Deputy General Counsel
Agency Name: Mayor's Office of Contract Services
Position / Job Title : Deputy General Counsel
Location: 255 Greenwich Street New York NY 10007
Category : Attorney
Job Description: The Mayor's Office of Contract Services (MOCS) is a New York City oversight and service agency that manages procurement citywide, from planning and release of agency solicitations to payment of vendors. Annually, agencies procure billions in products and services from a diverse pool of vendors that represent various industries. MOCS therefore aims to ensure that the procurement process remains fair, transparent, efficient, and cost-effective. MOCS makes it easier to do business through use of end-to-end technology tools, increases transparency by publication of enriched data and hosting public hearings, and strengthens procurement operations by providing direct assistance and resources to all stakeholders. MOCS also partners with agencies and vendors to identify areas for policy reform, resulting in ongoing process improvement to reduce administrative burdens and increase the positive impact of services on communities. The MOCS Director serves as the City Chief Procurement Officer. MOCS team members operate in a collaborative, service-oriented environment, where flexibility and ability to achieve results are valued. Staff must conduct all duties relevant to their position in their assigned division and demonstrate an advanced level of expertise. This position requires a focus on aligning daily operations to the agency's strategic priorities, engage stakeholders in planning and ensure performance using well-defined success metrics and project management strategies. All staff are expected to deliver timely and quality work products and services, participate in ongoing improvement activities, proactively deepen their knowledge of procurement and government operations, and will use modern technology software and hardware to complete daily duties. This position must collaborate with other team members to implement projects, help to maintain and/or analyze operational data, and interact with external stakeholders.
Under the supervision of the General Counsel to the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (MOCS), the Deputy General Counsel provides legal advice to the City Chief Procurement Officer (CCPO), General Counsel and MOCS and agency procurement staff. Principal duties and responsibilities are as follows:
•Provide legal advice and analysis on a broad range of procurement-related matters, including:•System design and implementation protocols for the citywide online procurement portal PASSPort;
•Interviewing vendors and in consultation with the Law Department and the Department of Investigation, negotiate and draft terms of agreements with vendors to resolve integrity concerns;
•Drafting standard contract language and directives for Mayoral agencies’ use to implement various legislative and policy initiatives
•Drafting affidavits for litigation, as well as required regulatory findings and waivers;
•Monitoring and advising on legislative and policy initiatives at city, state and federal levels, e.g., environmentally preferable purchasing, M/WBE contract opportunities and prevailing wage compliance;
•Drafting testimony, regulations and policy memoranda;•Working with the New York City Council on procurement-related policy and legislation;
•Supervise MOCS’ legal work relating to other legislative initiatives and for matters before the Franchise, Concession and Review Committee (FCRC)
•Conduct vendor outreach initiatives to address procurement policies of interest to the vendor community including consulting with a broadly representative group of vendors and associations of vendors, like: representatives of the not-for-profit community, construction industry, goods sellers ,technology companies, M/WBEs, small businesses and other specific vendor constituencies, concerning current and planned procurement policy initiatives;
•Coordinate MOCS’ docket of vendor appeals of agency determinations of non-responsibility;•Draft CCPO non-responsibility appeals determinations;
•Represent CCPO as panel member on Contract Dispute Resolution Board (alternative dispute resolution tribunal), to hear and resolve vendor claims;
•Assist Law Department in drafting standard contract language for Mayoral agencies’ use, particularly with regard to insurance, construction projects and human services programs; prepare draft affidavits for litigation and provide advice on responsibility determinations and disputes with Comptroller;
•Coordinate the CAPA processes for all procurement-related regulations and in consultation with the Law Department, draft non-PPB, procurement related regulations;
•Provide training and technical assistance to agencies to facilitate best practices in researching and determining vendor responsibility, based upon such factors as business integrity, financial resources ,organizational capacity and prior performance;
•Review information, ascertain supporting documentation and prepare narrative for entries to the PASSPort data base, to indicate responsibility issues affecting particular vendors; respond to vendor inquiries/disputes regarding caution information;
•Respond to FOIL requests, draft memoranda for minor rules violations and PASSPort disclosure waivers;
•Draft and review agency contracts;•Review reports of outside activities and make recommendations to agency head regarding conflicts of interest matters and outside employment waivers;
•Provide legal advice to agency human resources and administrative staff on employment and operational matters.
Admission to the New York State Bar; and four years of 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.
Graduation from an accredited college with a baccalaureate degree; or Graduation from an accredited community college plus two years of experience with administrative, analytic, coordinative, supervisory or liaison responsibilities; or
Four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent plus four years of experience as described in “2” above; or
A satisfactory equivalent combination of education and experience.
New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.
External Applicants, please go to www.nyc.gov/jobs and search for Job ID#: 629439. Current City Employees, please go to www.nyc.gov/ess and search for Job ID#: 629439. Mayor’s Office of Contract Services is an equal opportunity employer. Mayor’s Office of Contract Services recognizes the unique skills and strengths gained through military service. Veterans and service members of the U.S. Armed Forces are strongly encouraged to apply. Special accommodations provided to applicants with disabilities. Please contact MOCS Disability Service
Facilitator at disabilityaffairs@mocs.nyc.gov or 212-298-0734 only to request an accommodation. No other phone calls or personal inquiries permitted. For technical assistance, please use the following supported browsers: Chrome 35 and above, Firefox 24 and above, Internet Explorer 9 and above, and Safari 6 and above. If you encounter any errors, please clear your cache (web browser history). For instructions, please visit https://a127-jobs.nyc.gov/psc/nycjobs/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?Page=NYC_EHIRE_HELP_FL&Action=U&. When navigating this website, you should use only the links and navigational buttons within the pages. Using your web browser’s BACK, FORWARD or REFRESH buttons may cause loss of data or lead to unintentional log outs.
Link to Application: https://cityjobs.nyc.gov/