General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner of Legal Affairs

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) keeps New York City healthy, safe, and clean by collecting, recycling, and disposing of waste, cleaning City streets and vacant lots, and clearing snow and ice. DSNY is the nation's largest municipal sanitation agency, with nearly 10,000 employees, 59 district garages, and a fleet of more than 5,000 trucks, cars, and other types of equipment. The Department clears litter, snow, and ice from approximately 6,500 miles of City streets and removes debris from vacant lots as well as abandoned vehicles from City streets. DSNY is seeking a strategic and highly-experienced attorney to serve as General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs ("General Counsel"). Reporting to the Commissioner, the General Counsel serves as the chief legal officer for the agency. This executive-level role oversees the Department's Bureau of Legal Affairs, a team of attorneys and related support staff with expertise in environmental law, labor law, procurement, litigation, legislative and regulatory matters, and employee discipline. The responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Executive Legal Strategy:

  Serve as Agency General Counsel and primary legal advisor to the Commissioner and senior leadership on all matters impacting agency operations and policy. Provides legal opinions to Department officials in collaboration with the Corporation Counsel and Counsel to the Mayor.

• Regulatory & Environmental Compliance:

  Oversee legal strategies related to waste management, policy, and compliance with local, state, and federal laws (including environmental review requirements and DEC and EPA regulations).

• Administrative Law:

  Represents the Department in consultations and administrative proceedings with other City, State, and Federal agencies.

• Procurement and Contracts:

  In collaboration with the Agency Chief Contracting Officer, provides oversight for the drafting and negotiation of agency procurements, including high-value service agreements for waste management, complex construction contracts, and concession agreements essential to NYC's waste management infrastructure.

• Labor and Employment:

  Advises on sensitive labor issues and manages discipline-related matters that require the input or guidance of the Bureau of Legal Affairs for a diverse workforce of 10,000 civilian and uniformed employees and multiple labor unions.

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Leadership:

Provides guidance and strategic direction for the Bureau's attorneys across a wide spectrum of compliance and policy initiatives, including but not limited to Freedom of Information requests, record retention, HIPAA, privacy policies, legally required reports, mitigation of conflicts of interest matters, and equal employment opportunity and reasonable accommodations.

EXECUTIVE AGENCY COUNSEL

• 95005 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

• Excellent leadership, organizational and communication skills.
• Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills, including managing teams and working with peers across the organization.
• Outstanding attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver under strict deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing data to inform policy development.
• Experience in advising on and/or managing complex litigation in multiple disciplines, including but not limited to: labor and employment law, environmental law, administrative law, and procurement and contracts.
• Experience with compliance, enforcement, and legislation of environmental regulatory standards.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education's website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/ Residency Requirement 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. Additional Information The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.