Legal Department Assistant

Research Foundation of The City University of New York • New York, NY

6d • $32 - $38 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Legal Department Assistant provides administrative and operational support to the Institute for State & Local Governance (ISLG) Legal Department, which supports ISLG’s work by structuring and negotiating partnerships and managing related risks. The position works with departments across ISLG, the CUNY Office of General Counsel, the Research Foundation of CUNY (RFCUNY), and external partners. The assistant reports to the Deputy Legal Counsel and supports the department’s Executive Legal Counsel and Deputy Legal Counsel.

The role includes supporting contract workflows and documentation, coordinating meetings, assisting with project and application materials, and providing other administrative support. It is an opportunity to gain exposure to public policy, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, public-sector partnerships, research and policy work, and legal operations.

This is a temporary position starting immediately, with the potential to be converted into a regular position. It is hybrid and based in New York City: staff work from the Midtown office two days a week of their choosing and remotely the remaining three days.

Requirements

• Three or more years of administrative experience.
• Computer literacy.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills, sound judgment, and discretion.
• Attention to detail when preparing and proofreading documents, reviewing supporting documentation, and identifying issues or corrections.
• Ability to prioritize, meet deadlines, and balance individual and team responsibilities with attention to detail and high-level accuracy.
• Ability to maintain professional working relationships with staff, partner organizations, and other internal and external workforces at all levels.
• Ability to conduct searches of the internet and public databases, and perform limited legal research.
• Flexibility.
• High School Diploma or GED.

Nice To Haves

• One or more years of legal experience.
• Experience with DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.
• Experience in an office or customer service environment.
• Personal experience relevant to the mission of the organization.

Responsibilities

• Track and manage contract workflows, obtain status updates from RFCUNY, update contract tracking software, and provide updates to the Legal Department, RFCUNY, and internal ISLG staff.
• Liaise with the Administration team, ISLG staff, and external partners on contracting-related matters, including assisting with submission of contracting materials to the Administration team and RFCUNY.
• Support contracting processes by reviewing contract materials, formatting and redlining documents, compiling signature pages, and proofreading.
• Coordinate, schedule, and support internal and external meetings, including setting up virtual meetings and setting up and breaking down in-person meetings; solicit agenda items and take notes as needed.
• Maintain and organize draft and executed contracts, templates, project-specific documents, data use agreements, data security protocols, ISLG policies, and other resources as directed.
• Distribute executed contracts to project teams, external partners, RFCUNY, and CUNY as needed.
• Provide project administrative support, such as collecting and preparing required documents and appendices, organizing application materials, and compiling boilerplate language.
• Provide other administrative support as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED