General Counsel

Upper Marlboro, MD, United States

Salary: $94,870.00 - $204,642.00 Annually

Location : Largo MD, MD

Job Type: Exempt

Job Number: 08479

Department: Housing and Community Dev

Division: Housing Authority Admin

Opening Date: 06/20/2024

Closing Date: 7/19/2024 11:59 PM Eastern

Nature and Variety of Work

Come join our team!

Located in the heart of the Baltimore/Washington, DC Metro corridor, Prince George's County in Maryland borders Washington, D.C. and is just 37 miles south of the city of Baltimore. Encompassing almost 500 square miles, with over 900,000 residents Prince George's County has an urban atmosphere that provides a scenic and peaceful place to live, work, and play.

We are Prince George's Proud!

The Prince George's County Housing Authority is seeking highly qualified candidates to fill a General Counsel position, grade G33 within the Housing Authority/Administration.

About the Position:

This is exempt level professional and lead/supervisory work in the Housing Authority's Administration Division. This key position will serve as the Legal Officer responsible for the general administration and management of the HAPGC legal affairs. The incumbent will have responsibilities essential to preventing and minimizing HAPGC legal risk exposure and handling major litigation and specialized function areas. This position will oversee all legal functions as agency's as in-house legal counsel for general matters and coordinate the efforts of contracted legal counsel secured for specialized legal areas of practice including but not limited to real estate development transactions, bond issuance transactions, litigation specialists and other specialized third-party legal consultants. The position will lead the development and implementation of legal matters that support HAPGC's mission, vision, strategic objectives and core values. This position will be responsible for setting the direction and future of the legal department, and providing legal advice, counsel, and presentation to HAPGC staff. This position will also work with the Prince George's County Office of Law on coordinated efforts and will report to the County Attorney. The position is a member of the senior leadership team, reports operationally to the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Prince George's County and administratively to the County Attorney in the Prince George's County Office of Law.

Examples of Work

What You'll Do: Provide insight and assistance with the implementation of HAPGC s strategic initiatives and maintaining strong interdepartmental working relationships.

Provide substantive legal advice and services to HAPGC on a broad range of issues affecting the agency, liaising with senior members of staff including finance, real estate and development, homeownership, intergovernmental relations and policy, state and federal rental programs, human resources, as well as general county governance matters.

Serve as the Assistant Secretary of the agency, with primary responsibilities to include legal, administrative and policy functions, preparing and authenticating corporate resolutions, advising the Board of Commissioners on legal matters, and additional duties as determined by the Board of Commissioners.

Serve as the Ethics Officer for the agency, with primary responsibility to include ensuring the integrity of the agency and fostering an awareness of ethics laws and obligations.

Draft, review, and negotiate various commercial contracts and agreements.

Manage and mitigate legal risks by designing and implementing company policies and procedures.

Ensure compliance with all laws and regulations that apply to the business.

Promote legal, compliance and risk management best practice throughout the agency.

Communicate with and manage any third-party bodies such as external counsel or auditors.

Qualifications

What You'll Need: Graduation from an accredited law school, plus

Four (4) years of legal experience, including one (1) year of experience with work at the Attorney IV level.

An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience will be considered.

Preferred Qualifications: Ability to understand, act on, and interpret policies, regulations, and procedures as set forth by the HAPGC 's Public Housing Agency (PHA) Plans and HUD.

Knowledge of the local, state, and federal laws governing public and other subsidized housing programs including resident selections, landlord/resident regulations, leasing of property and evictions.

Ability to orient and evaluate other workers and explain organizational policies, rules, regulations, and procedures.

Ability to evaluate legal actions accurately, correct deficiencies, guide, replace, and re-assign personnel.

Ability to assist in planning, promoting, and evaluating housing and housing-related programs, and participates with the executive staff in preparation of management plans.

Ability to prepare and present ideas in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in writing.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers, vendors, consultants, contractors, residents, HUD, and local, state, and federal officials.

Ability to communicate with people from a broad range of socio-economic backgrounds with tact and courtesy.

Ability to organize, interpret and apply legal principles and knowledge to the particular circumstances.

Ability to meet and effectively deal with persons interested in legal matters under consideration.

Ability to uphold the integrity of the Authority at all times.

EACH APPLICANT MUST INCLUDE INFORMATION WHICH CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES THE ABOVE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THIS POSITION.

Additional Information

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT : Upon selection, the candidate must: Meet all training and performance standards and demonstrate proficiency as required by the agency.

Wear and use agency protective apparel and equipment in the performance of their assigned duties as needed.

Participate as an "Essential" employee in the department's program and other emergency or special activities as needed.

Employment is contingent upon successful background check.

DURATION OF ELIGIBILITY : Candidates will be selected from a temporary register of eligible candidates, which will become effective approximately four (4) weeks after the closing date. Once a selection has been made, the register will expire.

