Associate Director, Legal Services - Construction

OMERS / Oxford Properties Group; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 138,000 - 188,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Group benefits

Retirement plans

Incentive awards

Job summary

Oxford’s Canadian Legal Services team in Toronto seeks an Associate Director, Legal Services to advise on construction and development projects across the Canadian portfolio and manage external counsel. The role includes regulatory and risk support, and collaboration with Development, Asset Management, Operational and Investment teams.

The position also involves mentoring legal staff and liaising with Oxford and OMERS partners; a hybrid work pattern requires four office days per week.

Qualifications

• Construction & Development Legal Expertise relevant to CCDCs, RFPs and building contracts.
• Commercially focused legal advisory balancing regulation, risk and business needs.
• Strong collaboration and communication across internal teams and external counsel.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal support for design and construction work and diverse commercial agreements.
• Offer practical legal advice on regulatory, compliance and dispute matters.
• Mentor legal clerks and construction/design teams.
• Build relationships with external law firms and internal partners.
• Navigate Oxford’s approvals processes and organizational structure.

Skills

Construction contracts

Legal risk management

Stakeholder management

Job description

Choose a workplace that empowers your impact. Join a global workplace where employees thrive. One that embraces diversity of thought, expertise and passion. A place where you can personalize your employee journey to be — and deliver — your best. We are a leading global real estate investor, developer and manager. We combine our capital with our capabilities to create real estate that strengthens economies and communities. By prioritizing people, partnerships and places, we generate meaningful returns for OMERS members, enhance value for our capital partners and create a brighter world for our customers. Join us to accelerate your growth & development, prioritize wellness, build connections, and support the communities where we live and work. Don’t just work anywhere — come build tomorrow together with us.

We are looking for a highly motivated lawyer to join Oxford’s Canadian Legal Services team in Toronto. As a member of the Oxford Legal Services team, the Associate Director, Legal Services will advise directly and/or manage legal support on construction and development projects across the Canadian portfolio, including managing external legal counsel and liaising with other professional advisors and assisting the Development, Asset Management, Operational and Investment teams through the development and construction process. The role will also include support of Oxford’s compliance and risk activities, such as regulatory tracking and KYC.

The Associate Director, Legal Services will be a key legal partner to the Oxford real estate team in Toronto, and a key member of an engaged, high-reaching team—part of a world-class, winning culture that prioritizes people development and focuses on long-term growth. We welcome a strong team player to be part of a collaborative team culture which cherishes mutual respect and cognitive diversity.

Our focus is investment results and mitigation of risk, and our mission is to help secure the financial future for the beneficiaries of our pension plan. We believe that time together in the office is important for OMERS and Oxford, the strength of our employees, and the work we do for our pension members. Our hybrid work guideline requires teams to come to the office a minimum of 4 days per week.

You will be responsible for

• Providing legal support for all design and construction work (including RFPs, professional services agreements, architectural agreements and CCDCs) as well as providing practical, business-aligned legal support to the Canadian business teams by drafting, negotiating, and reviewing a wide range of commercial agreements, including building service agreements, operational agreements, consultant agreements and other supporting agreements.
• Providing legal advice to various internal business units on a variety of legal, regulatory and compliance matters, as well as on-going operational matters, such as contract reviews, advice on developing issues and legal disputes and litigation, and providing a legal perspective on internal reports and strategy documents related to the development and construction process.
• Mentoring and training legal clerks and managers as well as the construction and designs teams.
• Developing and building relationships with external law firms and other professional advisors, as well as internally with other legal professionals and business colleagues within Oxford and OMERS.
• Understanding Oxford’s organizational structure and approval processes.

Required Skills and Experience

• Construction & Development Legal Expertise Deep experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating construction-related agreements (including CCDCs, RFPs, professional services and building service agreements) while providing legal support throughout the development and construction lifecycle.
• Business-Aligned Legal Advisory & Risk Management Ability to provide practical, commercially focused legal advice on regulatory, compliance, operational, and dispute-related matters while balancing business objectives with risk mitigation.
• Stakeholder Management & Collaboration Strong relationship-building and communication skills to effectively partner with internal business teams, manage external counsel and advisors, and influence diverse stakeholders across the organization.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Qualifications and training to practice law in Toronto, with a minimum of 3 years’ experience in an in-house and/or law firm environment with a focus on construction contracts.
• Experience in drafting and negotiating CCDCs, building service agreements and professional service agreements, as well as experience supporting RFPs.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with sound judgment and the ability to lead projects and interact with a broad range of professionals.
• An intellectually curious and open-minded demeanor with the desire to be part of a team and a willingness to learn.
• A strong work ethic, integrity and a positive attitude, with a willingness to support the business and provide practical, timely legal advice and guidance.

This posting is for an existing vacancy. The expected salary range for this position is $138,000-188,000 per year.

You may also be eligible to receive an annual Incentive Award pursuant to our Short-term Incentive plan and our Long-Term Incentive plan (if applicable), and to participate in our group benefits and retirement plans – details on these elements of compensation are included within OMERS & Oxford offer letters.

Oxford’s purpose is to strengthen economies and communities through real estate. Our people-first culture is at its best when our workforce reflects the communities where we live and work — and the customers we proudly serve.

From hire to retire, we are an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment and selection process that extends all the way through your employee experience.

This sense of belonging and connection is cultivated up, down and across our global organization thanks to our vast network of Employee Resource Groups with executive leader sponsorship, our Purpose@Work committee and employee recognition programs.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are used to support certain stages of the OMERS recruitment process. While AI assists us in our process, human judgment and decision-making remain central to our candidate experience.

We’re committed to: We are passionate about inclusion and advocate for I&D across our network of employees, members and partners We are proud of our commitment to developing a best in class approach to complete wellness for our employees and members We invest in our people, providing them with opportunities so they can develop and grow