Assistant City Attorney, Division Director - Municipal Operations

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The salary range for this position is $165.993-$235,000/annually, based on experience and education. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service

• 457B Retirement Plan

• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 12 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday, 1 wellness day and 1 volunteer day per year

• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

The City and County of Denver supports a hybrid workplace model. Employees work where needed, at a job site several days a week and off-site as needed. Employees must work within the state of Colorado on their off-site days.

The City Attorney’s Office serves as the chief legal counsel to the Mayor, City Council, City Auditor, City Clerk and Recorder, and all City agencies. Its responsibilities include handling city lawsuits, prosecuting ordinance violations, providing victim support in criminal cases, representing the city in investigations and litigation, advising on contractual and transactional matters, offering regulatory and compliance assistance, addressing employment matters for the city's more than 12,000 workers, and providing guidance on local, state, and federal law.

With a team of over 250 individuals, the City Attorney’s Office is dedicated to protecting resident welfare, enhancing neighborhood quality of life, and responsibly managing taxpayer funds. As advocates for effective governance, transparency, and accountability, the office empowers the city to do its work and prioritizes ethical conduct in all city operations. Whether working with city agencies, engaging community stakeholders, or collaborating with external legal counsel, the office leverages its collective expertise to navigate complex legal challenges and advance key city priorities.

The Denver City Attorney's Office is searching for a Division Director for the Municipal Operations section. The Division Director leads the Municipal Operations section of the City Attorney's Office which is comprised of approximately 35 attorneys and 13 staff. This Section provides full service legal representation and advice to City officials, agencies and employees in the areas of general local government law, environmental regulation and compliance, construction contracts, procurement, government contracting, tax, municipal finance, bankruptcy, real estate, land use and commercial litigation.

The successful candidate for this position will lead and coordinate the Section's work, lead and manage an experienced group of municipal attorneys, and provide legal counsel and representation to City officers and employees. We seek an attorney with significant leadership, management and legal experience to lead our growing team and who is sensitive to the impact our legal work has on Denver's communities to help shape our city's future. Three Assistant Directors and two Legal Administrators will report directly to the Division Director as a part of the Municipal Operations leadership team.

Additionally, Director responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Leadership and Vision:

• Sets vision and goals for Municipal Operations in partnership with the Municipal Operations leadership team and establishes metrics to measure progress toward goals.

• In partnership with the Municipal Operations leadership team and the CAO, develops legal strategies, trains leaders, and ensures that Municipal Operations attorneys and staff are current on a wide range of best practices.

• Leverages working relationships with stakeholders and colleagues to build strong connections, cooperation, and collaboration.

• Establishes priorities for Municipal Operations and ensures their alignment with section and CAO goals.

• Develops, implements and maintains the section's policies and procedures, goals and objectives. Sets section standards and promotes effective teamwork among Municipal Operations attorneys and staff.

• Promotes a positive work culture where members of Municipal Operations feel included, valued for their individual contributions, promote a diverse workforce, and feel comfortable speaking up when concerns arise.

• Leads and motivates people by modeling interpersonal effectiveness, strong communication skills, trust, advocacy, and political acumen.

• Shares knowledge and supports peers, staff, and others to increase skills, foster improvements, and enhance outcomes.

• Attends public meetings and forums on behalf of the City to receive input as well as affirmatively articulate positions on issues important to the City and the CAO.

• Establishes a culture of two-way communication, trust, and collaboration between Municipal Operations and CAO leadership.

Talent Management:

• Provides positive leadership and encourages employee engagement by communicating progress toward goals, fostering accountability and teamwork, modeling client service, and empowering employees to own their work performance and development.

• Demonstrates a willingness to listen and learn from staff, peers and leadership; invites input from others and shares ownership and recognition.

• Oversees personnel actions, including recommendations for hiring, training, performance evaluations and other personnel actions to ensure productivity and compliance with set standards.

• Assesses subordinate's readiness and skill regarding work diversity and job assignment; provides feedback for improvement.

• Fosters team communication and dialogue; identifies opportunities to gain consensus for team decisions and outcomes.

• Leads the Municipal Operations leadership team to work through challenges and arrive at a positive outcome for Municipal Operations, the CAO, and the city overall.

• Encourages others to appreciate connections within complex issues.

