Deputy General Counsel

Job Location: This position will be located at the Harry S. Truman Building, 301 W. High Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101.

Why you’ll love this position:

You’ll work on a small, collaborative team of attorneys supporting the Department of Economic Development’s mission to create greater opportunities for Missourians to prosper, operating under the values of exceptional service, creative solutions, and good stewardship of state and federal dollars and incentives.

• Provide legal advice (oral and written) to non-attorney Department of Economic Development (DED) team members on numerous issues effecting the day-to-day operations and activities of DED’s economic and community development incentive programs (e.g., tax credits, tax increment financing, grants, and other tax incentives), drawing upon many areas of the law, including:

* Interpretation of constitutional provisions, statutes, and regulations

* Administrative law

* Contract law

• Advise non-attorney team members on implementation of new DED programs, including reviewing and editing program guidelines and forms, and ensuring cross-program requirements are included. (DED set up five new programs this past year and has three new programs from the recent legislative session.)

• Provide legal advice on federally funded programs administered by DED, relying upon federal statutes, regulations, and agency guidance. DED receives or continues to carry out federal awards: (a) American Recovery Plan Act (Treasury, ~$500M); (b) Community Development Block Grant Program (Department of Housing and Urban Development, ~$25M annually); (c) AmeriCorps (Corporation for National and Community Service); (d) Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Act (BEAD) and Digital Equity Act (DEA) (Department of Commerce/NTIA, ~$1.7B);and others as awarded by various federal agencies, including Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and the Department of Defense.

• Proofread a variety of written work products from non-attorney DED team members for clarity, grammar, organization, and consistency while ensuring substantive legal correctness.

• Serve as part of legal team charged with setting up templates for program guidelines, summaries, agreements, certifications, and other documents. This will include eliminating legalese and increasing clarity.

• Draft portions of procurement documents, review and approve procurement documents, and advise team members about the varying procurement requirements under state law.

• Respond to or assist in responding to Sunshine Law requests, including reviewing and redacting records.

• Advise team members about record retention laws and assist in interpreting applicable retention schedules.

• Analyze potential program agreement violations for action by DED, repayment demands, and possible referral for litigation.

• Interpret and draft legislation impacting DED.

• Draft administrative rules (infrequent).

• Perform other work, as assigned.

• A note about litigation: DED is rarely involved in litigation and is typically represented by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) or outside counsel selected by the AGO. However, litigation experience can be useful in risk assessment and other responsibilities of the position.

• The Legal Team: This position is a new, second Deputy General Counsel position. In addition to the two deputies, there is a Legal Counsel, all of whom report to the General Counsel. Other members of the Legal Team share several of the duties of this position, and the actual responsibilities may depend on the experience, skills, and interests of the successful candidate.

Required Competencies:

• Ability to clearly communicate complex legal theories (oral and written) to non-legal team members with varying levels of experience working with attorneys and legal principles.

• Ability to work well under pressure and provide quality results in limited time frames.

• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and deadlines and timely complete tasks. Tasks will come from different DED team members and must be prioritized by the attorney.

• Attention to detail in a fast‑paced environment.

• Demonstrated problem-solving skills.

• Knowledge of the Missouri Constitution and statutes.

• Basic familiarity with types of business entities and taxation.

• Basic understanding of administrative law.

• Has a team mentality for collaboration, but also able to focus on transactional work.

• A desire to help non-attorney DED team members through the provision of legal services.

• Ability to help DED team members understand the potential consequences of decisions (explain the risk assessment).

Minimum Qualifications:

• Possess a juris doctor from an accredited university and be a member in good standing of The Missouri Bar.
• Minimum of five years’ experience practicing law.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous in-house counsel to a government entity, or other government experience.
• Experience advising on programs receiving federal funding; familiarity with the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR part 200), National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act requirements, or other transferable federal funding skills.
• A passion for civil service and for learning.
• Ability to proactively identify legal issues.

DED pays annual bar dues and although free Continuing Legal Education (CLE) is encouraged, will pay for reasonable CLE expenses.

This position will be in the Jefferson City Office with the General Counsel.

The State of Missouri offers an excellent benefits package that includes a defined pension plan, generous amounts of leave and holiday time, and eligibility for health insurance coverage. Your total compensation is more than the dollars you receive in your paycheck. To help demonstrate the value of working for the State of Missouri, we have created an interactive Total Compensation Calculator. This tool provides a comprehensive view of benefits and more that are offered to prospective employees. The Total Compensation Calculator and other applicant resources can be found here .

• 

• State of Missouri

Show more