Conveniently located on the west coast of Florida between Tampa and Fort Myers, the City of North Port is a vibrant, fast-growing community and home to 81,823 residents. Covering 104 square miles, North Port is the largest city in Sarasota County and is accessible via I-75 and Tamiami Trail. The City operates under a Commission-Manager form of government.
Under the general direction of the City Attorney, the Assistant City Attorney provides a wide range of professional legal services to the City Commission, City departments, and advisory boards and committees. Performs related administrative and professional work as required, including contracts, ordinances, resolutions, and legal support for other municipal operations and departments.
Due to the growth of North Port and related municipal services, the City Attorney’s Office is expanding to add a third Assistant City Attorney position to its client-focused team, for a total of five attorneys. The ideal candidate will be adept at handling numerous files in diverse practice areas, be detail-oriented, have excellent writing skills, be a self-starter, and work well in a collaborative environment. The new Assistant City Attorney should have considerable knowledge of the principles, methods, materials, and practices of legal research, in addition to substantive knowledge of relevant state and federal law and their application to the essential functions of the job.
The successful candidate will be skilled in conducting research on complex legal issues and drafting sound legal opinions and will be able to analyze and define problems, identify alternative solutions, estimate consequences of proposed actions, and implement recommendations in support of goals. Someone who can interpret and apply legal principles and precedents in addressing complex legal problems is desired.
A minimum of five years of work experience as a practicing attorney is required, a substantial amount of which has been in the practice of local government law or a related field, such as land use and zoning, eminent domain, procurement/public finance, public records, and Sunshine Law. At least three to five years of experience in local government law is preferred. A comparable amount of relevant training, education and/or experience may be substituted for the above qualifications. The selected candidate must have an active Florida Bar license and be in good standing with the Florida Bar. The City Attorney’s Office has adopted a flexible work environment to provide employees the opportunity to work both in the office and remotely.
The City of North Port offers a competitive salary in the range of $102,195 - $152,815 depending on qualifications and experience. Outstanding benefits package offered, including Florida Retirement System (FRS).
