Director, Legal Counsel And Compliance

Why is this a great job? (From the hiring manager) “This is an opportunity for you to serve as a thought partner and use your legal skills to promote racial justice and health equity and ensure all people have fair and just opportunities to be healthy and well. This position will provide legal strategy and expert guidance to our board and executive leadership, help each department understand its legal obligations, review all contracts and services offered by LPHI to ensure they remain compliant with relevant regulations and identify risks and solutions. LPHI is committed to your success, and we value and embrace innovation, creativity, and inclusivity and the benefits are hard to beat.”

POSITION DETAILS

Job Title: Director

Salary: $90,000 - $125,000

• Salary is based on various factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, experience, qualifications, and other job-related reasons.

Work Schedule: 40-hour work week

• LPHI offers traditional (M-F, 8 am-5 pm), flexible (for example, M-F 10 am-7pm), and compressed work schedules (for example, M-Th 8 am-7 pm). Schedule details finalized between employee and manager.

Location: This is a Louisiana-based, hybrid position with occasional (~10%) travel required

• LPHI maintains an office in New Orleans
• Employee must reside in Louisiana during the time of employment

Team: Senior Leadership Team

Reports To: CEO

Supervises: Contracts Manager, HIPAA Privacy and Compliance Manager

Primary Relationships: The Director, Legal Counsel and Compliance will primarily work with the contract manager, compliance manager, the finance team, and department directors.

Benefits:

• LPHI contributes 7% of pre-tax salary to employee 401k per pay period regardless of employee contribution, after six continuous months of employment
• 100% paid premiums for employee health (HMO plan), dental, and term life insurance beginning on the first day of the month, on or following one month of full-time employment
• 100% paid Employee Assistance Program
• 100% paid parking at 601 Tchoupitoulas Parking Garage
• Traditional, flexible, or compressed work schedules
• Resources committed to professional development
• Holidays, Vacation and Sick Days:
• 15+ paid holidays per year that includes Thanksgiving Break (Wednesday-Friday) and Winter Break (December 23 – January 2)
• 10 vacation days accrued per year, years 0-2
• 15 vacation days accrued per year, years 3-5
• 20 vacation days accrued per year, year 6+
• 3 personal days
• 1 floating holiday (employee’s choice)
• 12 sick days

ABOUT THE POSITION

A successful candidate will thrive in a team environment, can proactively anticipate, and manage challenges, be a self-starter with strong abilities to manage multiple responsibilities and prioritize appropriately. The Director has the responsibility of managing the day-to-day activities of the Grants and Contracts operations and gives accurate and timely counsel in a variety of legal topics (contract law, intellectual property, policy writing, privacy law, IRS independent contract/employee rules and other).

LPHI is headquartered in New Orleans, with employees based throughout the state. This position can be either hybrid or fully remote, based in Louisiana.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

This role involves (1) reviewing all proposals, contracts and subcontract agreements; (2) negotiating and interpreting terms and conditions; (3) assessing potential risk and ensuring regulatory requirements are met; and (4) providing contract guidance and education to program staff (5) reviewing and responding to legal communications; (6) consulting with and engaging outside Legal Counsel. To oversee and implement privacy practices that ensure LPHI’s compliance with the requirements of privacy and HIPAA standards for the privacy of Protected Health Information.

Strategy and Leadership (20%)

• In partnership with the Board and Senior Leadership team, develop and refine the overall strategic direction for LPHI’s legal work to most effectively advance LPHI’s mission, vision, values, and strategic plan priorities.
• In partnership with the Board, CEO and Policy & Equity team, serve as a strategic thought partner in supporting the development of principles and processes to guide LPHI’s decision-making related to its legal work and advocacy, including guiding the organization’s issuance of position statements, etc.
• Regularly interface with the leads of the finance, operations and business development, communications, monitoring, evaluation, and learning, health services research, and human resources teams to maximize strategic alignment and ensure effective implementation.

Administration and Compliance (50%)

