Senior Legal Counsel

Interac; Toronto; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player seeks a Senior Legal Counsel to provide innovative legal guidance in the fast-paced financial services sector. This role involves advising on product development, technology contracts, and risk management while collaborating with a dynamic team of in-house lawyers. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience navigating complex legal landscapes, particularly within the payment industry. Join a forward-thinking company dedicated to shaping the future of digital finance in Canada, where your contributions will directly impact the organization and its mission. If you are a creative problem solver with a passion for law and technology, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Benefits

Performance-driven pay

Education investment

Comprehensive benefits package

Collaborative work environment

Qualifications

• 8+ years of legal experience in corporate and law firm settings.
• Strong understanding of financial services and payment technologies.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice on product development and technology contracts.
• Draft and negotiate various commercial contracts and agreements.

Skills

Legal Analysis

Contract Negotiation

Business Judgment

Risk Management

Privacy Law Knowledge

Cybersecurity Practices

Critical Thinking

Project Prioritization

Education

Law Degree

Job description

Senior Legal Counsel

At Interac, we design and deliver products and solutions that give Canadians control over their money so they can get more out of life. But that’s not all. Whether we’re leading real-time money movement, combating fraud, driving innovative commerce solutions like open payments for transit systems, or making advancements in new areas like verification and open banking, we are playing a key role in shaping the future of the digital economy in Canada.

Want to make a lasting impact amongst a community of creative thinkers, problem solvers, technical virtuosos, and high-performance application developers? We want to hear from you.

As Senior Legal Counsel, you will be responsible for providing forward-thinking legal guidance and strategic risk analyses, promoting innovation while protecting Interac’s reputation as one of the most trusted financial brands in Canada.

We are looking for a lawyer with keen business judgment and a genuine interest in the payment network and financial services to provide sophisticated advice on a broad range of product development, contracting and governance, technology contracting, outsourcing, data handling and third-party risk management activities. Interac lawyers handle complex issues, often in real time, to provide practical and actionable advice to an organization that continues to explore uncharted territory in financial services technology.

In this role, you will work collaboratively with a close-knit team of sharp, solution-oriented in-house lawyers on projects that challenge you to balance legal imperatives with the core business values, risk tolerance, and enterprise strategy of a renowned financial services organization.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Working in a fast-paced business and technology environment, partnering with business units, and playing a key role in driving the company's products and services forward.
• Providing strategic and actionable legal advice on key portfolios in the business and emerging technologies to complete time-sensitive projects while mitigating potential legal risks.
• Exercising business judgment to deliver practical and pragmatic solutions in an environment when the “right” legal answer is often unclear.
• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a diverse range of commercial contracts and product documentation, including commercial product offerings, technology vendor agreements, service provider agreements, proof of concept agreements, letters of intent, software and evaluation license agreements (on premise and cloud), customer software development agreements, incentive agreements, sponsorship agreements, and consulting services agreements.
• Advising on operationalizing product and technology strategy and contracts in a complex, highly-regulated ecosystem supported by a multi-vendor environment, and proactively identifying and resolving associated legal issues.
• Working as a collaborative member of the Legal team, a mentor to junior lawyers, and a resource for internal knowledge management and precedent development.

You bring:

• A Law Degree and membership in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario.
• A minimum of 8 years practical, post-call legal experience in both a corporate legal department and a law firm.
• Eligibility to work for Interac Corp. in Canada in a full-time capacity.
• Prior experience working for technology vendors, in financial services or the payment industry (preferred).
• Working knowledge of privacy law, cybersecurity practices, the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act, the Code of Conduct for the Debit and Credit Card Industry, CASL and other regulatory requirements applying to the financial services industry and payment network operators (preferred).
• Experience with financial services technologies, including mobile payments, digital banking, fraud solutions, digital identification, verification and authentication and other electronic payments technologies, in addition to traditional payment systems and payment card network operators (preferred).
• Proven experience advising on a wide range of matters spanning privacy, competition, intellectual property, technology, and licensing.
• A team player, ready and willing to take on a variety of responsibilities and roles that support the team, department, and organization.
• A critical thinker with cogent analysis of legal and business issues.
• Proficiency in identifying, assessing, and managing legal and reputational risk.
• The skills to be an independent, creative problem solver.
• Skills in time management and project prioritization.
• A keen interest in the products, services, and interdependencies at Interac and in the payment’s ecosystem.

How we work
We know that exceptional people have great ideas and are passionate about their work. Our culture encourages excellence and actively rewards contributions with:

Connection: You’re surrounded by talented people every day who are driven by their passion of a common goal.

Core Values: They define us. Living them helps us be the best at what we do.

Compensation & Benefits: Pay is driven by individual and corporate performance and we provide a multitude of benefits and perks.

Education: To ensure you are the best at what you do we invest in you.