Senior Legal Counsel

Metrolinx is connecting communities across the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Metrolinx operates GO Transit and UP Express, as well as the PRESTO fare payment system. We are also building new and improved rapid transit, including GO Expansion, Light Rail Transit routes, and major expansions to Toronto’s subway system, to get people where they need to go, better, faster and easier. Metrolinx is an agency of the Government of Ontario.

At Metrolinx, equity, diversity and inclusion are essential to living our values of serving with passion, thinking forward and playing as a team.

What we offer:

• Work that makes an impact across all of Metrolinx as well as the GTHA
• Learning and development opportunities
• An open and inclusive work environment
• Comprehensive health and dental benefits, and wellness spending account
• Defined Benefit OMERS Pension plan

Role Summary

Our award-winning Legal Services team is seeking a labour, employment, and human rights lawyer to join our busy and collegial legal team, headquartered in downtown Toronto. Ideal candidates will have a strong interest in problem solving, contributing to setting key strategic direction, and partaking in the leadership and strategic development of a busy labour and employment legal team.

Reporting to a Director, Legal Services, the successful candidate will provide proactive, timely and strategic advice to senior business leaders and their teams, including labour and employment issues arising from operating a busy bus and train transit network; complex infrastructure construction projects; issues that may impact upon Metrolinx customers and the general public; and a wide range of human resources-related files arising from long-range planning as well as day-to-day operations.

Metrolinx has both unionized and non-union employees, and the workforce is both office-based and front-line. Our bus and rail operations operate within a highly regulated environment. Our capital programs entail delivery of complex transit infrastructure, sometimes involving consideration of contractor and/or construction-related labour issues. As a safety-critical and safety-centric organization, experience working within or advising within some or all of these contexts (or analogous) would be an asset.

What will I be doing?

• Works independently with a wide variety of business units and stakeholders
• Provides labour, employment law and human rights legal advice to internal clients, including on litigation or potential litigation
• Undertakes and provides advice regarding litigation on behalf of Metrolinx by representing Metrolinx in legal proceedings, including attendance at the Grievance Settlement Board (grievances), Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (regarding applications brought by both employees and/or customers), in Court (in particular, wrongful dismissals), before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, and/or before other adjudicative or investigatory bodies, including preparing pleadings, written submissions and any other materials needed to undertake litigation files on Metrolinx’s behalf
• Provides legal and/or strategic advice regarding negotiations and/or represents Metrolinx in negotiations with individual or commercial claimants, including related to collective bargaining, including preparing correspondence, memoranda and/or other documentation related to negotiations and binding settlements
• Directs and manages external counsel on litigation, solicitor-type work, transaction matters and other work, making recommendations, as necessary, to the Labour & Employment lead (Director), Legal Management Team (Directors, VPs, EVPs), Chief Legal Officer and others, including client groups
• Provides high-quality and timely legal advice, strategic advice, research, opinions, guidance and service on matters pertaining to labour law, employment law, human rights law and/or other related legal matters
• Directs external counsel on litigation, solicitor work and/or transaction matters, and makes recommendations to client groups, portfolio leads and Chief Legal Officer
• Drafts and reviews complex contracts, memoranda of understanding and other legal documentation
• Works effectively with various agencies, departments and levels of management within and external to the organization, including program managers, business and financial analysts, consultants and executives
• Advises and leads presentations to all levels of management, including briefings of Senior Management and Division Heads
• Understands how to prioritize tasks, push files forward, handle a busy file load with disparate client groups and issues, and escalates issues appropriately
• Provides proactive and strategic legal advice to organization outside of specific legal assignments
• Assists with developing training and mentorship programs for junior lawyers and students
• Provides feedback and direction to legal clerk and administrative staff

What Skills and Qualifications Do I Need?

• Completion of a degree in law (JD or LLB)
• Demonstrated senior experience as a lawyer, gained at a reputable law firm and/or in-house legal group, within the areas of Labour Law, Employment Law, Human Rights Law and/or related areas
• Membership in the Law Society of Ontario as a Lawyer in good standing is required
• Fluency and experience with the Employment Standards Act, Labour Relations Act and/or Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, the Ontario Human Rights Code, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, is required
• Strong understanding of key Ontario labour, employment and human rights jurisprudence and concepts required
• Experience litigating labour and employment matters
• Experience advising with a unionized context (i.e. labour law experience, in addition to employment law experience)
• Ability to identify and resolve legal issues
• Ability to work well as a full and valuable member of an integrated business-legal team
• Able to think strategically, and comfortable working independently, as well as, a good understanding and judgment of situations which require escalation, including to portfolio leads and/or Chief Legal Officer
• Contributor to and reviewer of corporate policies, standards, and procedures to minimize corporate legal risk and protect position, personnel, customers and assets
• Ability to provide sound legal advice and suggest business-oriented solutions to complex legal issues in commercial and political contexts
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, oral/written/presentation, and drafting skills, and able to provide legal opinions and interpretations, and direct and manage external legal counsel effectively
• Ability to function well under pressure and demonstrate teamwork in a legal department and across client departments
• Ability to translate complicated legal concepts into readily understandable advice
• Experience appearing before, or directing cases before the Human Rights Tribunal, in Ontario Courts, and/or before grievance arbitrators will be an asset.
• Experience managing labour and employment issues arising from complex commercial contracts would be an asset, as would experience conducting or advising on: workplace investigations and collective bargaining.
• Experience in any of the following areas would be an asset: Privacy Law, FIPPA, Charter Law.

Don’t Meet Every Requirement?

If you’re excited about working with Metrolinx but your past experience doesn’t quite align with every qualification of this posting, we encourage you to apply. You just might be the right candidate for this or other roles. We are always looking for great talent to join our team.

We invite all interested individuals to apply and encourage applications from members of equity-deserving communities, including those who identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, women, people with disabilities, and people with diverse gender identities, expressions and sexual orientations.

Accommodation:

We value the unique skills and experiences each person brings to Metrolinx and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment. We are committed to the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act so if you require accommodation during the hiring process, please let our Recruitment team know by contacting us at: 416-202-5601 or email [email protected].

Application Process:

All applicants must be legally entitled to work in Canada. Metrolinx will be using email to communicate with you for all job competitions. It is your responsibility to include an updated email address that is checked daily and accepts emails from unknown users. As we send time sensitive correspondence, we recommend that you check your email regularly. If no response is received, we will assume you are no longer interested in pursuing the opportunity. Please be advised that a Criminal Record Check may be required of the successful candidate.

Should it be determined that any background information provided be misleading, inaccurate or incorrect, Metrolinx reserves the right to discontinue with the consideration of your application.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

WE ARE AN EQUITABLE AND INCLUSIVE EMPLOYER.

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