Managing Director And Commission Attorney

 

The State of Connecticut, Freedom of Information Commission's (FOIC) mission is to administer and enforce the provisions of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, and to thereby ensure citizen access to the records and meetings of public agencies in the State of Connecticut.  

We are currently recruiting for a Managing Director and Commission Attorney.  We are located at 165 Capitol Avenue, Hartford CT 06106.  This is a full time 40 hour position, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

In order to be considered for this job opening you must be a current State of CT employee of the agency listed above for at least six (6) months of full-time service or full-time equivalent service, absent any applicable collective bargaining language, and meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on the job opening.  You must specify your qualifications on your application.

To Apply:

• In order to be considered for this job opening, you must meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on this job opening. You must specify your qualifications on your application.
• The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified.
• In order to comply with Public Act 21-69, the State of Connecticut is no longer asking for resumes during the initial application process.
• All application materials must be received by the recruiting agency by the time specified on the job opening for the position for which you are applying. Late applications may not be submitted and will not be considered. Exceptions are rare and limited to documented events that incapacitate a candidate during the entire duration of the job posting time period.  It is the candidate’s obligation and responsibility to request an exception and provide a legally recognized justification to accommodate such exception.  Requests should be made to charla.vincent@ct.gov.

Important Next Step Information for After You Apply:

• Although applicants will receive correspondence via email, as a backup they are also encouraged to sign on to their Personal Status Board on a daily basis to monitor their status, view all emailed notices and complete tasks required in the recruitment process.
• This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQs). You can access these RQs via an email that will be sent to you after the posting's closing date or by visiting your JobAps Personal Status Board (Certification Questionnaires section). Your responses to these RQs must be submitted by the question's expiration date. Please regularly check your email and JobAps Personal Status Board for notifications. Please check your SPAM and/or Junk folders on a daily basis in the event an email provider places auto-notification emails in a user's spam.
• At any point during the recruitment process, applicants may be required to submit additional documentation which support their qualification(s) for this position. These documents may include: a cover letter, resume, performance reviews, attendance records, supervisory references, licensure, etc., at the discretion of the hiring agency. Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications as indicated to apply for this position.
• The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class.
• Interviews will be limited to candidates whose experience and training most closely meet the requirements of the position.

Connect With Us:

Due to the large volume of applications received, the Department of Administrative Services is unable to provide confirmation of receipt or status during the recruitment process. Updates will be available through your JobAps portal account. If you have any questions pertaining to this recruitment please contact Charla Vincent, charla.vincent@ct.gov.

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES: This class is accountable for managing and/or directing the operations of the Commission relating to those litigative matters authorized by Connecticut General Statutes Section 46a-55.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION: This class serves as the managing director and associate general counsel to the Commission and is accountable for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the Commission relating to administrative, litigative and legislative matters and public education and ombudsman program efforts.

• Exercises all statutory, regulatory and delegated responsibilities of Commission executive management; 
• Directs staff and operations of commission programs; 
• Coordinates, plans and manages commission activities; 
• Assists executive management in planning, developing, implementing and updating commission strategic direction policies;
• Interprets and administers pertinent laws;
• Evaluates staff;  
• Plans, develops and implements commission legislative initiatives and acts as legislative and agency liaison; 
• Manages commission contested cases and, if applicable, public education mandates, ombudsman, investigative and audit functions;
• Manages and trains personnel; 
• Reviews reports, briefs and arguments; 
• Drafts advisory opinions and interprets commission regulations and rulings; 
• Presents sensitive and high impact cases at commission hearings;
• Manages staff attorneys in complex hearings; 
• Leads the recruitment and hiring of staff, including outreach, interview and selection;
• May plan, develop and implement commission budgets; 
• May represent commission in labor relations and personnel matters;
• May act as commission representative to interagency committees and various official and private organizations; 
• May develop, update and implement commission strategic plans related to long and short term initiatives including electronic information systems; 
• May develop and implement educational programs, conferences and publications; 
• Performs related duties as required.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION 

• Manages court litigation including  oversight of staff attorneys involved in litigative efforts.

• Considerable knowledge of
  • and ability to apply management and business services principles and practices;
  • relevant state and federal laws, statutes, regulations and decisions;
  • administrative law including Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, rules of evidence and rules of practice in Connecticut courts; 
  • constitutional law and legislative process;  
  • electronic information systems as related to public access to government records;
• Considerable
  • interpersonal skills; 
  • oral and written communication skills; 
• Considerable ability to
  • interpret complex legislation; 
  • negotiate legal case settlements.

Three (3) years of experience in the practice of law.

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

• Two (2) years of the General Experience must have been litigating employment discrimination, labor or civil rights matters at the appellate level.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION

• Two (2) years of the General Experience must have been handling freedom of information matters.

• Considerable experience in interpreting relevant laws and decisions; 
• Considerable experience with administrative law including Uniform Administrative Procedure Act, rules of evidence and rules of practice in Connecticut courts; 
• Considerable experience in constitutional law and legislative process; 
• Considerable experience in applying management and business services principles and techniques; 
• Considerable experience with electronic information systems related to public access to government records; 
• Considerable interpersonal skills; 
• Considerable experience in oral and written communication; 
• Considerable experience interpreting complex legislation; 
• Considerable experience negotiating legal case settlements.

Incumbents in this class must be admitted to practice law in the State of Connecticut.

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

As defined by Sec. 5-196 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a job class is a position or group of positions that share general characteristics and are categorized under a single title for administrative purposes.  As such, a job class is not meant to be all-inclusive of every task and/or responsibility.