ELIGIBILITY TO WORK : Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, an employer is required to hire only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized alien workers. Applicants who are selected for employment will be required to show and verify authorization to work in the United States.

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S., only after an offer has been accepted and the Form I-9 is completed. For information on E-Verify, or if you believe the County has violated its E-Verify responsibilities, please contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at 888-897-7781 or visit their website at dhs.gov/e-verify.

ONLY ONLINE APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED

Internal Applicants: If you are a current Prince George's County Government employee and seeking a promotion, in accordance with Section 16-200 of the Personnel Law, you have the right to appeal a rejection rating within five (5) working days of receiving a rejection notice. Union employees should refer to their respective collective bargaining agreement and/or union representative for their grievance procedure.

Prince George's County Government is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

General Plan Information:

The Prince George's County benefits plan year is from January 1 to December 31.

A spouse (to include a same sex spouse) can be added to the health benefit plans. A marriage certificate and social security number is required to add a spouse.

Children under the age of 26 are eligible for coverage under the health benefit plans. This includes stepchildren and children of the same-sex spouse. A birth certificate(s) and social security number(s) is required to add a child(ren). If you are only adding the stepchildren or child(ren) of a same-sex spouse, you will need to submit a marriage certificate. You will also need to submit the birth certificate of the child(ren) and your spouse must be listed as a parent.

The premiums for health benefits are deducted on a pre-tax basis with the exception of Long-Term Disability, Extra Life Insurance and Voluntary Benefits (Short-Term Disability, Whole Life Insurance, Critical Illness, Accident Insurance, Cancer Indemnity, Hospital Indemnity Protection, Accident Indemnity Plan, Supplemental Dental and Group Legal Services).

New employees must enroll in the County's health benefit plans within thirty (30) days of the hire date.

The effective date of the health benefits coverage is the beginning of the month following a waiting period of forty-five (45) days from the date of hire.

After enrolling in the County's benefit plans, employees may only make changes to the plans either during the open enrollment period, which occurs annually (usually each October), and/or during the year, due to a family status change (i.e., marriage, births, divorce and adoption).

Employee Benefits

Prince George's County is proud to offer employees an attractive and comprehensive benefits program, including the following:

Medical/Prescription/Dental/Vision Insurance Coverage (part time employees are eligible for medical insurance if they work 15 + hours, per week)

Group Term Life Insurance

Long & Short-Term Disability

Flexible Spending Accounts Dependent Care Assistance Program

Health Care Flexible Spending Account

Paid Leave (Annual, Personal, & Sick)

13 Paid Holidays

Retirement Benefits Defined Benefit Pension Plan Employer Contribution Rate-11.71%

Supplemental Pension Plan Employee Contribution Rate (Pre-Tax)-3.48%

457(b)

403(b)

Employee Discounts

Employee Assistance Program

Voluntary Benefits Critical Illness

Whole Life Insurance

Accident Insurance

Legal Services

For additional details, please visit:

01

I acknowledge and understand the responses to the supplemental questions must reflect the information provided under the "Work Experience" section of the application. My responses will be used to determine whether or not I possess the minimum qualifications required for this position. Yes

No

02

What best describes your highest level of education? High School/G.E.D.

Associate Degree

Some College

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

PhD/JD/Doctorate

Other

03

If you selected "Other" for question #2, please put your highest level of education. Otherwise, please put N/A.

04

How many years of legal experience do you have? I do not have any legal experience.

I have at least six (6) months of legal experience but no more than one (1) year.

I have at least one (1) year of legal experience but no more than two (2) years.

I have at least two (2) years of legal experience but no more than three (3) years.

I have at least three (3) years of legal experience but no more than four (4) years.

I have at least four (4) years of legal experience but no more than five (5) years.

I have five (5) or more years of legal experience.

05

Describe in detail your legal experience. Please include employer(s) as well as dates of employment. Applications that state "See Resume" will not be reviewed. If you do not have experience, please put N/A.

06

Do you have experience performing legal work in the following areas? Please select all that apply. Real Estate and Development

Homeownership

State and Federal rental programs

Intergovernmental relations and policy,

07

If you selected any answers in question #6, describe in detail your experience. Please include employer(s) as well as dates of employment. Applications that state "See Resume" will not be reviewed. If you do not have experience, please put N/A.

08

Do you have experience in the following areas? Select all that apply. Offering legal advice/opinions

Preparing legal documents and memoranda

Interpreting legal documents

Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating various commercial contracts and agreements

Managing and mitigating legal risks

09

If you selected any answers in question #8, describe in detail your experience. Please include employer(s) as well as dates of employment. Applications that state "See Resume" will not be reviewed. If you do not have experience, please put N/A.

10

Are you able to complete Maryland Public Information Act requests? Yes

No

11

Do you have previous work experience within local government? Yes

No

12

Are you willing to participate as an essential employee? Essential employees are expected to report or remain at work during standard and non-standard hours including evenings and weekends. Yes

No

Required Question

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