Senior Counsel, General Counsel

About NYC Health + Hospitals:

Empower Every New Yorker — Without Exception — to Live the Healthiest Life Possible

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the United States. We provide essential outpatient, inpatient and home-based services to more than one million New Yorkers every year across the city’s five boroughs. Our large health system consists of ambulatory centers, acute care centers, post-acute care/long-term care, rehabilitation programs, Home Care, and Correctional Health Services. Our diverse workforce is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible.

At NYC Health + Hospitals, our mission is to deliver high quality care health services, without exception. Every employee takes a person-centered approach that exemplifies the ICARE values (Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence) through empathic communication and partnerships between all persons.

Job Description:

Under the general supervision of the Chief Procurement Counsel within the Office of Legal Affairs the Senior Counsel will work with latitude for independent initiative and judgment in a dynamic environment as in-house counsel to serve the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation’s (the “System”) Supply Chain Services, Pharmacy, and Business Operations groups. As the System’s centralized procurement department, Supply Chain Services contracts for goods, services, software, pharmaceuticals, temporary staffing, and construction and construction-related services on an enterprise-wide basis for NYC Health + Hospitals’ eleven acute hospitals, six long-term care facilities, numerous clinics, correctional health services, 45,000 staff, with an annual supply chain spend of approximately $1.5 billion.

• The Senior Counsel will be responsible for assisting with the negotiation of business deals and will serve as a trusted advisor to all internal stakeholders; reviewing all aspects of the procurement process, including compliance with laws, rules, regulations and internal procedures, deal structure, union matters, HIPAA and privacy matters, RFP review, relevant PowerPoints for Board and committee approval, deal negotiations, responsiveness determinations, managing junior legal and administrative staff, conducting responsibility determinations, as well as preparing documents for and attending relevant meetings; negotiating contracts and BAAs. The Senior Counsel will also assess and mitigate risk. The Senior Counsel will serve as a thought-partner, utilizing multi-dimensional thinking, to support the System’s goals: from local to System-wide contracting requirements.
• The Senior Counsel should have experience in drafting various purchase agreements including master purchase agreements, professional and clinical service agreements, managed service agreements, clinical and non-clinical staffing arrangements, complex goods purchases that include system-wide impact, IT agreements that include complex implementations, PHI and cloud services. The Senior Counsel should have experience in collaborating with internal stakeholders at all stages of procurement and contract life-cycle, including: assisting with appropriate scope of a procurement, issuing procurements and managing legal aspects of a procurement, contracting to ensure that the scope and deliverables align, ensuring stakeholders are properly informed about risks and decision points, assisting with early phases of complex contractual strategic partnership agreements, and managing dispute resolution both internally and externally.
• The Senior Counsel will work in collaboration with internal stakeholders and should be able to effectively communicate and manage priorities at all levels of the System, including working with our C-suite. The Senior Counsel will also be responsible to communicate with external entities, such as the New York City Comptroller and OMB. The Senior Counsel will need to stay abreast of developments in the industry, attending seminars and conferences, and incorporate such practices and developments as appropriate into Supply Chain Services legal practices.
• The Senior Counsel will also be responsible for conducting research, drafting policies, assisting with audits, project management of strategic Supply Chain Legal initiatives, conducting litigation management, revising and managing template libraries, and developing standard processes within Supply Chain Services.
• The Senior Counsel will be responsible for and manage junior Supply Chain Legal staff, assigning work and ensuring that they are meeting all of the System’s contracting requirements and effectively managing and communicating their work and priorities.
• The Senior Counsel may also perform other in-house legal assignments based on the needs of the System.
• The successful candidate will be able to operate effectively in a large, complex corporate environment, delivering quality on-time work product to internal stakeholders, developing a sense of teamwork and shared effort across stakeholder relationships.
• The successful candidate will have a positive attitude and uphold the System’s ICARE standards which includes leading with integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence. The successful candidate will further have a strong sense of ownership and an interest in playing a meaningful role in the operation of a large public safety-net IDN through the performance of legal work. The successful candidate will also be a team-player, have a proactive approach, excellent interpersonal, writing, analytical, problem-solving and customer service skills.
• Knowledge of the following will be beneficial to the candidate: HIPAA and Business Associate Agreements, New York State/City labor laws, CMS regulations, anti-kickback laws, FOIL, IP licensing, public procurement methods, and vendor diversity requirements (e.g. NYS Executive Law Article 15-A).

Minimum Qualifications:

1. A baccalaureate degree or equivalent, and L.L.B. or J.D. from an accredited school of law; and admission to the New York State Bar; and

2. Six (6) years of relevant, responsible experience and background in the practice of law subsequent to admission to the Bar, or

3. Four (4) years of relevant, responsible experience and background in the practice of law subsequent to admission to the Bar, with four (4) years of progressively responsible experience in a professional or managerial capacity in respective fields applicable to the general body of law, specialties or practice.

Department Preferences

KNOWLEDGEABLE IN:

• HIPAA, New York State/City labor laws, CMS regulations, anti-kickback laws, FOIL, public procurement methods, and vendor diversity requirements (e.g. NYS Executive Law Article 15-A).
• Transactional experience is required.

PREFERRED SKILLS:

• In-house experience, as well as specialized knowledge and experience with commercial contracting in a healthcare environment.
• Excellent interpersonal, analytical, and oral and written communication skills.
• Computer literacy with excellent skills in Microsoft and Google office suites.
• Ten years of relevant transactional experience subsequent to admission to the Bar.

NYC Health and Hospitals offers a competitive benefits package that includes:

• Comprehensive Health Benefits for employees hired to work 20+ hrs. per week
• Retirement Savings and Pension Plans
• Loan Forgiveness Programs for eligible employees
• Paid Holidays and Vacation in accordance with employees' Collectively bargained contracts
• College tuition discounts and professional development opportunities
• Multiple employee discounts programs