Senior Legal Counsel, Pensions

OUR COMPANY BACKGROUND & CULTURE

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 pension lawyer to come in-house, join a team of high performing professionals and make a significant impact. As Senior Legal Counsel, you will report to the General Counsel and serve as a member of the UPP’s Legal and Governance team.

You will have seven to ten years’ experience including demonstrated working knowledge of the Pension Benefits Act, the Registered Pension Plan regulations made under the Income Tax Act and legal risk. The ideal candidate has been exposed to pension administration matters at a law firm, pension fund or consulting firm. Familiarity with pension plan conversions and transfers would be advantageous.

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

• Provide proactive legal advice and practical solutions to internal business partners: Pension Services, Compliance, Actuarial, Communications, Risk, Engagement and Strategy
• Conduct legal research and analysis in support of plan interpretation for Pension Services and Plan Policy
• Provide legal support to the implementation of UPP’s pension administration system and data conversion project
• Support the development of the member communication program by ensuring that the content is accurate and complete
• Effectively manage the resolution of any disputes from members and participating employers
• Collaborate with the Engagement and Strategy Team by providing analysis on the integration of new participating employers, as required
• Under the guidance of UPP’s Privacy Officer, support the mitigation of member data privacy risk
• Monitor emerging legal and regulatory requirements in pension governance matters, administrative law, employment law and privacy law
• Support the continuous improvement of legal operations in a growing legal department, including knowledge management
• Assist the General Counsel regarding governance matters, Board of Trustee and Committee meetings and related requirements
• Work with external legal counsel as required from time to time
• Promote integration, partnership 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
• 7-10 years of post-call experience with exposure to pension administration, governance, plan design and dispute resolution

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 communication skills (both written and oral)
• 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