Attorney

Overview

This classification is authorized to receive a starting salary rate of $8,846.00 under Pay Scales Section 5.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Office of Legal Services (OLS) is seeking an attorney to support and represent the Department’s programs on a variety of matters. This is a Permanent, Full-Time Attorney  position on the Public Health Program (PHP) house counsel team, located in Sacramento. We support CDPH and its programs in working to protect and improve the health of Californians.

This Attorney will advise public health programs within CDPH on legal issues involving public health laws, matters of departmental and programmatic authority, compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements for the conduct of state business, including those for contracting, information management, public records disclosure, open meeting laws, privacy laws, administrative hearing processes, litigation support and such other legal issues as may arise. The Attorney will also research, develop, and draft legislative language, regulations, and transactional documents.

The incumbent works under the direction of an Assistant Chief Counsel (ACC) of the PHP team within the OLS.

In July 2025, the State of California implemented the Personal Leave Program (PLP) 2025. This program temporarily reduces employees’ monthly base pay in exchange for paid leave credits. This position is subject to PLP 2025 and will have a monthly base pay reduction of 4.62% in exchange for 8 hours of leave credits through October 2026. The salary ranges shown on this job posting do not reflect the salary reduction.

Please let us know how you heard about our position by taking this brief survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CDPHRecruitment

You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement.

 

At the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), equity, diversity, and inclusion are at the core of our mission to advance the health and well-being of California’s diverse people and communities. We are genuinely and strongly committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of inclusion and connectedness where we can grow and learn together with a diverse team of employees. In recruiting for team members, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring to us and the work we do.

The Office of Legal Services (OLS) provides comprehensive legal support and services to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) programs and leadership to advance CDPH’s mission to optimize the health and safety of all Californians. OLS is comprised of four legal teams: the Office of Policy and Administrative Litigation (OPAL) team; the Public Health Programs (PHP) team; the Center for Healthcare Quality (CHCQ) team; and the Regulations, Privacy and Special Projects team. This position is for the PHP team, which provides in-house legal advice and representation to a wide variety of CDPH’s programs.

CDPH operates over 200 public health programs spanning multiple subject areas, including such topics as infectious disease surveillance and control, chronic disease and injury prevention, food, drug, and radiation safety, genetic disease screening, the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program, and the licensing of numerous health facilities, from clinics to general acute care hospitals.  These programs work on cutting edge health-related issues, including the prevention, control and investigation of infectious disease outbreaks, food safety warnings, and enforcement against illegal tobacco sales to children. The programs the PHP Team supports include most of CDPH’s 200 programs (the programs we support range from Alzheimer’s to Zika, literally from “A to Z”).  The variety of programs makes the legal work interesting and stimulating.  By supporting CDPH’s efforts to protect and improve the health of Californians you will be part of the team that makes a positive difference in the health of everyone in California.

*The salary information listed on this advertisement may not reflect recent salary increases from salary adjustments or changes in the fiscal year.

“*CDPH is an E-Verify employer.”
Department Website: https://www.cdph.ca.gov

 

Desirable Qualifications
In addition to evaluating each candidate’s relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

Excellent analytical, research, and communication skills (both written and oral)
Demonstrated ability to prioritize workload and manage multiple projects with short term deadlines
Practical problem-solving approach
Willingness to consider different ideas and find solutions
Knowledge of California’s privacy laws, state contracting and administrative laws, and Public Records Act
Ability to perform difficult legal work, draft legal opinions, analyze proposed legislation and regulations, negotiate effectively, and present legal opinions/recommendations clearly and logically in both verbal and written form