Legal Department Assistant

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

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Legal Department Assistant provides administrative and operational support to the Institute for State & Local Governance’s Legal Department. The department supports ISLG’s work by providing legal support across its activities, structuring and negotiating partnerships with funders, government agencies, nonprofits, community-based organizations, universities, and other partners, and managing risk. The assistant works with ISLG departments and coordinates with the CUNY Office of General Counsel and the Research Foundation of CUNY. The position reports to the Deputy Legal Counsel and offers exposure to public policy, nonprofit and government organizations, public-sector partnerships, research and policy work, and legal operations.

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

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, including preparing and proofreading documents, reviewing supporting documentation, and identifying issues or corrections.
• Ability to prioritize, meet deadlines, and balance individual and team responsibilities while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to maintain professional working relationships with staff, partner organizations, and other internal and external workforces at all levels.
• Ability to search the internet and public databases and conduct 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 organization’s mission.

Responsibilities

• Track and manage contract workflows, obtain status updates from RFCUNY, update contract-tracking software, and provide updates to the Legal Department, RFCUNY, and ISLG staff.
• Liaise with the Administration team, ISLG staff, and external partners on contracting matters, including assisting with submission of contracting materials to the Administration team and RFCUNY.
• Support contracting processes by reviewing 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 departmental resources.
• Distribute executed contracts to project teams, external partners, RFCUNY, and CUNY as needed.
• Provide project administration support, including collecting and preparing required documents and appendices, compiling and organizing application materials, and assembling boilerplate language.
• Provide other administrative support as needed and perform other duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

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