MELS Director and Counsel Position Available In New York, New York

MELS Director and Counsel District Council 37 New York, NY Job Details Full-time $175,000 – $195,000 a year 1 day ago Benefits Health insurance Dental insurance 401(k) Paid time off Pension plan Vision insurance Life insurance Qualifications Microsoft PowerPoint Director Microsoft Excel Law Doctoral degree Microsoft Office Doctor of Law Analysis skills Supervising experience Mentoring Law office Office management Senior level Analytics 10 years

Full Job Description Job Vacancy/Posting:

Director of MELS and Counsel (Municipal Employees Legal Services) DC 37 Health & Security Plan New York, New York June 2025 DC 37 Health & Security Plan’s Municipal Employees Legal Services (MELS) provides legal representation to over 200,000 eligible DC 37 members, retirees and their families. We are currently seeking an experienced attorney to be the Director of MELS Operations and Counsel whose primary mission is to ensure that high quality legal services are provided to our clients by the MELS staff consisting of 100 employees including 60+ attorneys, 20+ legal assistants, social workers, and administrative staff. The MELS Director of Operations and Counsel will be responsible for managing MELS’ departments, teams and processes with the objective of identifying and implementing opportunities for improvement, efficiencies and professional development all toward the provision of quality legal services for DC 37 members. Working with and reporting to the DC 37 Health & Security Plan (“H&S”) Administrator and Associate Administrator, the MELS Director is expected to engage in strategic planning, technology management and data analytics as well as performing oversight of MELs’ legal practice, recruitment, staff development as well as provide critical leadership.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Oversight of MELS daily operations with Supervising Attorneys regularly assessing and evaluating MELS’ legal practice and client relations expectations. 2. Lead strategic projects and initiatives, creating work plans and deliverables with the goal of optimizing MELS’ productivity and proposing innovative technological solutions. 3. Evaluate information technology needs of MELS, staff training needs, and thereafter implement and organize training. 4. Develop change management plans for each initiative that acknowledges all aspects of the change process (e.g., analysis, strategy, implementation, training and launch) to increase productivity of MELS. 5. Collaborate with H&S Administration to build short and long term work plans and roadmaps for the future of MELS that align with overall H&S strategy. 6. Provide efficient, effective, and clearly communicated implementation guidance for the MELS attorney teams through sound assessment of environment and expectations. 7. Increase MELS operations productivity under the following rubrics: strategic planning and technology and management analytics. 8. Evaluate and improve MELS intake process, and the assignment and management of attorneys’ caseloads. 9. Create strategies and processes to manage recruiting, oversee onboarding, training, retention, and mentoring of new attorney and legal support members. 10. Coordinate delivery of MELS staff training, professional development and CLEs to attorneys.

Qualifications Desired:

1. Juris Doctor, member in good standing of NYS Bar (NJ admission also desirable). 2. 10+ years of civil law practice in New York City, including litigation, community/legal service delivery to working people. 3. 5+ years of law office management experience with a deep understanding of legal services, legal department structure, processes, best practices, and industry norms. 4. Experience in workflow analysis and developing future office processes and procedures. 5. Ability to apply technological tools to solve administrative problems. 6. Experience in supervising and mentoring, professional development training and mentoring legal assistants and attorneys. 7. Commitment to explore alternative approaches for improving legal practice and services. 8. Strong ability to develop improvement strategies using Lean Six Sigma, PDSA or other established CQI methods. 9. MS Office skills including PowerPoint, Excel, analytics and dashboard experience. 10. Extensive ability to configure workflows using process management software. 11. Detail oriented with excellent presentation, critical and analytical thinking, and problem- solving skills. 12. Ability to handle multiple complex tasks and competing priorities in a fast-paced environment 13. Superior writing and verbal communications. 14. Strong sense of accountability, taking ownership over projects, resolving issues proactively, and knowing when to ask for assistance and escalate. 15. Demonstrated leadership ability, public service interest, and representing working people.

Compensation and Benefits:

The annual salary for this position will be $175,000 – $195,000 dependent upon experience. H&S excellent family health insurance at zero ($0) cost including dental, optical, prescription drug, personal counseling services, and legal services. A defined benefit pension plan (contributory) and 401k is also provided. A generous paid time policy (e.g. sick, personal, holidays and vacation). The selected candidate must be prepared to begin this role by no later than September 8, 2025. Please note our offices are located at 125 Barclay Street in downtown Manhattan. How to Apply? Interested candidates must forward a current resume and letter of interest to H&S Executive Assistant Connie Fontana ( ) by no later than Friday, June 27, 2025. When submitting, please use the subject line “MELS Director Applicant.”

Job Type:

Full-time Pay:

$175,000.00 – $195,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k) Dental insurance Health insurance Life insurance Paid time off Vision insurance

Schedule:

8 hour shift Monday to Friday On call Weekends as needed Ability to

Commute:

New York, NY 10007 (Required) Ability to

Relocate:

New York, NY 10007: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location:

In person