Director, Legal & Advice Services

Canadian Association of Labour Media; Toronto; On-site; CAD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent educational association seeks a full-time Director, Legal & Advice Services in Toronto. Responsibilities include leading legal staff, advising on labour relations, and ensuring strategic decisions align with organizational goals. Candidates must have a J.D. and significant experience in labour relations, with a minimum salary of $160,000 per annum.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension plan

Comprehensive benefits package

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years' experience in labour relations.
• Proven leadership experience in managing legal or labour relations teams.
• Strong knowledge of collective bargaining and policy advocacy.

Responsibilities

• Leads and supervises the work of the in-house legal team.
• Provides strategic legal advice and planning.
• Ensures compliance with case law and legislation relevant to UTFA.

Skills

Project Management

Leadership

Interpersonal Skills

Judgment

Communication Skills

Education

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Advanced Degree in relevant field

Tools

MS Office/365

Document Management Processes

Job description

Director, Legal & Advice Services

The University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) is the Association representing all full-time and part-time faculty members and academic librarians at the University of Toronto. It is seeking to fill a full-time Director, Legal & Advice Services position in an active Association office located near the University of Toronto downtown campus.

The Director, Legal & Advice Services leads and supervises the work of in-house Legal & Advice staff, monitors the work of and provides client instruction to external counsel, and supports the Executive Director, Vice-President, Grievances, and the Vice-President, Salary, Benefits, Pensions, and Workload in matters relevant to the Legal & Advice portfolio. Other duties may include providing advice or reports to the Executive Committee and to UTFA Council, as assigned.

The Director, Legal & Advice Services is a member of UTFA’s management team and works collaboratively with the President, the Vice-President Grievances, the Vice-President, Salary, Benefits, Pensions & Workload, and the Executive Director, and provides support to the Association to advance UTFA’s aims and objectives. The Director, Legal & Advice Services ensures that UTFA makes legally sound and strategic decisions, provides or facilitates strategic legal advice and planning for the operations of the Association, and helps create an environment in which the Association can productively pursue goals consistent with the governance of a member-led organization.

The successful candidate will have at least 5 years’ senior experience related to labour relations and/or representation of association or union members, ideally in the post-secondary education sector;

The successful candidate will possess the following or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience:

● A Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree or a combination of an advanced degree and relevant labour experience;

● Demonstrated experience leading and managing a labour relations or legal advising team;

● Significant knowledge of collective bargaining, policy advocacy, collegial decision-making, and a variety of postsecondary policy issues in Canada;

● Project management skills to effectively plan and coordinate multiple complex projects to completion;

● Sound people management and leadership experience to enable effective interaction with and direction of individuals and teams, setting clear goals, delegating tasks effectively, motivating team members, resolving conflicts, fostering positive working relationships, assessing and managing performance of individuals and team members.

● Experience in the development and implementation of effective operational processes and metrics designed to measure operational efficiencies.

● Strong potential or the demonstrated ability to support political officers in advancing their strategic priorities over time;

● The ability to exercise excellent judgment and discretion;

● The ability to balance competing priorities while meeting deadlines;

● Superior interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal);

● The ability to work independently and as part of a team;

● The ability to assess and make recommendations to resolve problems of varying complexity;

● The ability to read and synthesize complex policy documents; and

● Experience in MS Office/365 and document management processes.

The core responsibilities of the successful candidate will include:

Leadership and People Management: fostering an environment characterized by excellence, professionalism, collaboration, continuous learning, inclusion, and accountability that enables Legal & Advice staff to develop and achieve their goals. Operational Processes and Metrics: developing and implementing appropriate operational processes for the Legal & Advice team with the goal of streamlining processes and enhancing efficiencies.

Strategic Project Management: leading projects for which they are responsible under the Legal & Advice portfolio; overseeing projects for which Legal & Advice staff are responsible; coordinating and ensuring appropriate follow-up activities take place to timely completion; providing appropriate direction to in-house and external Counsel and Staff Representatives; and overseeing the development and implementation of project plans for Legal & Advice staff that meet the strategic objectives of UTFA and that is consistent with case law, legislation, University policies, procedures and practices,and the Memorandum of Agreement.

Labour and Employment Relations: overseeing the legal team’s duties to ensure that consistent advice is given and positions are taken in the legal portfolio in the following areas: representing grievors; providing advice to members; supporting UTFA committees and political officers of the Association; providing support for collective bargaining and policy negotiations; and providing recommendations for strategic decisions in UTFA’s broader advocacy work.

The minimum starting salary is $160,000 per annum commensurate with education and experience; a benefits package is provided. The employee will be provided with access to an excellent defined benefit pension plan with the University Pension Plan.

Applicants should send a cover letter and resume by August 1, 2025 to UTFA Administrative Assistant Marisa Mikroulis at [e-mail] with “Director, Legal & Advice Services” as the subject line.

UTFA is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome applications from traditionally disadvantaged groups: women, members of racialized groups, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and those that identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, Two-Spirit and/or queer. Candidates are invited to self-identify in their letter of application.

We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.