Contracts Legal Counsel

Only applicants who meet the Minimum Qualification Requirements and meet all selective requirements (listed below) will be placed on the eligible list.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking an attorney to join its growing internal legal team. This position serves as an internal contracting and procurement specialist and works collaboratively across all divisions within HHS, with the Attorney Generals Office, and with outside counsel.

Under the direction and oversight of the Compliance Divisions General Counsel Supervisor, this position provides internal legal counsel on contracting and procurement issues. This position will work closely with HHSs Contracts and Data Sharing, Privacy, and Open Records teams to provide agency-wide support. Projects might include, among other duties:

• reviewing procurements, contracts, and related HHS policies to ensure they comply with state and federal law and to identify, advise on, revise, and mitigate legal risk in a public procurement environment;
• drafting or assisting with drafting complex procurements, contracts, and legal documents including, but not limited to, human services and information technology services;
• performing legal research, analysis, and providing guidance on contracting concepts, specific issues, and the services for which the Agency contracts;
• remaining up to date on changes in law or legal matters that affect service contracting and advising HHS on appropriate changes;
• negotiating contracts or providing negotiation support for contracts of varying complexity and topics;
• advising on legal issues that arise during the procurement and contracting lifecycles;
• drafting and revising contracting templates that are legally compliant and meet the diverse needs of HHS;
• assisting the Iowa Attorney Generals Office with appeals and legal disputes involving procurement and contracting as a subject matter expert;
• interpreting terms and conditions from collaborative agreements, master agreements, and third-party agreements, etc., and identifying and mitigating risk and gaps between HHS/State requirements and overarching terms and conditions;
• collaborating with HHS procurement/contracting and legal staff on procurement, contracting, and associated subjects;
• exercising negotiation and mediation skills to assist the agency in negotiating contracts with its many partners;
• advising on open records requests and requests for information.

This position also works with the HHS government relations team and HHS division policy teams on the development and review of HHS agency prefile legislation. Legal counsel will review proposed legislation that may impact HHS Compliance operations and provide recommendations to the Chief of Compliance and Legislative Liaisons. Legal counsel will also review agency administrative rules prior to adoption and raise issues that need to be addressed with the Chief of Compliance.

Legal counsel may represent the agency at administrative hearings or in front of other administrative bodies (e.g. Iowa Public Information Board) when determined necessary by the Chief of Compliance or HHS Director.

HHS offers a great total compensation package for all our full-time employees, including:

• Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS)
• Retirement Investors Club (RIC) (Employer Sponsored Retirement Plan)
• Health, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Vacation Leave
• Sick Leave
• Paid Holidays (9 days/year)
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance

TO APPLY: Send your cover letter and resume to Kayla Burkhiser Reynolds at [email protected].
Minorities, women, and persons with disabilities encouraged to apply (Hearing and Speech Impaired Relay Iowa 1-800-735-2942 TDD). HHS values those with lived experience and encourages foster youth, foster parents, and/or parents who were in the HHS system to apply.

Our agency uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.

This is a non-merit position with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Candidates must follow the instructions in the To Apply section.

Positions in this class are exempt from the screening and referral requirements of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services Human Resource Enterprise. 354 Law Degree Possession of a law degree from an accredited institution.Graduation from an accredited law school and the equivalent of five years of full-time successful and responsible experience in the practice of law;the equivalent of three years of full-time experience in the practice of law in the employing agency shall be considered as qualifying experience.

For additional information, please click on this link to view the job description.Positions in this class require admission to the Iowa State Bar.