General Counsel

City of New York•New York City, NY

About The Position

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD The Campaign Finance Board is a nonpartisan, independent city agency that empowers New Yorkers to have a greater impact on their elections. Our mission is to make local democracy more open, transparent, and equitable by removing barriers to participation. We make it easier for New Yorkers to vote, meaningfully support candidates for city office, and run for office themselves. NYC Votes, our voter engagement initiative, meets people where they are to share trustworthy election information and help New Yorkers make a plan to vote. We publish the citywide Voter Guide, which delivers information about candidates directly to voters’ doors. Our public matching funds program ensures small contributions can make a big difference, allowing regular people to run for office by relying on the support of other regular people, not just wealthy donors and special interests. And we lift the veil on how candidates raise and spend money, increasing transparency and accountability in local government. We believe that when every New Yorker is empowered to participate meaningfully in elections, candidates will better reflect the communities they serve, elected leaders will be more accountable to the public, and New Yorkers will have a democracy they can truly trust. ABOUT THE DIVISION The Legal division, which includes 9 attorneys and 14 staff in total, performs all legal and investigatory work for the CFB. Legal division staff advise the Board, Executive team and staff throughout the agency on campaign finance and broader election law, employment and labor law, contracting and procurement law, conflict of interest laws, and all other relevant areas of law, and engaging in legal work including but not limited to administrative law enforcement, litigation and policy development. The Legal division also contains the CFB’s Investigations unit, which collaborates closely with the CFB’s Audit unit and other members of the Legal division staff to investigate possible violations of laws within the CFB’s jurisdiction and support the agency’s enforcement function. JOB DESCRIPTION The NYC Campaign Finance Board seeks a General Counsel, as a member of the executive team reporting to the Executive Director and serving as chief legal advisor to the Executive Director, leadership, and the agency. The General Counsel will be responsible for leading CFB’s Legal division, collaborating with agency leadership in strategic thinking and integrating legal considerations into agency planning, managing enforcement of and compliance with all relevant laws, and representing the agency at hearings, among other duties. They must maintain a high-level agency-wide perspective while simultaneously implementing the mission, vision and values of the CFB and moving the organization forward under the Strategic Plan.

Requirements

Knowledge and understanding of personnel management, motivational and leadership theories, styles and approaches.
Knowledge and understanding of organizational strategic planning and implementation, including goal-setting systems (e.g., Objectives and Key Results (OKR)) to establish performance expectations and deliver outcomes that advance agency goals and strategic priorities.
Knowledge and understanding of government agency operations, including principles of administrative due process, agency jurisdiction, enforcement authority, public budgeting, procurement and fiscal oversight.
Knowledge and understanding of New York City, New York State and federal campaign finance and broader election laws, and enforcement of such laws through financial audits and other activities necessary to ensure compliance.
Knowledge and understanding of employment and labor law, particularly in a governmental setting, including equal employment opportunity laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, civil service rules, collective bargaining, employee discipline, and other aspects of employment and labor law, with knowledge of the policies and procedures of the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and the New York City Office of Labor Relations a plus.
Knowledge and understanding of principles and laws related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Knowledge and understanding of litigation processes, including civil, criminal and administrative proceedings.
Familiarity with investigatory techniques necessary to enforce campaign finance laws and/or other financial activity laws.
Familiarity with conflict of interest and ethics laws and regulations governing New York City employees and public officials.
Familiarity with New York City lobbying laws.
Familiarity with the New York City legislative and rulemaking processes.
Strong managerial skills to lead agency staff and projects to effectively support the agency’s mission, strategy and goals.
Legal research and analysis skills and judgement to interpret complex statutes, case law, regulations, and other policies and provide clear, risk-balanced legal advice aligned with agency goals and strategic priorities.
Strong written and oral communication skills to interact with internal and external partners, explaining legal concepts to both lawyers and non-lawyers, and effectively advocating for the agency’s interests.
Skilled at identifying potential or actual legal risks and challenges and developing strategic solutions to address or avoid them.
Adept at using legal knowledge to champion innovation at the agency.
Litigation management skills, including but not limited to litigation strategy development and execution.
Proficiency in conflict management techniques, including negotiation, mediation, and compromise, while considering the emotional dynamics involved.
Interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to build relationships with internal partners, such as executive team members, other agency employees, and board members, as well as external partners.
Ability to collaborate with agency leadership in strategic thinking, integrating legal considerations into agency planning, while seeing beyond individual legal questions to broader institutional implications, in alignment of the agency’s mission, values, and legal obligations.
Ability to set clear performance goals and expectations and deliver outcomes that advance agency strategic priorities.
Ability to zealously advocate for the interests of the agency.
Ability to exercise sound ethical judgment and decision-making, maintaining integrity and impartiality under political or public pressure, including with incomplete information or evolving legal landscapes, in alignment of the agency’s mission, values, and legal obligations.
Ability to provide sound, clear, concise legal advice and guidance to agency leadership to advance the agency’s mission and goals.
Ability to ensure the agency's policies comply with relevant laws and regulations.
Ability to assess legal risks and implement solutions to mitigate them.
Ability to resolve conflicts and disputes effectively, both internally and externally.
Ability to motivate, coach, and develop others, as well as influence a group of people to achieve common goals, and implement organizational strategies and change.
Ability to effectively manage a team of 10-20 staff to achieve excellent work outcomes.
Ability to handle confidential information using discretion, professional sensitivity, and sound judgment.
Ability to communicate effectively across cultures, identities, and backgrounds, and to give and receive feedback.
Ability to connect with others in a meaningful way, to recognize and understand another person's feelings and thoughts, and to use this information to build positive relationships and beneficial interactions.
Ability to maintain professionalism and guide interactions towards positive outcomes.
Juris Doctor with 10 plus years of experience practicing law.
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.

