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Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 360,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers.  CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career and civic life.  In order to fulfill this mission we make three commitments to our students, their families and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability and integrity.  Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership and continuous learning.

 CPS is seeking a motivated, dynamic individual to join the Law Department’s Transactions Unit as Paralegal. The Transactions Unit provides strategic advice on high volume District transactions, supports development of procurement solicitations, and drafts and negotiates a broad range of mission critical contracts for the District. The Unit also provides legal review and counsel on bond issuances and other financings and advises on compliance with Board rules, policies and public procurement laws.  The Paralegal will review, draft and negotiate contracts, develop templates and support process workflow, including contract lifecycle, among other responsibilities.  The Paralegal will join the Transactions Unit at a transformative time and will contribute to significant process improvements. 

 The Paralegal is accountable for the following responsibilities and other tasks as assigned:

·      Direct responsibility for taking ownership of, and managing contract request intake, tracking materials submissions and contract completion compliance, establishing and overseeing contract collaboration meetings and protocol to ensure that contracts stay on track and are meeting key performance indicators; develop reports of the same for unit leadership. 

·      Review contract requests from departments to ensure completeness of materials submitted (scope of services, deliverables, pricing, and other exhibits) and work with the submitting department, along with the Procurement department and assigned attorney to resolve any issues. 

·      Review, structure, draft and negotiate contracts for the purchase of goods and services, ensuring compliance with laws and CPS policies, and collaborate with CPS stakeholders and external partners to resolve contract issues.

·      Develop new and update existing contract templates and ensure that templates are timely updated to reflect policy and law changes; create and maintain a shared resource library for efficient access to the latest approved contract templates and provisions.

·      Develop and draft other documents and reports as needed.

·      Support accurate data maintenance for unit systems and timely pull system data reports on a recurring basis.

·      Work closely with the unit Contract Specialist to support implementation of contract management system and unit workflow platforms, and with the Legal Secretary to ensure accurate, timely contract request intake and assignment.

 In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Paralegal must possess the following qualifications:

 Education Required: 

•  Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university. A paralegal certificate is preferred.

 Experience Required: 

• At least three (3) years of experience as a paralegal or contracts manager with successful project management, contract review, drafting and negotiation experience, as well as contract lifecycle management and systems experience in a fast-paced transactional environment.  

 Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

·      Highly organized with the ability to keep unit and attorney projects on track; demonstrated ability to organize and prioritize work in a dynamic, complex, fast paced environment to meet and manage competing deadlines 

·      Exceptional attention to detail with the ability to maintain accuracy while balancing multiple time sensitive priorities 

·      Extensive experience reviewing, analyzing, drafting and negotiating commercial product and service contracts and developing a range of contract templates

·      Advanced knowledge of data manipulation tools, functional spreadsheets (excel, sheets), presentations, Word and Google Suite

·      Ability to operate with a sense of urgency to accomplish goals and objectives while maintaining professionalism and customer service focus

·      Solution oriented, creative problem solver with ability to define problems, analyze and outline valid conclusions and action steps to meet defined goals and deadlines

·      Excellent analytical skills; Demonstrated ability to quickly grasp and effectively communicate concepts, define problems and analyze issues 

·      Clear, effective, communication (writing, speaking, listening), engagement and relationship building skills

·      Execution oriented, deadline and process driven

·      Experience with legal matter management, tracking and contract management systems 

·      Ability and desire to work collaboratively with department leaders to help them succeed in meeting objectives

·      Keen attention to detail; accuracy and improvement driven

·      Tech savvy with with strong systems skills and desire for continued growth and learning

 Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency -Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.

Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 -Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. “Up-to-date” on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.