Senior Legal Counsel, Capital Markets Risk & Disputes

Wealthsimple; Toronto; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Wealthsimple is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to enhance their capital markets risk management program. This role involves evaluating legal risks, leading dispute responses, and collaborating across teams to improve product experiences while managing risks effectively. The ideal candidate will have a law degree and significant experience in the field, contributing to innovative risk management strategies.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Top-tier health benefits

Retirement savings matching

20 vacation days

Unlimited sick and mental health days

Wellness and professional development budgets

90-day remote work program

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-8 years of experience in disputes at a major Canadian law firm or in-house.
• Expertise in regulatory investigations within capital markets.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate business decisions and advise on potential legal risks.
• Lead responses to disputes and third-party investigations.
• Provide legal guidance to marketing on promotional terms.

Skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Communication

Project management

Education

Law degree

Job description

Your career is an investment that grows over time! Wealthsimple is on a mission to help everyone achieve financial freedom by reimagining what it means to manage your money. Using smart technology, we take financial services that are often confusing, opaque and expensive and make them transparent and low-cost for everyone. We’re the largest fintech company in Canada, with over 3 million users who trust us with more than $40 billion in assets.

Our teams ship often and make an impact with groundbreaking ideas. We're looking for talented people who keep it simple and value collaboration and humility as we continue to create inclusive and high-performing teams where people can be inspired to do their best work.

About the role

The Senior Legal Counsel, Capital Markets Risk & Disputes will help improve our strong capital markets risk management program. At Wealthsimple, we believe that effective risk management is a massive driver of business value and growth, and we are looking for a sophisticated lawyer who shares that mindset.

Reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer, this role will touch almost every corner of our large and rapidly scaling securities brokerage. This includes marketing risk assessments, disputes and investigations, cooperation with law enforcement, and proactive risk management in close collaboration with our product and client success teams. We are looking for someone who is an excellent business partner and strategic thinker, pragmatic and creative, and who seeks to leverage technology to enhance both the quality and efficiency of our risk function. As a key partner to R&D and Enabling Function teams across Wealthsimple, you will actively identify opportunities to improve our product and client experience while effectively managing our biggest risks.

Role responsibilities

1. Evaluate business decisions and provide advice to senior business leaders on potential legal risk issues, considering legal and business perspectives.
2. Lead the response to all disputes and third-party investigations, excluding employment disputes.
3. Provide legal guidance to Wealthsimple’s marketing team, including drafting promotional terms and conditions, and providing risk assessments on creative products and marketing copy.
4. Handle complex business and legal issues in a fast-paced, agile, and evolving technology-driven environment.
5. Provide advice and support on emerging legal issues and risks, including securities intermediary risks, debtor/creditor risks, and consumer protection risks.
6. Proactively identify and resolve emerging business risks across our product offerings.
7. Contribute to innovative ideas for quality and scalability within our rapidly growing brokerage.
8. Implement AI and other innovative technology to increase the quality and effectiveness of our risk management program.
9. Conduct investigations.
10. Require a law degree and a minimum of 5-8 years’ experience in disputes, gained at a major Canadian law firm, litigation boutique, or in-house legal department.
11. Experience in independently resolving complex commercial disputes.
12. Expertise in regulatory investigations and enforcement actions within capital markets.
13. Familiarity with Canadian financial infrastructure and intermediaries.
14. Strong analytical skills and proactive problem-solving abilities.
15. Ability to apply risk-based frameworks to ambiguous problems.
16. Excellent communication skills for explaining complex legal concepts to non-legal audiences.
17. Strong project management and organizational skills to handle competing priorities.

Nice to haves

• Fluency in French.
• Expertise in class actions.
• Interest in generative AI.

Why Wealthsimple? We offer a competitive salary, top-tier health benefits, retirement savings matching, 20 vacation days, unlimited sick and mental health days, wellness and professional development budgets, and a 90-day remote work program. Join us and be part of our Canadian success story shaping the financial future for millions. Learn more about our culture and our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We provide accessible candidate experiences and accommodations for all applicants.