Paralegal

ABOUT THE ROLE

: San Diego Community Power (“Community Power”) is a not-for-profit public agency providing cleaner energy to the San Diego region. Formed in 2019, Community Power is the second largest Community Choice Aggregator (“CCA”) in California, serving nearly 1 million customer accounts across its member agencies: the Cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and National City, as well as the unincorporated areas of San Diego County.

Community Power is seeking an experienced, detailed-oriented, and enthusiastic paralegal to support the General Counsel (GC) and a team of two additional attorneys. The Paralegal will be responsible for a wide range of matters to support Community Power’s legal, transactional, and operational efforts. The Paralegal will work under the supervision and direction of the GC.

WHO IS COMMUNITY POWER?

Community Power is a community-driven, not-for-profit public agency providing cleaner energy to the San Diego region. Formed in 2019, Community Power is the second largest Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) in California, serving nearly 1 million customer accounts across its member agencies: the Cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and National City, as well as the unincorporated areas of San Diego County.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITES

Transactional/Operational

- Work with Community Power’s Procurement and Operational teams during solicitation development and contract negotiations by developing initial drafts and turns of solicitations and agreements or amendments utilizing existing Community Power pro formas. Turns include, without limitation, edits requested by the GC or operational teams, Quality-Control review of text, punctuation or formatting, and/or incorporating other edits that advance Community Power’s needs or purposes as identified by the GC.

- Prepare first drafts of agreements, including non-disclosure, indemnity/defense/hold harmless, or other ancillary or collateral agreements using existing forms or by researching new form language, as appropriate.

- Identify, use, or develop systems, procedures, processes, or software, as appropriate, to allow for efficient identification and tracking of issues during contract negotiations, including with regard to related, ancillary or collateral documents.

- At the direction of the GC, assist Community Power’s Procurement team with the completion of tasks related to competitive solicitations or contract negotiations for non-energy goods and services.

- Assist with and coordinate the drafting, review, and negotiations of redlining of contracts and agreements.

- Review and conduct research on insurance requirements and other related risk management tasks.

Compliance

- At the direction of the GC, conduct basic research, gather any relevant information, prepare initial responses relating to Community Power’s compliance obligations relating to Financial Interest Form (Form 700), and assist attorneys in implementing and ensuring compliance with the Public Records Act, or Brown Act, and other public agency legal requirements.

- Review, redact, or bates number documents in response to requests by members of the public or other governmental agencies.

- At the direction of the GC, communicate with and obtain information from the court, including bankruptcy courts, and other governmental agencies.

General Paralegal Responsibilities

- Assist with coordination of GC signature requests or quality control review of agreements.

- Manage the GC’s calendar and approve calendaring requests from Community Power’s Staff and organize and maintain legal files.

- Other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills to support the General Counsel and a team of attorneys.

- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Word, Excel and PowerPoint and ability to use virtual meeting and calendaring applications.

- Have high attention to detail with strong organizational and project management skills.

- Excellent time management skills, ability to effectively work independently, or in teams on multiple tasks or projects.

- Ability to act with consistency, integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.

- Have a high tolerance for uncertainty but know how to bring tasks to resolution.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, AND ABILITIES

Any combination of education and experience that would provide the knowledge and abilities listed. A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be:

The Paralegal must have a minimum of 5 years of paralegal experience. Experience with public agency contracts or procurement of services is highly desired. Experience with public agency laws, such as Public Records Act and Records Retention requirements are also highly valued. Currently, this position is expected to report to Community Power’s office a minimum of 2 days per week. (The actual days of the week that the Paralegal will work in the office will be determined by Community Power at the beginning of the Engagement).

Compensation:

Salary Range:

The position salary range is: $98,100 - $132,500; with exact compensation to be determined by Community Power, depending upon experience.

Benefits

: Standard benefits package including but not limited to:

Insurance

: Community Power covers 100% of health benefits, including medical, vision, and dental insurance, for eligible FT employees and their dependents. Also provided is a $100,000 Life & AD&D policy, STD and LTD coverage that is 100% paid by Community Power.

Retirement

: Community Power offers a 457(b) plan for employee contributions and contributes 10% of eligible compensation to the employee’s Money Purchase Plan.

Paid Time Off

: 11 holidays per year + paid winter holiday (between 12/24-12/31), 160 hours of accrued paid time off per year (increases with time in service), and 96 hours per year of accrued paid sick leave.

This job description may not be inclusive of all assigned duties, responsibilities, or aspects of the job described, and may be amended at the discretion of Community Power as needed.