Description:
The Department of the Government of New York City, an independently elected official, is the Chief Financial Officer of the City of New York. The mission of the Office is to ensure the financial health of New York City by advising the Mayor, the City Council, and the public of the City's financial condition. While the Comptroller's Office handles registration of contracts Citywide under its Charter mandate and the Procurement Policy Board (PPB) Rules, the Office has its own procurement needs – executing more than 200 contracts every year such as investment management services, legal services, audit services, etc.The Office seeks to hire a Contracts Counsel. Reporting directly to the Agency Chief Contracting Officer (ACCO), the duties and responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to:
- Conduct legal research, draft memoranda, and provide legal advice to the ACCO regarding City, State and Federal procurement rules, as well as contracts not subject to the City's procurement rules;
- Draft contracts, including but not limited to new contracts, renewals, amendments and assignments;
- Work with the Comptroller's Office of the General Counsel (OGC) to establish and maintain a contract template library to standardize and streamline the contracting process;
- Where directed by the ACCO, serve as the lead contract negotiator with potential contractors;
- Work with OGC and the Law Department to resolve any issues on contracts submitted for approval;
- Provide support and legal advice to the ACCO relating to all aspects of the procurement and contract-related processes for the Comptroller's sixteen bureaus including, but not limited to, solicitation development, vendor integrity and Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE); and,
- Perform other related assignments and special projects as may be required.
Qualification Requirements: Admission to the New York State Bar; and four (4) or more years of full-time relevant legal experience subsequent to admission to any bar, 3 years of which must be performing highly complex and significant legal work, drafting and negotiating documents related to government procurement/contracts, and preferably, performing functions similar to those listed in the bulleted job description list above.
The selected applicant must remain a member of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.
Minimum Qualifications:
Admission to the New York State Bar; and four years of recent full-time responsible, relevant, satisfactory legal experience subsequent to admission to any bar, eighteen months of which must have been in the supervision of other attorneys, in an administrative, managerial or executive capacity, or performing highly complex and significant legal work.
Incumbents must remain Members of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.
Preferred Skills:
Superior knowledge of the City's procurement and contracting regulations and statutes, most specifically the Procurement Policy Board rules - Demonstrated progressively responsible experience in coordinating and implementing complex contract development and negotiating activities in a multifaceted governmental setting - Demonstrated ability to handle multiple projects at the same time - Familiarity with processing procurements and contract management actions - Hands-on experience with the City's procurement and budgeting systems/applications - ideally, this includes PASSPort, among others - Excellent customer service skills as well as interpersonal and organizational skills and - Excellent oral and written communications capabilities (including proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite applications).
