Senior Legal Counsel, Investments

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Senior Legal Counsel, Investments

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University Pension Plan Ontario

UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario’s university sector, proudly serving over 41,000 members across five universities and fourteen sector organizations. Our purpose is to bring greater retirement peace of mind to the university sector by investing with integrity and serving members with care. As a sector-wide plan designed for growth, our doors are open to all Ontario universities.

Together, we’re a team of progressive thinkers and agile doers operating within a fast-paced culture of collaboration and respect. We believe in bringing smart and capable people together to create, solve, and grow with a clear shared vision and values of integrity, inclusivity, ingenuity, and impact. Our culture is intentionally welcoming and purposefully rooted in equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation (EDI&R). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace.

As a pension plan, UPP approaches investing through a long-term lens to generate and safeguard value. Our commitment to investing responsibly accounts for material risks that impact our investment portfolio to generate sufficient risk-adjusted returns to meet the pension needs of our members.

Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other.

THE ROLE This is a tremendous opportunity for an exceptional investments lawyer to come in-house, join a team of high-performing professionals and make a significant impact. As Senior Legal Counsel, Investments, you will report to the Managing Director and Associate General Counsel and serve as a member of UPP’s Legal and Governance team. You will contribute to organizational success by providing accurate and timely legal advice to numerous functional areas regarding a variety of topics, including but not limited to fund investments, co-investments and joint ventures, and ensuring compliance with applicable corporate, securities and pension investment laws. Familiarity with institutional investors and pensions funds, in particular, would be advantageous.

You will have a minimum of seven years’ legal investment experience, including demonstrated working knowledge of fund investments, co-investments, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory compliance. The ideal candidate comes from a top-tier Toronto and/or international law firm, investment management firm, or pension fund and has demonstrated strong commercial judgment.

This role is based in downtown Toronto in a hybrid work environment, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and in-office (minimum two days per week in-office).

SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES

Under the guidance of UPP’s Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, work directly with internal Investment (across all asset classes), Responsible Investing, Tax, Finance, Compliance, Communications, People and other business partners to provide proactive legal advice and commercial solutions

Act as lead lawyer on a wide variety of investment transactions involving the negotiation of various types of investment documentation (e.g. limited partnership agreements, side letters and investment management agreements), regulatory compliance and other general investment matters

Support the completion of asset transfers in connection with the onboarding of new participating employers and other strategic investment initiatives

Work with external legal counsel as required from time to time and manage external counsel relationships on investment transactions

Lead and support the continuous improvement of standard form agreements, legal processes, repositories of legal knowledge and legal operations

Monitor emerging legal and regulatory requirements in corporate, securities, pension and governance matters and proactively assess their impact and recommend changes

Assist the Associate General Counsel and the Chief Legal Officer regarding governance matters, including Board of Trustee and Committee meetings and the development and review of organizational policies and procedures

Promote integration, partnership and collaboration across legal, governance, and other business functions

Contribute to UPP’s reputation as a respectful employer, partner and participant in the financial sector

Other duties as required

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Graduate from an internationally recognized law school (LLB/JD)

A member in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario

7+ years of post-call experience in investments law

Experience in the pension fund or broader investment management sector is a strong asset, including in evaluating the legal risk of investment strategies and transactions (different types of fund manager relationships and direct/co-investment transactions)

ATTRIBUTES

High degree of self-motivation and professionalism

Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects in a time sensitive manner

Excellent relationship building and conflict resolution skills

Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills

A collaborative approach to understand and respond to organizational needs and partner with various organizational and control functions

High degree of professional ethics and integrity

Strong commercial and strategic judgment

LIFE AT UPP Do work that matters.

We are duty-bound to serve our members’ interests, and it’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly. That’s why we’ve ingrained sustainability in our work from day one—to ensure our members have a resilient future to retire into, both today and for generations to come.

Stronger together.

Collaboration is how UPP was born, and it’s how we work with each other and our partners day in, day out. No one at UPP is just a number (even if they are excellent at math) and every win is a shared win.

Grow every day.

You’ll have the opportunity to work on unique, once-in-a-career projects that maximize your skill set and probably teach you some new ones—at any stage in your career.

Prioritize wellness.

At UPP, wellness takes many forms. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring our people are cared for in the ways that matter to them. Check out some highlights of our inclusive employee-focused benefits program including:

Work from abroad up to eight weeks/year

Extended paramedical and mental health service coverage

Health care and lifestyle spending accounts

Fertility treatments, paid parental leave, and gender affirmation coverage

Education Assistance program

UPP enthusiastically welcomes applications from all qualified applicants and especially invites people with lived experience as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or as a member of another Human Rights Code protected group that faces barriers to employment to apply. Our goal is to create a barrier-free experience for every candidate throughout the recruitment process, so if you require accommodation at any point during the process, please let us know so that we can make the appropriate arrangements. It would be our honor to work with you to adapt our processes to ensure that you can meaningfully participate. UPP respects your privacy. For information on how UPP handles the personal information you provide during the application process, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Statement.

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Legal

Industries

Financial Services and Pension Funds

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