Senior Counsel

City of New York•New York City, NY

About The Position

The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking a Senior Counsel to provide primary legal support to the DOT IT & Telecom Division. This role involves high-level legal guidance for agency-wide technology projects, programs, and initiatives. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in drafting, negotiating, and reviewing complex contracts, technology agreements, and software licensing terms, ensuring alignment with DOT and citywide technology standards. The position requires the ability to manage a high volume of matters and contracts efficiently. Responsibilities include providing legal counsel for large procurements, addressing intellectual property licensing, data privacy, information security, cloud hosting, telecommunications, and outsourcing. The Senior Counsel will collaborate with the Agency Privacy Officer and Chief Information Security Officer to ensure compliance with privacy and cloud computing policies. A key aspect of the role involves assisting in the development of policies and providing guidance on the use and procurement of artificial intelligence and large language model tools. The candidate will partner with stakeholders to ensure compliance with city, state, and federal policies, as well as local laws and regulations. This role requires close collaboration with executive management on legal matters and representation in contract and technology-related issues with internal departments, external city agencies, and vendors. The Senior Counsel will also handle contract-related matters to resolve administrative issues, procurement challenges, and disputes. The ability to simplify complex legal concepts for DOT employees regarding preventive legal measures and standards is essential. Strong written and oral communication, drafting skills, and project prioritization abilities are necessary.

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.
Must remain a Member of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.
Significant experience developing, drafting and negotiating, reviewing and/or modifying complex contracts, technology agreements and software licensing terms.
Ability to handle a high volume of matters and contracts with timely turnarounds.
Strong communication skills, both written and oral.
Strong drafting skills.
Ability to effectively prioritize projects.

Responsibilities

Provide high-level legal support to the DOT IT & Telecom Division.
Offer legal counsel for agency-wide technology-related projects, programs, and initiatives.
Develop, draft, negotiate, review, and modify complex contracts, technology agreements, and software licensing terms.
Provide legal counsel in support of large and multifaceted procurements.
Address issues of intellectual property licensing, data privacy, and information security.
Provide legal guidance on cloud hosting platforms and telecommunications infrastructure.
Handle legal aspects of outsourcing and other technology matters.
Work closely with the Agency Privacy Officer and Chief Information Security Officer to ensure compliance with privacy and cloud computing policies.
Assist in the development of policies and provide ongoing guidance pertaining to the use and procurement of artificial intelligence and large language model tools.
Partner with relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance with city, state, and federal policies, and local laws and regulations.
Work closely with executive management on relevant legal issues.
Provide legal representation regarding contract and technology matters with internal DOT departments, external city agencies, and external DOT vendors.
Work on contract-related matters to ensure efficient resolution of administrative issues, procurement challenges, and disputes.
Simplify ideas to communicate with DOT employees on germane legal matters in preventive legal measures and standards.