General Counsel

Job title: General Counsel

Job description: Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) is a new provincial agency that will serve as a go-to resource for Intellectual Property (IP) expertise to help researchers and companies maximize the value of their IP, strengthen their capacity to grow and compete in the global market.

Location: This is a remote-first opportunity within Ontario. We have offices in both Kitchener and Toronto where the team meets on an occasional basis (monthly) or as needed.

The General Counsel/Corporate Secretary is responsible for the provision of legal services, privacy oversight, corporate governance and enterprise risk management to ensure IPON’s compliance with legislative and applicable legal requirements. This is a part-time role.

Responsibilities:

IPON is seeking a highly organized, results-oriented and collaborative relationship builder to:

• Review, draft and negotiate a variety of commercial agreements.
• Develop and maintain specialized legal knowledge and expertise relevant to IPON’s activities, updating processes and precedents as required.
• Act as a legal resource in all matters for IPON.
• Act as a key member and trusted advisor on the executive team, providing advice and input on the development of the agency’s vision, mission, values and culture and leads strategies for their delivery at the department level.
• Act as a strategic legal advisor to the agency to define and drive programs, policies, systems, services and models within the broad framework of the agency’s vision, mandate and values.
• Act as the key legal advisor and provide executive leadership in the provision of a full range of legal services and legal and enterprise risk management expertise and strategic advice (e.g., interpretation and/or application of legislation, legal review and coordination of corporate policies, development of contractual agreements, employment, and other business transactions).
• Oversee and coordinate input from other legal advisors as required for specialized expertise, synthesizing overall advice.
• Advise IPON on its statutory requirements for compliance with privacy legislation and regulations, and coordinates privacy matters and responses to Freedom of Information inquiries across the organization.
• Provide advice and legal resources to the Chief Executive Officer, Officers, Board and its committees in the discharge of their fiduciary duties and provides oversight of the Board’s governance structure and accountabilities.
• Provide strategic legal expertise and advice to the Chief Executive Officer, IPON executive team and the Board of Directors on departmental plans, priorities, and outcomes including strategies, services and issues/challenges.

Qualifications:

• You are a lawyer member in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario.
• Fluency in French is an asset, but not required.

Job Knowledge

• You have experience in all aspects corporate/commercial law and privacy law practice in the government context.
• You are familiar with the Ontario Public Service conflict of interest requirements and can provide practical, strategic advice in response to nuanced and time-sensitive issues in that realm.
• You are familiar with the requirements under the French Language Services Act
• You have knowledge of legal operational environments and an understanding of the objects of IPON and requirements under related legislation.
• You have experience and knowledge of enterprise risk management, legal risk assessments, contingent liability reporting, and the development of key-performance indicators to evaluate program delivery and client service.

Executive and Operational Leadership

• You are a values-based people leader who promotes a culture of diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, accessibility, and equity to support a positive and high performing environment.
• You have sound knowledge of agency and Ontario Public Service requirements and decision-making processes in order to support the relationship between IPON and the OPS.
• You are a trusted advisor and able to accurately exercise judgment in determining best courses of action when advising on legal responsibilities and policy development, and can assess, analyze and determine solutions for program and business planning issues.
• You have a strong ability to maintain a network of internal and external relationships to facilitate communication linkages and to use those relationships to support legal and program development in a high-pressure environment.
• You have the ability to anticipate, identify, analyze, and evaluate issues and priorities, weighing their program and case implications and providing accurate and timely legal advice to achieve desired results.

Sounds like you? Join our growing team today!

Intellectual Property Ontario is committed to the core principles of the : dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity. Our goal is to ensure that all Ontarians can access our services and information when and how they need them, without barriers.

If you require any assistance or accommodation alternatives during the recruitment process, please contact us at hr[at]ip-ontario.ca

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