• Oversees review and approval of all final proposals for compliance with LPHI’s policies, budget development, indirect rate requirements, insurance liability, and funder requirements.
• Negotiates, reviews, analyzes, and interprets all contractual terms and conditions.
• Identifies potential risks in contractual agreements and consults with Legal Counsel as necessary to understand and mitigate liability to LPHI.
• Provides sound contractual resolutions to mitigate liability and exposure while ensuring compliance with company policy, external customer and vendor requirements, applicable laws, and regulations.
• Monitors changes to standard privacy, liability, and intellectual property language and safeguards the interest of all parties.
• Ensures LPHI contracts or modifications are executed in a timely manner.
• Provides continuous support in the administration of contract requirements to the appropriate parties through contract briefs to ensure successful administration and Compliance with all terms.
• Interprets and applies federal and state laws and regulations for compliance of grants and contracts.
• Oversees fiduciary contracts.
• Oversees the Institute’s subcontracting process.
• Manages and assists programs in all post-award duties to ensure that all terms and conditions of the grant or contract have been fulfilled including maintaining correspondence and documentation in project binder, certifications, maintenance, close out, archiving and record disposition.
• Be familiar with applicable Federal and State rules, regulations, and laws related to privacy and security of health information and other privacy related personal data and advise LPHI staff and management as needed on the implications of those regulations.
• Develop, review and modify LPHI’s policies and procedures related to the privacy of health information and other privacy related personal data.
• Review all project protocols for compliance with LPHI policies and federal and state laws; identify potential compliance risks and assess the current measures in place to protect data held by LPHI; and review projects to ensure that privacy safeguards are reasonable, effective, applied consistently, and are appropriate given LPHI’s available resources, expertise, and the nature of the data.
• Provide assistance to all LPHI staff by reviewing project protocols; reviewing business associate contracts; suggesting safeguards, solutions, and alternatives; educating clients and project partners about LPHI’s position on HIPAA guidelines; and assisting all staff in responding to privacy issues.
• Lead the Research Ethics Compliance Committee (RECC) team and propose, implement, and evaluate necessary changes in privacy & security safeguards, including revised methods for receiving, storing, accessing, using, copying, transporting, disclosing, and destroying health data covered by the applicable regulations.
• Respond to privacy complaints, investigate breaches of privacy and adverse events, recommend mitigation strategies to reduce the harm that may be caused by them, and recommend sanctions for violations of policies and procedures. Collaborate with IRB and HIPAA Security Specialist when matter involves human subjects and/or security.
• Review and approve every project that has been designated as privacy sensitive.
• Review, assess and decide proper action for all LPHI HIPAA privacy disclosures, potential disclosures, or standard disclosures as they are reported either to me or through the EPL.

Program Leadership and Support (20%)

• Answers frequent, varied, and unique questions from program staff, administrative staff, customers, and vendors. This includes: troubleshooting and problem-solving complex compliance issues, making decisions, and relaying sensitive and/or confidential information as appropriate.
• Assist program areas in reviewing, interpreting and ensuring compliance with all data sharing agreements, data use agreements, business associate agreements, and confidentiality agreements issued by third parties.
• Assist program areas with developing proper sharing agreements when disclosing confidential data.
• Approve all data sharing agreements prior to them being sent to an authorized LPHI signor or third party.
• Ensure that all LPHI staff receive privacy and HIPAA training.
• Answer, respond to questions, and make decisions related to privacy protocols for projects involving identifiable confidential data and LPHI.
• Advising on contract status, legal risks, and the legal liabilities associated with different deals.
• Researching and anticipating unique legal issues that could impact the company.
• Reviewing advertising and marketing materials to ensure that they are in compliance with legal requirements.
• Providing training to the company on legal topics as applicable
• Apply effective risk management techniques and offer proactive advice on possible legal issues
• Provide expert and strategic legal advice to management.
• Identify proactive solutions that will eliminate or mitigate risks Base your decision-making process on ethics and integrity

Policy Guidance (10%)

• Oversee the development of policy development procedures.
• Oversee communication of policy revision process
• Oversee development of policy update calendar and process
• Conducts training and monitors compliance with LPHI policies regarding budgets, contracts, subcontracts, privacy, security, and other administrative guidelines.
• Regularly reports issues and concerns to CEO and/or Senior Leadership Team (as appropriate).
• Oversees all LPHI master contract activities.
• Oversees procurement rules, policy and adherence to procurement compliance.
• Communicates and trains procurement regulations to LPHI employees.
• Maintains knowledge of online grant submission tools i.e., grants.gov; HRSA’s ehandbook; and eRA commons and acts as primary backup for grant submission process.
• Works with Controller on year end audit related activity and assists with the preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards
• Responsible for hiring, supervising, directing, and training staff as needed.
• Performs all other duties as assigned.
• Maintains a positive, strong, credible, professional and interpersonal relationship with all parties relevant of LPHI projects, and represent the best interest of LPHI at all times.

ABOUT YOU

Position Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business or related field required. Must have juris doctor degree and pass the bar exam.
• Minimum of three years of progressively more responsible and relevant experience in: grant/contract management; leading and managing teams; supervising staff, performing contract negotiations; working knowledge of fixed price, hourly, and cost reimbursement contracts; and, independently initiating and conducting multiple projects to completion.

Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities

• Demonstrated capacity to succeed in a cross-functional decision-making environment.
• Must be able to lead as well as follow.
• Ability to follow and interpret complex written regulatory & legal contract language.
• Possesses a high degree of interpersonal, negotiation, and interdisciplinary skills.
• Strong organizational, planning and communication skills.
• Ability to work well under time constraints.
• Excellent judgment and balance and decision-making skills.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication, interpersonal, problem-solving, oral presentation, and organizational skills.
• Excellent presentation, teambuilding, and leadership skills are required.
• Ability to effectively manage change and perform in complex cross-functional business environment.

ABOUT US

The Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) is a statewide, non-profit organization that has been promoting the health and well-being of Louisianians since 1997. Our 100+ employees work alongside 500+ partner organizations at the local, state, and national levels to leverage our broad expertise in public health to achieve our mission of ensuring that everyone has fair and just opportunities to be healthy and well. Our strategic plan priority areas include Racial Justice and Health Equity, Partnerships and Collaboration, A Healthier Louisiana, and A Thriving Organization. To learn more, visit lphi.org.