TCEQ - Licensed Attorney - Deputy Director Environmental Law

Are you an experienced attorney, ready for a unique opportunity to grow with a state environmental agency?

Join TCEQ! We bring passion and drive to carry out our mission of protecting our state’s public health and natural resources.

As part of TCEQ's Office of Legal Services, you would support ensuring that commission decisions follow the law, and that rules we develop comply with statutory authority and are applied consistently. See details about what we do. This position leads our Environmental Law Division.

• Juris Doctorate degree from an accredited law school and a license to practice law that is active and in good standing with the State Bar of Texas.
• Ten years or more of experience practicing environmental law.
• Five years or more experience with TCEQ environmental permitting and/or related proceedings.
• Five or more years of experience counseling clients before regulatory agencies, or representing regulatory agencies, such as TCEQ.
• Ten or more years of experience preparing filings for, and participating in, administrative, state/federal civil, and/or appellate court hearings.

• Administer and direct the Environmental Law Division in carrying out the mission of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
• Provide highly developed leadership and direct the resources, operations, and output of the Environmental Law Division; ensure Senior Attorneys are informed of applicable performance measures that apply to their work and the work done by the staff they supervise.
• Provide complex legal advice to management and staff in the Offices of Legal Services, Air, Waste, Water, Compliance & Enforcement, the Executive Director, and the Commissioners (uncontested matters). Coordinate with the Office of the Texas Attorney General and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on civil matters and serve as a liaison with federal and state agencies on environmental issues.
• Testify, present before, and meet with local, state, and federal governmental bodies, legislators, and other associations concerning agency environmental policies and procedures.
• Participate in preparing and presenting, as appropriate, agenda items before the Commission. Coordinate with the division Senior Attorneys on litigation strategy for contested permitting matters.
• Monitor and evaluate state and federal regulatory, statutory, and judicial developments and assess their effect on agency environmental programs.
• Certify compliance with Administrative Procedures Act rule making requirements.
• Direct the division budget and strategic planning to maximize division resources.
• Oversee staff development by reviewing employee performance, including participating in employee conferences, as appropriate, and coordinating with Senior Attorneys in developing training curriculum. Ensure new employee performance plans are administered in a timely manner in accordance with agency policy, including a well‑written description of tasks and standards.
• Serve as division contact to the agency Records Management Program concerning records retention, storage, access, and destruction.

• Juris Doctorate degree from an accredited law school and a license to practice law that is active and in good standing with the State Bar of Texas.
• Ten years or more of experience practicing environmental law.
• Five years or more experience with TCEQ environmental permitting and/or related proceedings.
• Five or more years of experience counseling clients before regulatory agencies, or representing regulatory agencies, such as TCEQ.
• Ten or more years of experience preparing filings for, and participating in, administrative, state/federal civil, and/or appellate court hearings.

Employees in this classification series may research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure, including but not limited to a communication infrastructure system, cybersecurity system, electric grid, hazardous waste treatment system, or water treatment facility. See Tex. Business & Commerce Code Section 117.001(2). Accordingly, the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure is a requirement to…