Director, Legal and Corporate Affairs

Key Skills

Aartificial intelligence, Management, Operations, Planning and organization

Job Description

Reporting to the Executive Vice President, the person holding the position is a member of the management committee. She also serves as assistant corporate secretary of the Organization and in this capacity, she attends meetings of the Board of Directors and board committees, she monitors the policies and regulations of the Organization, she monitors the integrity of the governance structure and assists senior management in implementing the decisions of the Board of Directors. She is also responsible for the protection of personal information for the Organization.

As director of legal and corporate affairs, this person plans, organizes and coordinates activities related to all legal affairs of the Organization. She appropriates, understands, grasps the legal issues and protects the interests of the Organization. She leads and supervises the four-person team of legal professionals. As part of his professional activities, the incumbent of the position has the main mandates of:

Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic planning

• Collaborate, through its participation in the Management Committee, in the development of the overall vision, orientations and strategic plan of the Organization, with the aim of achieving organizational objectives, while ensuring the legal coherence of its activities .

Governance

• Act as assistant to the corporate secretary and supervise the activities of the corporate secretariat, support the board of directors and its committees and collaborate in the implementation of decisions of the Board of Directors;
• Ensure that the Organization has adequate policies, regulations and governance rules that comply with current legislation and best practices, and monitor them;
• Oversee the implementation of policies relating to the declaration and management of conflicts of interest
• Generally speaking, ensure the compliance and regularity of corporate files specific to the legal entity, or those arising from the participation or interests that it may hold in related entities.

Legal activities

• Develop an overall vision, determine the directions and objectives for all of the Organization's legal activities, and more particularly for the sectors of contractual management (in various fields, such as research, intellectual property, services , leases, etc.) and document management, information protection, supplies, litigation;
• Write key documents for the strategy and planning of activities of the corporate and legal affairs department; and proceed with the implementation of tools, processes and training aimed at their implementation within the Organization;
• Analyze, manage and supervise legal mandates that may have an impact on the Organization, whether carried out by internal legal professionals or external resources;
• Develop and analyze the legal and institutional aspects of important transactional files, ensuring that risks for the Organization are minimized while providing mechanisms to promote transactions, both for the various teams of the Organization, partners and for others stakeholders;
• Assume the role of person responsible for the protection of privacy and personal information; ensure the updating, implementation and compliance with the legislation and policies of the Organization in this area;
• Provide leadership and an influential role with members of management, managers, employees and external partners, to ensure respect and promote the legal interests of the Organization;
• Ensure the deployment of best practices in legal matters, by developing tools, processes and training, aimed at ensuring their implementation and dissemination within the various teams of the Organization, taking into account operational issues, mission and values organisation;
• Support teams delivering projects on legal issues relating to these projects or supervise the delivery of legal advice relating to AI projects (for example in matters of intellectual property, data, privacy, etc.);
• Analyze and manage disputes, handled internally or externally, and discuss strategies, propose solutions and recommendations to ensure a settlement or decision favoring the best interests of the Organization.

Management of the legal affairs team

• Supervise and assume an influential role for all files handled by professionals from the corporate and legal affairs team, by supervising and advising them on operations, transactions and key documents, in particular through the implementation templates, tables and standardization processes to ensure planning, risk management and monitoring of the Organization's legal activities.
• Promote employee mobilization and their commitment to the Organization's activities, by establishing a structure promoting performance, continuous improvement, and autonomy;
• Perform any other related or similar task at the request of your superior.

Profile

Required profile

• Hold a university degree in law or legal sciences; a graduate degree would be an asset;
• Have a minimum of ten (10) years of relevant experience;
• Be a member of the Quebec Bar;
• Practical knowledge of the process and regimes applicable to the development of a scientific or technological research project, an asset;
• Knowledge of intellectual property (especially for software and data), or about emerging AI regulations, an asset;
• Knowledge of the university or parapublic environment is an asset;
• Knowledge of the governance of non-profit or public organizations, an asset.

Benefits

Good reasons to work at Mila

• A flexible schedule of 35 hours per week (summer schedule of 32 hours);
• A workplace in the heart of Little Italy, in the trendy Mile-Ex district, close to public transport;
• A possibility of teleworking;
• An annual leave policy offering 22 days of vacation upon hire;
• A complete group insurance program (health, dental, disability, life, health care account, travel insurance and additional guarantees);
• An employee assistance program;
• Access to a telemedicine service;
• A retirement savings plan with employer contribution of up to 10% of salary;
• A team of experts in their field, passionate and exciting people;
• A collaborative and inclusive working atmosphere.

We want to know you

At Mila, diversity is important to us. We value a work environment that is fair, open and respectful of differences. We encourage anyone wishing to work in an ecosystem in continuous progress and stimulated to contribute to the application and definition of a healthy and inclusive culture, to apply.