Director, Policy & Legal Affairs

Monday - Friday: 8 am - 5 pm (Hours may vary based on business needs)

Posting End Date: 10/22/2026

Salary Range: $66,939 - $75,642 per year

Description of Job Function

1. Works to ensure the College's policies and procedures are effectively established, communicated, maintained, reviewed, and align with the College's strategic goals, values, and legal responsibilities.
2. Leads and coordinates the College's policy-development and policy-maintenance processes, including research, best practice benchmarking, formulation, implementation, communication, maintenance, and review plan of college-wide policies and procedures, guidelines, and department procedures in alignment with local, state, and federal laws, rules, and regulations. Includes process to analyze, draft, edit, revise, coordinate, develop, critique, and evaluate policies in collaboration with subject matter experts, senior leadership, administrators, general counsel, stakeholders, and governance bodies.
3. Coordinates and serves as the primary point of contact for the intake, processing, response, and tracking of requests for records received by the college, including public records requests, subpoenas, student education record requests, and litigation response and discovery. Responsible for tracking, analyzing, and preparing responses to records requests in consultation with other College personnel.
4. Assists with the collection, organization, preservation, and production of documents and information in response to litigation, administrative proceedings, audits, investigations, subpoenas, and public-records requests, under the direction of the General Counsel.
5. Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with other college departments and services as a college-wide consultative business partner on the interpretation of policies and procedures. Consultant to faculty and staff involved in developing and establishing policy or procedure related employee, supervisory, or student training programs to include the creation or update of additional resources (policy manual, templates, forms, handbook, etc.) to support policies, employee and student engagement. May assist with regulatory and compliance related training.
6. Develops timelines, establish deadlines, tracks, monitors, and coordinates college-wide policy/procedure development, policy revision, board adoption, communication strategies, implementation, and training (as applicable) in partnership with college stakeholders. Plans and conducts compliance reviews and develops strategic recommendations for corrective actions.
7. Manages the process for review of College policies on a three-year recurring cycle or sooner to include, as applicable, benchmark with peer institutions, research policy implications and options, and ensure college policies remain effective, current with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and are aligned with College goals and strategic priorities.
8. Maintains a centralized, current, and accessible policy management system/policy repository, including version control, historical records, adoption dates, review schedules, cross-references, and publication standards.
9. Collaborates with college stakeholders to understand requirements and provide support on the redesign of systems, processes, or procedures to align with changes to legislation, college goals, technological advances, and appropriate service and delivery strategies.
10. Supports the investigation and preparation of responses to charges and complaints received from federal, state, and local agencies, including contacting witnesses, coordinating response review, and related activities.
11. Uses online resources to benchmark policies, track legislation and/or legal matters. Assembles data and prepares reports on a routine or non-routine basis. Provides information and/or data for internal and/or external reports by researching departmental files/records and other resources; retrieving electronic data from different sources, including relevant websites; and organizing and presenting information in a usable and understandable format.
12. Assists in monitoring legislative and regulatory activity affecting Florida public colleges and prepares timely summaries of potential institutional impact. In collaboration with members of the Office of Policy and General Counsel, assists in the analysis of the legal and operational impact of legislative developments, administrative and judicial decisions, opinions, determinations and rulings on College programs.
13. Creates and maintains tracking systems for College intellectual property registrations, and coordinates with outside counsel in the periodic establishment and upkeep of such registrations. Creates and maintains tracking systems for College litigation and agency complaint matters. Analyzes data, compiles statistical reports, and presents results as requested.
14. Prepares and maintains dashboards, calendars, reports, and other management tools to track policy reviews, legal matters, Board actions, compliance projects, and departmental performance measures.
15. Preserves the confidentiality of the office, administration, and College by exercising discretion in communicating information to administrators, faculty, students, staff, alumni, and various publics and in handling administrative and legal files/records, personnel actions, and similar confidential items/matters.
16. Builds and maintains professional contacts with policy experts and leaders at peer institutions. Serves on various college committees, as appropriate. Represents the Office of Policy and General Counsel as needed.
17. Oversees, conducts research as appropriate, and manages special projects or initiatives.
18. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Drivers License Requirement

Not Applicable

Required Minimum Education

Master's Degree from a regionally accredited institution.

Required Field of Study

Paralegal studies, public policy, law, political science, business administration, or a closely related field.

Other Required Qualifications

Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in legal services, policy development, legislative affairs or related field; experience in managing record requests, subpoenas or litigation discovery.

Preferred Education & Field of Study

Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school

Preferred Type of Experience

Four to six (4-6) years of administrative experience in a complex university or government agency setting.

Experience as a paralegal/legal assistant (or similar legal experience).

Experience working in a Florida College System institution, Florida public university, school district, state agency, local government, or similarly regulated public-sector environment.

Experience supporting a general counsel's office, legal department, compliance office, board office, government-relations office, or executive office.

Knowledge of Florida public-sector legal and governance requirements, including public records, open meetings, ethics, records retention, procurement, contracting, and District Board of Trustees governance.

Experience with institutional policy or rule development, State Board of Education rules, Florida administrative processes, or legislative and regulatory monitoring.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

1. Knowledge of the principles, concepts and methods of policy management, legal research, including legal reference sources and materials, legal and/or business procedures, principles, terminology and concepts, Federal, State and local laws, regulations, and rules applicable to the College's mission and activities.
2. Strong critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze, summarize, and effectively problem solve and/or present information.
3. Ability to work in a small team with a significant workload, and adept at consistently multitasking to include being aggressive in the completion of tasks while accurately attending to detail.
4. Ability to communicate effectively in writing and orally with members of the College community and outside entities.
5. Ability to use discretion, initiative, and make decisions with a significant degree of impact and function calmly /effectively during times of crisis.
6. Effective team member and ability to exercise considerable judgment and discretion in establishing and maintaining positive working relationships with internal colleagues at all levels and external constituents.
7. Skill in planning, preparing comprehensive reports and presentations, and representing ideas clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
8. Skill in the use of personal computers and general office software related to area of responsibility.
9. Ability to document and research information, and analyze data to arrive at valid conclusions, recommendations, and plans of action.
10. Ability to screen and evaluate priorities as to emergencies and to make sound recommendations.
11. Demonstrated ability to juggle shifting priorities and multiple projects; excellent follow-through.
12. Superior organizational, administrative, critical thinking and analytical skills.
13. Ability to plan, coordinate, and direct the work of staff engaged in various professional, technical, and clerical support functions.

General Working Conditions

This job primarily operates in a professional office environment. The employee will routinely operate standard office equipment including but not limited to computers, keyboards, mouse, phones, photocopiers, printers, scanners, filing cabinets and fax machines. While performing the duties of this job, the noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.

Typical physical competencies include but are not limited to frequently remaining stationary, moving, reaching, positioning self and occasionally ascending/descending, lifting/moving objects weighing between 5-15 pounds. This job also entails frequently communicating, discerning and exchanging information, detecting and perceiving objects up close, at a distance, and the ability to adjust focus. Cognitive abilities include but are not limited to frequently using discretion, judgment, reasoning, memory, learning, maintaining confidentiality, comprehension, problem solving, and decision-making.

The typical work environment, physical and cognitive demands listed above are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. The College has a process to identify and make available reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.