public service programs, and public safety. Attorneys assigned to the Land Use Unit work primarily on issues related to the development and use of public and private land, including advising on planning and zoning matters, advising on the construction of buildings and infrastructure, and drafting of complex real estate or land use-related legal documents. Two assignments of note within the Administrative and Land Use Units are the Utilities/Environmental Assignment and the Police Legal Advisor Assignment. Responsibilities for the Utilities/Environmental Assignment attorneys include handling legal issues involving environmental and natural resource topics, such as water rights; negotiating water leases; liability for environmental contamination; and all legal issues related to water, sewer, gas, and electric utility services. Attorneys with the Police Legal Advisor Assignment work with the Mesa Police Department on criminal and civil law issues, such as advising on department policy, criminal investigations, and constitutional law matters; providing training to new recruits; the negotiation and drafting of contracts; and other public safety matters.

This class is distinguished from the Assistant City Attorney III classification by the latter’s responsibility for senior level legal decision-making; responsibility for more complex work, high profile/high exposure cases; specialization in a specific area of the law and the ability to independently perform these duties at the highest technical level of expertise; and working as the mentor or lead attorney with less experienced attorneys. In addition, employees in this class may progress by noncompetitive promotion to Assistant City Attorney III upon meeting the specific criteria-based promotion requirements of experience and performance. Work requires considerable exercise of initiative and independent judgment, and general direction is received from a Deputy City Attorney. An Assistant City Attorney II may also receive training or assistance in the employee’s job duties from an Assistant City Attorney III. This class is FLSA exempt-professional.

Assistant City Attorney III ($132,091.65 - $184,119.73 annually)

An Assistant City Attorney III performs professional civil municipal legal work involving a wide variety of legal issues, cases, and projects. Depending on assignment, an Assistant City Attorney III’s practice area will be in administrative law, land use and development law, or civil defense litigation. All assignments require excellent writing and legal research skills. Attorneys in this classification generally provide practical, timely legal advice to City clients on departmental matters, issues, and projects. An Assistant City Attorney III performs work with independent judgment and discretion. Some assignments may involve specialization or a primary focus (such as land-use planning, public safety, environmental law, public utilities, procurement, human resources, public records law, commercial real estate transactions, or the defense of federal claims); however, employees are expected to assist in a variety of areas as this class is responsible for performing related duties as required.

Administrative and Land Use Municipal Law Units: Administrative and Land Use Unit attorneys must have knowledge of general municipal law impacting the City as they serve as legal counsel to the City Council, City management, and the City’s numerous departments, boards, and committees. Assigned attorneys are responsible for: providing advanced legal services to the City Council and City management; performing difficult professional and administrative legal work, including the drafting and negotiation of complex agreements, policies, ordinances, and resolutions; representing the City at administrative hearings; and attending meetings as counsel for the various advisory boards and committees. Administrative Unit attorneys generally handle matters involving human resources, City-owned facilities, finance, purchasing, public service programs, and public safety. Attorneys assigned to the Land Use Unit work primarily on issues related to the development and use of public and private land, including advising on planning and zoning matters, advising on the construction of buildings and infrastructure, and drafting of complex real estate or land use-related legal documents. Two assignments of note within the Administrative and Land Use units are the Utilities/Environmental Assignment and the Police Legal Advisor Assignment. Responsibilities for the Utilities/Environmental Assignment attorneys include handling legal issues involving environmental and natural resource topics such as water rights; negotiating water leases; liability for environmental contamination; and all legal issues related to water, sewer, gas, and electric utility services. Attorneys with the Police Legal Advisor Assignment work with the Mesa Police Department on criminal and civil law issues, such as advising on department policy, criminal investigations, and constitutional law matters; providing training to new recruits; the negotiation and drafting of contracts; and other public safety matters.

This class is distinguished from the Assistant City Attorney II class by its responsibility for senior-level legal decision-making; responsibility for the most complex work, high-profile, or high-exposure matters; specialization in a specific area of the law and the ability to independently perform these duties at the highest technical level of expertise; and serving as a mentor or lead attorney for less experienced attorneys to assist in their training and development. Lead or mentoring responsibilities are professional and project-based and do not include formal supervisory authority unless separately assigned. Employees may progress to this class by noncompetitive promotion upon meeting the specific criteria-based promotion requirements of experience and performance. General direction is received from a Deputy City Attorney. This class is distinguished from the Deputy City Attorney class, which has formal managerial and supervisory responsibility for an assigned legal team. This class is FLSA exempt-professional.

Please refer to the links below for the full job descriptions and additional information regarding assignments, preferred qualifications, and essential functions.

Employee Values: All employees of the City of Mesa are expected to uphold and exhibit the City's shared employee values of Knowledge, Respect, and Integrity.

Assistant City Attorney I

Minimum Qualifications Required. Graduation from a school of law, accredited by the American Bar Association, with a Juris Doctor degree.

Special Requirements. Active membership in the State Bar of Arizona at the time of hire.

Preferred/Desirable Qualifications. A strong background in contract drafting is highly desirable and preferred. For the Administrative and Land Use Units, work experience involving municipal or public law, or land use is desirable.

Assistant City Attorney II

Minimum Qualifications Required. Graduation from a school of law, accredited by the American Bar Association, with a Juris Doctor degree. At least two years of experience in the practice of law.

Special Requirements. Active membership in the State Bar of Arizona at the time of hire.

Preferred/Desirable Qualifications. Experience in municipal or public law is highly desirable. For the Administrative Law and Land Use Units, a strong background in drafting and negotiating contracts or legislation is preferred.

Assistant City Attorney III

Minimum Qualifications Required. Graduation from a school of law, accredited by the American Bar Association, with a Juris Doctor degree. At least four years of progressively responsible experience in the practice of law.

Special Requirements. Active membership in the State Bar of Arizona at the time of hire.

Preferred/Desirable Qualifications. Experience in municipal or public law is highly desirable. For the Administrative Law and Land Use Units, advanced experience advising public-sector clients, drafting and negotiating complex contracts or legislation, or handling complex civil litigation is desirable.

Assistant City Attorney I: https://apps.mesaaz.gov/jobdescriptions/Documents/JobDescriptions/cs5238.pdf

Assistant City Attorney II: http://apps.mesaaz.gov/JobDescriptions/Documents/JobDescriptions/cs5609.pdf

Assistant City Attorney III: http://apps.mesaaz.gov/JobDescriptions/Documents/JobDescriptions/cs5714.pdf