General Counsel

Job Requisition ID: 43186 
 Closing Date/Time: 12/18/2024
​Agency: [[Illinois Department of Early Childhood]]
Class Title: GENERAL COUNSEL - 73740 
Skill Option: None 
Bilingual Option: None 
Salary:
Job Type: Salaried
Category: Full Time 
County: Cook; DeKalb; DuPage; Kane; Lake
Number of Vacancies: 1
Plan/BU: None

****A RESUME IS REQUIRED FOR THIS JOB POSTING****

Please attach a DETAILED Resume/Curriculum Vitae (CV), a copy of your transcripts or diploma for all degrees earned, and a copy of any applicable professional licensures to the MY DOCUMENTS section of your application. Please note that the Office of the Governor must verify proof of higher education for any degree earned (if applicable) before any offer can be extended. You WILL NOT be considered for the position if you attach a CMS100, CMS100b or any other document in lieu of a Resume or CV.

General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood Education

30%    1.     As General Counsel for the Agency:
•    Directs, plans and oversees all legal work on complex issues advising Department staff on legal matters pertaining to policy, operations of the agency, contracts, grants, litigation personnel, labor, budget, legislation, etc.
•    As a policy-making administrator and principal administrator, formulates technical and legal policy on a variety of difficult and complex legal questions, laws, rules, policies and procedures as they pertain to various specialized legal, legislative and administrative areas of the Department.
•    Provides legal counsel and guidance on various matters and offers consultation and develops effective and practical solutions to a wide variety of difficult and complex legal questions and problems.
•    Provides legal counsel on highly confidential and sensitive issues serving in the best interest of the Agency.
•    Advises the Secretary and senior staff and confers with counsel to the Governor on complex legal interpretation as necessary. 
•    Formulate and implement agency-wide policy for all grant agreements, contracts, intergovernmental agreements, confidentiality agreements, etc.

20%    2.    Advises the Secretary:
•    On complex legal and confidential matters as they relate to the operations of the agency and assists in interpreting, for the Secretary, difficult problems with respect to the impact of new legislation and administrative rulemaking.
•    Advises the Secretary in areas of labor law, personal law, statutes, etc. 
 

15%    3.    Serves as a spokesperson for the Secretary possessing significant independent authority acting on behalf of the Secretary which binds the Department to specific courses of action relative to matters of legal policy, procedures and guideline development, interpretation, implementation including proposing and issuing new or revised interpretation and resolution to legal issues:
•    Confers with attorneys from other State agencies, including, but not limited to, the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, the US Department of Education, US Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal agencies, from office of the county state’s attorneys, and from private practice on complex legal matters and difficult problems of statutory interpretation with regard function of the Agency.
 

15%    4.    Serves as full line supervisor:
•    Assigns and reviews work.
•    Provides guidance and training to assigned staff.
•    Counsels staff regarding work performance.
•    Reassigns staff to meet day-to-day operating needs.
•    Establishes annual goals and objectives.
•    Approves/disapproves time off requests.
•    Adjusts first level grievances.
•    Effectively recommends and imposes discipline, up to and including discharge.
•    Prepares and signs performance evaluations.
•    Determines staff needs.
 

10%    5.    Drafts proposed bills, amendments, resolutions, procedures, rules and regulations in relation to the Department:
•    Monitors proposed related legislation and rules and advises the Secretary of its potential impact.
•    Confers with legislators, legislative staff, Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, citizens, and other agency staff with regard to the impact of proposed legislation and rules and makes known the position of the Department with respect to impact.

5%    6.     Responsible for the agency’s Freedom of Information (FOIA) responses:
•    Receives and responds to oral inquiries and written correspondence from the public, other agencies, attorneys and the press and interprets for them complex legal issues that relate to the Department’s functions, decisions and activities. 
 

5%    7.    Performs other duties for the Secretary as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties enumerated above.

19. SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, ABILITIES, LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION NECESSARY FOR THE SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE OF THE WORK OF THIS POSITION. NOTE: SINCE THERE ARE NOW SEVERAL OPTIONS OF SKILLS AND ABILITIES AND LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION IDENTIFIED ON STANDARDS, THE PHRASE “SAME AS SPECIFICATION” CAN NO LONGER BE USED.
 

Minimum Qualifications
1.    Graduation from an accredited law school.
2.    Requires Illinois license to practice law.
3.    Requires four years of progressively responsible legal experience in a public or business organization.
 

Preferred Qualifications (In Order of Significance)
1.    Three (3) years of professional experience analyzing administrative problems and adopting an effective course of action.
2.    Three (3) years of professional experience exercising judgement and discretion in developing, implementing and interpreting departmental policies and procedures.
3.    Ability to develop, install and evaluate new and revised methods, procedures and performance standards.
4.    Ability to develop and manage a supportive agency program.
5.    Ability to develop and maintain cooperative working relationships.
6.    Extensive knowledge of public and business administration, principles and practices.
7.    Experience with legal issues related to early childhood, childcare, and/or educational programming 

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT 

1. Requires the ability to pass a background check. 
2. Requires the ability to travel in the performance of duties, with overnight stays as appropriate. 
3. Overtime is a condition of employment, and you may be requested or required/mandated to work overtime including scheduled, unscheduled, or last-minute overtime. This requires the ability to work evenings and weekends. 
4. Requires the ability to utilize and maintain state issued equipment such as a cell phone, laptop, etc. 

•    The conditions of employment listed here are incorporated and related to any of the job duties as listed in the job description. 

 ​Work Hours: M-F 9-5
Work Location: [[Chicago, IL]]
Agency Contact: Jan Doe
Email: Sydney.Ellison@illinois.gov
Posting Group: Legal, Audit & Compliance; Leadership & Management

The main form of communication will be through email. Please check your “junk mail”, “spam”, or “other” folder for communication(s) regarding any submitted application(s). You may receive emails from the following addresses:

• donotreply@SIL-P1.ns2cloud.com
• systems@SIL-P1.ns2cloud.com