It's the confluence of two phenomena: Google is on a hiring binge and the company is increasingly under regulators' antitrust microscope. So the search giant is looking to hire a new antitrust lawyer.

The company posted a help wanted ad on LinkedIn looking for a "Competition Counsel" at their Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. The job posting was first reported by Bloomberg.

The posting describes the role as one that both helps guide product development as well as participate in legal matters. "You'll be willing and able to work on a variety of competition matters including antitrust litigation and regulatory proceedings. You must be well suited to providing internal counseling on a wide variety of projects and business practices," according to the posting.

Regulators have ratcheted up their antitrust probes of Google as the company grows and reaches into new markets. Last month, the company signed a consent decree with the Department of Justice to secure approval for the company's $700 million deal to buy travel technology provider ITA Software. Citing antitrust concerns, a federal judge in March rejected a settlement the company struck with authors and publishers in an effort to digitize every book ever published. And in November, the European Commission opened an investigation into complaints that it was skewing search results against rivals.

Google has said, as recently as its quarterly earnings call last month, that 2011 will be the biggest hiring year in the 24,400-employee company's history.