Legal Excellence:

• The ability to advise the City Attorney, Deputy City Attorney, department heads and other mayoral appointees and elected officials regarding all aspects of general local government law, environmental regulation and compliance, construction contracts, procurement, government contracting, tax, municipal finance, bankruptcy, real estate, land use and commercial litigation.

• Demonstrates general knowledge of a wide variety of municipal law areas, with expertise in the subject matter areas handled by the Section.

• High-level understanding of City Charter, Code, and contract provisions and procurement process relevant to Section's work

• Pro-actively monitors and analyzes legislative bills, initiatives or other advocacy efforts that may impact the work done by the Section, identifies potential solutions and timely notifies the City Attorney or Deputy City Attorney

• Assists with Colorado Open Records Act requests submitted to Municipal Operations.   Drafts city ordinances.

• Continually strives to upgrade the depth and breadth of technical and professional skills.

• Performs other administrative and legal duties as directed by the City Attorney or Deputy City Attorney.

Operational/Administrative Excellence:

• Research financial impacts of proposed projects, programs and actions and provides justification to the administrative section and City Attorney for the development and implementation of the Municipal Operations budget. Develops and oversees budgetary expenditures and allocation of resources for Municipal Operations, including forecasting for programing budgets.

• Ensures that appropriate training, tools, technology, and information is available to meet job performance and challenges for Municipal Operations leaders and staff.

• Establishes methodology for measuring outcomes; communicates key performance measurements, progress, and results.

• Uses industry benchmarking and best practice to set and meet operational improvement targets.   Seeks input from a variety of constituencies and uses the feedback to redirect efforts as needed.

• Investment in Organization and City:

• Participates in and promotes organizational and Mayoral priorities such as Peak Performance, employee engagement initiatives, the CAO's action plans and other department policies and initiatives.

• Champions ongoing process improvement in Municipal Operations.

Our ideal candidate is visionary, innovative, creative, and experienced leader who is passionate about public service, is ethical and fair, with good common sense and sound judgment and demonstrates an ability to lead, manage and motivate an experienced and dynamic legal team.

In addition, our ideal candidate will:

• Uses critical thinking to analyze issues systematically by planning, prioritizing, and organizing work while anticipating and adjusting to changes.

• Demonstrates an ability to think creatively to achieve the client’s desired result.

• Keeps commitments to the team and demonstrates a shared responsibility and focus to ensure objectives and goals are successfully met.

• Displays resiliency and takes proactive measures to make improvements.

• Demonstrates managerial courage by addressing conflicts promptly using focused listening and behavioral feedback to produce mutually beneficial resolutions.

• Articulates complex issues in a simple manner in a public forum and has a proven track record of providing strategic advice, managing issues, and delivering results.

In addition to the technical capabilities / experience described above, the Division Director should possess the following capabilities:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

• Ability to bring together opposing groups or individuals to reconcile differences and accomplish organizational goals in a constructive manner

• Experience in financial management and ability to commit to action, even in uncertain situations, by making sound and timely decisions necessary to carry out programs, ideas, systems or policies that affect Municipal Operations.

A qualified applicant for the Division Director should have experience in recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, recognition, coaching and disciplinary action with employees. The applicant should have experience in creating, maintaining and fostering an inclusive and diverse work environment and have significant experience with coaching, training, and mentoring attorneys and legal staff. The applicant must be able to encourage and facilitate cooperation and open communication that promotes teamwork and fosters respect for employees at all levels. A sense of humor is a plus.

The Division Director should have extensive experience working with individuals at all levels of an organization and a demonstrated ability to develop and manage projects, budgets and people.

• Education requirement: Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree or Bachelor of Laws Degree.

• Experience Requirement: Five (5) years of leadership experience, which must have included director-level management responsibilities.

• One (1) year of management experience must include budget and fiscal oversight responsibility, evaluation of business processes, and policy and decision-making experience with planning and organizing multiple programs, projects, operations or functions.

• Education/Experience Equivalency: No substitution of experience for education is permitted.

• License/Certifications: Possession of a license to practice law in Colorado from the Colorado Supreme Court by the date of hire or a reasonable expectation of becoming licensed by the Colorado Supreme Court by the date of hire in accordance with C.R.C.P. 203.2, 203.3, 203.4 and 205.6.

• Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.

This posting will accept applications until 11:59 PM on Sunday, May 4, 2025. Please submit your application as soon as possible to ensure consideration.

Job Profile

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The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law. 

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