General Counsel

Overview:

The Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) is an agency within the Executive Office for Administration and Finance of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a mission of serving diverse and small businesses and agencies of the Commonwealth. The mission of the SDO is to serve minority, women, veteran, service-disabled veteran, disability, LGBT-owned, and small businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including the responsibility to certify eligible businesses. Learn more about the SDO at: http://www.mass.gov/sdo.

SDO is seeking a dynamic, experienced and diversity-focused attorney for the position of General Counsel with a high level of professionalism, integrity, communication and organizational skills, and desire to work in a fast-paced, performance driven environment. The General Counsel acts as the chief legal advisor to the Executive Director of the SDO. The General Counsel provides legal expertise and advice in interpreting, implementing and enforcing the laws and regulations related to the certification of and programs available for diverse and small businesses.

Duties and Responsibilities (these duties are a general summary and not all inclusive):

The General Counsel will draft or review all legal documents for and oversee all legal issues associated with SDO programs, including the certification, compliance, supplier diversity, small business purchasing, persons with disabilities and municipal affirmative marketing programs. The General Counsel may represent the Executive Director on various committees.

The General Counsel will also:

• Review legal issues associated with certification and compliance investigations;

• Oversee the conduct of administrative hearings related to applications for certification that are denied, including certification appeal hearings held before the Division of Administrative Law Appeals (DALA) and SDO compliance reviews;

• Represent the SDO in administrative proceedings, handle all discovery and legal pleadings for SDO, provide responses to subpoenas, appear as required before administrative or judicial bodies;

• Provide legal advice, analyze, amend and recommend legislation and regulations;

• Respond to legal inquiries from the Executive Director, Executive Office for Administration and Finance, Legislature, Attorney General's Office, Governor's Office, and other agencies;

• Provide legal advice to department staff with the negotiation and development of bids, contracts, statements of work and other legal terms and providing legal advice on procurement and contract-related matters;

• Interpret, provide legal advice to internal and external customers and enforce SDO laws, regulations, executive orders, policies, contract terms, including proposed corrective action measures;

• Represent SDO in employment and labor matters, including collective bargaining, administrative hearings, investigations, or other proceedings and negotiations before the MCAD and EEOC;

• Provide litigation support for the Attorney General's Office or other entity representing SDO in court or other proceedings;

• Directly supervise the SDO Legal Counsels and any legal interns; and

• Other duties, as assigned, including serving as SDO's Diversity Officer, ADA Coordinator and Language Access Coordinator, and ensure compliance with all required reporting if needed.

Qualifications:

Applicants must have admission to the Massachusetts Bar and (A) at least five years of full-time, or equivalent part-time, professional experience in the practice of law.

Preferred Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will:

• Be passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and public service and customer focused;

• Have strong legal drafting, negotiation and management skills;

• Be able to identify potential legal issues and make independent and implement recommendations of proposed solutions;

• Be skilled in exercising a high degree of initiative, judgment, discretion and decision making to achieve objectives and resolve problems;

• Have excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication, presentation, analytical and problem-solving skills and experience;

• Be actively goal-driven, creative, forward-looking, and pre-emptive of questions;

• Be extremely organized and highly motivated and able to manage multiple complex tasks at the same time with a small legal unit as well as detail-oriented and able to work independently and also collaboratively; and

• Proficient in use of Microsoft Office products including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Excel and comfortable with and able to quickly pick up new technology/digital tools.

Preferred Experience:

• Demonstrated commitment to and experience in diversity, equity and inclusion as it relates to supplier diversity.

• Expertise in a vast and wide-ranging array of laws including, but not limited to the Commonwealth's SDO laws, M.G.L. c. 7, §§ 57-61, Affirmative Marketing law, MGL c. 7C, §6, and procurement laws including, but not limited to, MGL c. 7, §22, MGL c. 30, §51 and §52, MGL c. 149 and MGL c. 30, §39M.

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Applicants must have at least (A) six (6) years of full-time or, equivalent part-time, professional, administrative, supervisory, or managerial experience in a particular specialty (i.e. scientific, professional, or technical) and must possess current license and/or registration requirements established for the performance of the position, of which (B) at least two (2) years must have been in a project management, supervisory or managerial capacity or (C) any equivalent combination of the required experience and substitutions below.

Substitutions:

I. A certificate in a relevant or related field may be substituted for one (1) year of the required (A) experience.

II. A Bachelor's degree in a related field may be substituted for two (2) years of the required (A) experience.

III. A Graduate degree or higher in a related field may be substituted for three (3) years of the required (A) experience.

IV. A Doctorate degree in a related field may be substituted for four (4) years of the required (A) experience.

Comprehensive Benefits

When you embark on a career with the Commonwealth, you are offered an outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package. We take pride in providing a work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future.

Want the specifics? Explore our Employee Benefits and Rewards!

An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. Females, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Commonwealth is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. Research suggests that qualified women, Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage individuals who believe they have the skills necessary to thrive to apply for this role.