General Counsel, MOME

City of New York•New York City, NY

11d•Onsite

About The Position

The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment’s mission is to support and strengthen New York City’s creative economy and make it accessible to all. The agency comprises four divisions: the Film Office, which coordinates film and television production in public places; NYC Media, the largest municipal television and radio broadcasting entity in the country; Creative Sector Programs, which supports workforce development and the film, television, theater/live performance, music, publishing, advertising and digital content industries; and the Press Credentials Office (PCO), which issues access credentials for journalists. Information about the agency is available on our website: www.nyc.gov/mome. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) is seeking a dynamic, dedicated General Counsel with government experience who will report to either the Chief Operating Officer or the Commissioner. The General Counsel will be responsible for overseeing MOME’s legal affairs and will be expected to partner with MOME’s executive staff, including the leaders of MOME’s divisions, to handle legal matters, support major projects, and develop agency policies, procedures, and plans. The General Counsel will also work with other agencies, primarily the Law Department and the Office of Technology and Innovation. The General Counsel should have emotional intelligence, diplomacy, a sense of humor, and significant experience leading and collaborating on complex projects. Although an entertainment law background is helpful, the General Counsel primarily counsels the agency on issues relating to the administration of a government agency.

Requirements

Admission to the New York State Bar
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.

Nice To Haves

Although an entertainment law background is helpful, the General Counsel primarily counsels the agency on issues relating to the administration of a government agency.
The General Counsel should have emotional intelligence, diplomacy, a sense of humor, and significant experience leading and collaborating on complex projects.
Interested applicants with other civil service titles who meet the preferred requirements should also submit a resume for consideration

Responsibilities

Counsel MOME on legal issues relating to the administration of a New York City government agency.
Counsel MOME’s staff on a variety of legal subjects including the First Amendment, MOME’s regulations, broadcast laws, procurement laws, conflicts of interest laws, employment laws, intellectual property laws, and transparency laws.
Work with the Commissioner and senior staff to develop strategic plans to carry out MOME’s mission and vision.
Lead a team of four early- to mid-career attorneys and support their professional development.
Draft and review a high volume of contracts, including intellectual property licenses, procurement contracts, real estate licenses, grant agreements, end user license agreements, programming agreements, appearance consents, marketing credit agreements, inter-agency memoranda of understanding, and other types of contracts.
Draft public facing documents that explain laws to non-legal laypeople in plain language.
Oversee MOME’s legislative and rulemaking agenda, including commenting on bills and proposed rules, drafting rules and managing all aspects of the rulemaking process, developing MOME’s legislative and rulemaking agendas, and tracking bills and proposed rules.
Oversee the legal review of MOME’s public-facing content, including our broadcast content, promotional advertisements, newsletters, and web content.
Cooperate with the Law Department on litigation and oversee the legal unit’s small caseload at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
Promote compliance with law through trainings, instructions to staff, reviews, and other means.
Oversee the work of the FOIL Records Access Officer and Appeals Officer.
Oversee work on legal reports, including those required by the Federal Communications Commission with respect to MOME’s two broadcast licenses.
Liaise with the Law Department on MOME’s trademark portfolio.
Advise City Hall on legal matters relating to the City’s broadcast network, film permits, and press credentials.
Serve as MOME’s Agency Privacy Officer, oversee the work of MOME’s Open Data liaison, and other designated positions.
Represent MOME in meetings with City Hall, other government agencies/offices, and external stakeholders; accompany the Commissioner to City Council hearings.
Help MOME develop more efficient processes.
Oversee special projects, as directed by the MOME Commissioner.