Legal Affairs Manager (Manager 3)

About the role

Join us in shaping Seattle’s streets! At the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), we connect communities, build safer streets, and create a more sustainable city. With a bold vision for the future, we’re tackling big challenges: making travel safer, cutting carbon emissions, and ensuring reliable, affordable transportation for everyone—no matter who they are or where they live.

We’re looking for a thoughtful, collaborative leader to guide our Legal Affairs team and help shape how SDOT engages with the law in service of Seattle’s communities. In this role, you’ll work across the entire organization and partner closely with colleagues in other City departments—including the Seattle City Attorney’s Office—to build strong, trusted relationships that support sound decision-making.

As the Legal Affairs Manager, you will design, implement, and continuously improve internal processes and programs that help our teams navigate complex legal and risk issues with clarity and confidence. You’ll play a key role in helping staff across the department understand and engage with these programs, making legal concepts approachable and actionable. You’ll also bring people together, assembling and participating in cross-departmental, matrixed teams.

In this role, you’ll serve as a trusted leader and advisor to SDOT executives and staff, offering grounded, practical counsel on issues where law, public policy, and transportation meet. You’ll be SDOT’s internal subject matter expert on relevant case law, codes, ordinances, and regulations. You also regularly consult with the City Attorney’s Office to confirm key legal advice and analysis as needed—helping ensure our decisions are both legally sound and aligned with the values we uphold as a public agency.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership
  • Manage a team of seven subject matter experts across three key legal areas: tort law and civil procedure (including discovery), public disclosure, and real property transactions and management.
  • Coordinate and analyze SDOT’s public disclosure, records preservation, and claims and litigation team bodies of work.
  • Provide guidance and legal insight in administrative, municipal, data privacy, constitutional, contract, and federal grant law.
• Claims and Litigation
  • Oversee the department’s claims and litigation portfolio, with a primary focus on tort matters.
  • Communicate and guide best practices for SDOT’s risk management policy and loss prevention efforts.
  • Support and regularly consult with the City Attorney’s Office, which litigates cases for SDOT.
  • Advise executive leadership on litigation strategies and settlement considerations.
  • Serve as the department’s client representative to the City Attorney’s Office and outside counsel during mediation and arbitration.
• Public Disclosure
  • Lead the department’s Public Disclosure and Records Retention Program in alignment with City policies and the Washington State Public Records Act.
• Real Estate and Property Management
  • Manage SDOT’s jurisdictional properties that are not used for right-of-way purposes.
  • Research original acquisition funding sources and evaluate implications for surplus sale or property acquisition.
  • Develop, communicate, and implement strategies for disposing of excess properties in ways that support Citywide goals.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

• Education: Juris Doctor degree and current Washington State Bar admission or the ability to be admitted within three months of hiring.
• Experience: Seven years of professional experience as a licensed attorney, including experience managing a team of support staff.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience that demonstrates the ability to perform the position duties.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong public speaking and presenting experience; able to digest and report complex legal concepts to a nonlegal audience in simple business-focused language.
• Three years of project management experience for large, complex, business process improvement projects.
• Three years of experience in strategic planning, policy analysis, and development for senior management and/or elected officials’ staff.
• Three years of experience negotiating complex agreements with local, state, and federal agencies.
• Knowledge of land use and zoning regulations.
• Experience with the surplus sale, management, or acquisition of real property on behalf of federal, state, or local governmental or quasi-governmental agencies.
• Experience with right-of-way ownership and title.
• Ability to effectively work in a multi-cultural workplace with a diverse customer base.

Work Environment

• Work is typically performed in a hybrid work environment in which a minimum of 3 days of work is completed in a City office, and up to 2 days of work is completed remotely in a regular 40-hour work week.
• May require current licensure by the Washington State Bar Association, or the ability to become licensed within 6 months of hire.
• Current Washington State driver's license or evidence of equivalent mobility.

Pay

The City’s full salary range for this position is $61.90 - $92.84 hourly.

Benefits

The City of Seattle offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Vacation, holiday, and sick leave.
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents.

More information about employee benefits is available on the City's website.