Nice To Haves

Strong preference and consideration will be given to candidates with at least four years of managerial experience serving in roles such as General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, or Assistant General Counsel or equivalent role.

Responsibilities

Executive Team Membership - Serve as the visible, vocal expert and leader of all work within the scope of your division’s responsibilities.
Contribute to the development and execution of the agency’s strategic plan, providing leadership in strategic goal setting and constructive assessment of success and failure, to promote a perpetual state of learning and improvement.
Complete required EEO and other trainings, attend agency events, and participate in contributing to a welcoming, accessible, inclusive workplace culture that is free from discrimination across the spectrum of personal identity and protected classes.
Participate in financial planning, budgeting, resource allocation, and assessment of financial risks and opportunities, to ensure fiscal responsibility and sustainability of the agency.
Collaborate to ensure the agency has the functional structures, talent and other resources in place to accomplish strategic goals prioritizing the interests of the agency above your interests and/or those of your division.
Ensure efficient and effective business operations in your division, establishing policies, processes and best practices for the success of your division, other divisions and the agency as a whole.
Foster an innovative, high performance, accountable agency culture with strong employee engagement.
Engage in and model continuous learning rooted in emerging trends and best practices with respect to the substantive work of your division, management theory and practice, strategic planning and goal setting, and other areas of knowledge relevant to your role.
Staff Supervision - Lead, manage, and develop a team with varying levels of responsibility.
Set standards and goals for employees and teams, ensuring ongoing projects and tasks within teams supports the agency’s overall priorities.
Provide consistent guidance on career progression, helping team members advance within the agency through structured growth opportunities.
Establish clear performance expectations for each team member, conduct regular performance evaluations, and provide continuous actionable feedback.
Ensure that each individual’s performance is regularly assessed and aligned with agency goals, have the resources and support to meet their objectives, and take corrective actions when needed.
Foster an innovative, high performance, accountable agency culture with strong employee engagement.
Legal & Policy Work - Supervise Investigation staff in the performance of all investigation tasks, including analysis and evaluation of audit materials and other evidence, issuance of requests for documents and other information, issuance of subpoenas for documents and witness interviews, field work, and briefing the Board on investigations work.
Supervise Enforcement staff in the performance of all enforcement tasks, including monitoring compliance with campaign finance laws by all members of regulated community, collaborating with Audit unit to identify violations of law and hold violators accountable, support analysis of candidate public funds eligibility, analyze audits to produce enforcement notices and other resolutions of audits, support Board consideration and handling of enforcement matters.
Supervise Legal Contracting & Procurement staff in the performance of all legal contracting and procurement tasks, including supporting and assisting the Assistant Executive Director for Operations & Finance, and their staff, as well as staff in other divisions, with drafting and review of procurement and other contracts.
Supervise Legal Compliance staff in the performance of all legal compliance tasks, including educating CFB staff regarding COIB, EEO, employment, labor, and other legal requirements, restrictions and prohibitions applicable to CFB staff, and supporting investigations related to alleged or suspected violations of such laws and policies.
Supervise Litigation staff in the performance of all litigation tasks, including legal research, brief writing, motion practice, argument, collaboration with outside counsel, and related support of the Board.
Supervise Legal staff in the performance of all policy tasks, including collaborating with Strategy, Products & Innovation (SPI) Division staff on analysis, drafting and implementation of Charter provisions, statutes, Rules and internal policies, and support Board understanding and enforcement of existing policies and adoption of new policies.
Provide review of and input into proposed legislation, rule amendments, advisory opinions and other policy documents related to Policy work.
Review work performed and work product produced by Legal staff to ensure that it is performed in accordance with the highest professional standards.
Set priorities, standards, goals, deadlines and performance metrics for all Legal work, in partnership with Legal division leadership, ensuring ongoing projects and tasks within Legal division support the agency’s overall priorities and strategic plan.