Vice President, Legal Affairs

We are banking at another level.

Choosing BDC as your employer means working in a healthy, inclusive, and skilled workplace that puts forward the best conditions to bring together unique teams where employees are empowered to act. It also means being at the centre of ambitious economic and financial projects to see further and to do things differently, to fuel the success of Canadian entrepreneurs.

Choosing BDC as your employer also means:
- Flexible and competitive benefits, including an Employee Savings and Investment Plan where BDC matches part of your voluntary contributions, a Defined Benefit Pension Plan, a $750 wellness and health care spending account, to name a few- In addition to paid vacation each year, five personal days, sick days as necessary, and our offices are closed from December 25 to January 1- A hybrid work model that truly balances work and personal life- Opportunities for learning, training and development, and much more...

POSITION OVERVIEW

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP- Lead and develop a high performing national legal team of lawyers and support professionals located in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, including establishing performance objectives, monitoring progress, and assessing results, with a view to foster a culture of performance, innovation and accountability.- Provide innovative and strategic leadership in the provision of legal services to support the organization's business objectives, projects and strategic initiatives relating to the Financing functions, with a goal to harmonization of processes to achieve maximum efficiency.- Ensure that practical, business-oriented legal advice is provided proactively on a wide range of key strategic legal matters, including strategic corporate initiatives as well as emerging legal and regulatory trends in areas impacting commercial financing.- Represent the Legal Affairs department on various internal committees, including as relates to operations, risk management and other internal governance committees relating to the Financing functions.- Responsible for oversight of Legal Affairs’ approval for the organization’s new product business initiatives and recommendations relating to risk management assessments and operational risk events.- Responsible for approving Legal Affairs’ business rules and procedures.-
- Develop, initiate, and maintain actions to support the continuous high engagement of Legal Affairs - Financing team members.- Participate as an active member of the Legal Affairs management committee in the development and implementation of the Legal Affairs department's annual strategic business plan including key performance metrics.- Responsible for initiating, supporting and reinforcing continuous improvement initiatives in the delivery of legal services to all internal partners involved in Financing functions.- Develop and maintain strong internal networks with organizational leadership.- Manage key relationships with external law firms, including SLAs and legal spend, with responsibility for ensuring adherence to operational budgets and policies.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR- Minimum of 10 years of corporate and commercial law- Minimum of 5 years of legal management and leadership experience building and leading a high performing, highly engaged, legal team and working to achieve strategic goals.- Proven experience in leading a legal team through transformation.- Member of the Law Society of Ontario or of another provincial bar- Bilingualism, written and spoken, in English and French an asset.- Creative and innovative with excellent business judgement- Ability to analyze and synthesize complex and ambiguous information to provide legal recommendation to the business.- Excellent verbal and written communication skills- Excellent interpersonal and team-building skills

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