Manager, Legal Services

Why FirstOntario?

• Competitive compensation packages
• Top-tier health and wellness benefits, including comprehensive benefits packages, a yearly health spending account and personal spending account
• Enhanced mental health benefits through SunLife and TELUS Health
• Exclusive banking benefits
• Up to $1000 per year towards professional development
• Pension Plan
• Flex-work environment
• Company-wide Employee Volunteer program (Blue Wave Program)
• Employee and Family Assistance Program

Job Overview

The Manager, Legal Services provides operational leadership and senior-level support within the Legal Services Department, with accountability for legal operations, contract governance, corporate records administration, regulatory coordination, and management of legal workflows across the organization. Reporting to the General Counsel, this role exercises independent judgment in triaging legal matters, managing department priorities, overseeing legal systems and processes, supporting enterprise initiatives, and acting as a key liaison with internal stakeholders, external counsel, regulators, and service providers. The role contributes to legal risk management, governance effectiveness, and business enablement across the credit union and its affiliated entities.

Role

• Manage the day-to-day operations of the Legal Services Department, including intake, triage, prioritization, assignment, and tracking of legal requests to ensure timely, consistent, and risk-based service delivery across the organization;
• Provide leadership over legal operations, including administration of the contract lifecycle management system, legal matter tracking, records retention practices, precedents, templates, and reporting dashboards;
• Serve as the primary operational contact for legal requests from business units and functional areas, assessing urgency, identifying key legal and regulatory issues, and escalating matters to the General Counsel or external counsel where appropriate;
• Coordinate, review, and support the preparation, negotiation, execution, renewal, amendment, and termination processes for commercial contracts and other legal agreements, in accordance with delegated authority and established legal and procurement protocols;
• Monitor contract obligations, expiry dates, renewal windows, approval requirements, and compliance deliverables, and follow up with contract owners and business leads to support timely decision-making and risk mitigation;
• Support the General Counsel in managing legal risk, regulatory matters, governance initiatives, enterprise projects, mergers and acquisitions activity, strategic transactions, and other matters of legal significance to the credit union and its affiliates;
• Coordinate legal support for regulatory filings, submissions, correspondence, and examinations, including matters involving FSRA and other applicable regulatory bodies;
• Oversee the administration of corporate records for the credit union and affiliated entities, including annual corporate maintenance, resolutions, director and officer updates, minute book organization, and required corporate filings;
• Support litigation and dispute matters by coordinating document collection, internal fact gathering, reporting, legal holds, invoice management, and interactions with external counsel and service providers;
• Prepare, review, and maintain management and board reporting materials relating to legal matters, litigation, material contracts, legal risk indicators, subsidiaries, insurance-related legal information, and other recurring or ad hoc reporting requirements;
• Act as a subject matter resource to internal stakeholders on legal processes, contract interpretation support, member-related legal issues, and operational matters involving fraud, estates, powers of attorney, privacy, document execution, and related legal documentation;
• Support vendor and third-party risk management processes by coordinating legal due diligence, reviewing legal terms, tracking remediation items, and assisting with periodic reviews required under internal policy and regulatory expectations;
• Lead or support process improvement initiatives within Legal Services, including development of standard operating procedures, service standards, intake protocols, workflow optimization, and continuous improvement of legal service delivery;
• Develop and deliver guidance, training, and educational materials to business partners on legal intake, contract governance, signing authorities, records management, and legal risk awareness;
• Exercise delegated signing or approval authority, where assigned, for routine legal administration matters, external counsel engagement processes, invoice approvals, and departmental operational decisions within approved limits;
• Provide functional leadership, coaching, and workflow direction to legal support staff or other assigned team members, and participate in performance input, onboarding, and cross-functional coordination as required;
• Liaise with external counsel, regulators, auditors, insurers, trustees, registries, and other third parties on legal and administrative matters, ensuring timely follow-up, accuracy, and confidentiality;
• Conduct legal and regulatory research, summarize findings, and provide practical recommendations or implementation support for legal, governance, and operational initiatives;
• Contribute to departmental budgeting and expense management activities, including monitoring of legal invoices, external counsel spend, legal vendor administration, and reporting against budget or forecast as requested;
• Handle highly sensitive and confidential information with a high degree of professionalism, judgment, and discretion;
• Provide administrative and clerical support to the General Counsel including scheduling meetings, submitting expenses, drafting correspondence and recording meeting minutes;
• Perform other duties consistent with the scope, responsibility, and level of the position.

Required Skills

• Post-secondary education in Law Clerk, Paralegal Studies, Business, Public Administration, or a related discipline, together with significant progressive experience in a law firm, in-house legal department, financial institution, or similarly regulated environment;
• Minimum of seven to ten (7-10) years of relevant legal operations, law clerk, corporate governance, contract administration, or regulatory support experience, including demonstrated responsibility for complex and confidential matters;
• Demonstrated experience coordinating legal workflows, contract management processes, corporate records administration, and cross-functional legal support in a complex organization;
• Strong understanding of commercial agreements, legal documentation, corporate governance practices, regulatory environments, and risk management principles, preferably within the financial services or credit union sector;
• Ability to assess issues, exercise sound judgment, set priorities, and make recommendations in a fast-paced, time-sensitive, and high-volume environment;
• Strong leadership, organizational, and relationship management skills, with the ability to influence, coordinate, and collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft correspondence, reports, summaries, presentations, and legal or business documentation with accuracy and clarity;
• High degree of discretion, professionalism, and ability to manage sensitive, privileged, and confidential information;
• Experience working with contract lifecycle management systems, matter management tools, document management systems, ServiceNow or similar intake platforms, and Microsoft Office applications;
• Demonstrated ability to lead process improvements, develop procedures, create reporting, and support operational efficiencies within a legal or compliance function;
• Experience with corporate filings, board and subsidiary administration, PPSA searches, and real property search tools such as Teraview is considered an asset;
• Prior people leadership, functional leadership, or demonstrated accountability for coordinating the work of others is considered an asset.

This position will require a large amount of keyboarding / desk time

Must be available to work on a hybrid basis in Stoney Creek, ON.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

Salary Range: $81,110 to $111,527

Compensation for this role reflects a combination of skills, experience, and internal equity. Those whose experience more closely aligns the role's requirements may be placed higher within the salary range. You will learn more about FirstOntario Credit Union's total rewards package during the interview process.

Our inclusive work environment welcomes diversity and supports accessibility. If you require accommodation at any time during the recruitment process, please let us know.

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