Associate Counsel

Key Responsibilities

• Advise internal teams on legal matters as a neutral, not-for-profit organization, including corporate, intellectual property, competition, privacy, and not-for-profit law, as well as other legal issues as they arise.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including but not limited to: Terms and Conditions of Service, NDAs, MSAs, sows, licensing agreements, and vendor contracts, managing these end-to-end with limited supervision.
• Manage contract lifecycles including renewals, expiries, SLA compliance, and escalation of material risk issues to the VP, General Counsel.
• Develop, improve, and maintain standardized contract templates, internal policies, and legal processes to reduce recurring work and strengthen operational efficiency over time.
• Support organizational compliance across applicable provincial, federal, and global regulatory frameworks.
• Monitor applicable provincial and federal legislation and collaborate cross-functionally to ensure continued compliance.
• Provide substantive legal opinions on ad hoc matters, including clear identification of risk, assumptions, and recommended mitigations.
• Analyze, identify, and communicate legal risk on an ongoing basis to the VP, General Counsel and other internal stakeholders as required.
• Collaborate with and manage external counsel as required, with attention to efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
• Additional legal matters as assigned by the VP, General Counsel.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Law degree from an accredited Canadian or American law school.
• Called to the bar in Ontario, Canada; currently in good standing to practice law in Ontario.
• 3-5 years of post-call experience, with a meaningful portion in commercial contracting; a combination of top-tier or strong regional private practice and in-house experience is welcomed.
• Demonstrated proficiency in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements across a range of transaction types.
• Familiarity with technology law concepts, including Software as a Service and data governance.
• Knowledge of regulatory compliance obligations across multiple jurisdictions (federal and provincial), including PIPEDA, CASL, AODA, and ESA.

• Strong foundation in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements, with specific understanding of critical legal issues including intellectual property rights, licensing, limitation of liability, confidentiality, and indemnification.
• Working understanding of technology concepts related to Software as a Service, including technology law and data protection.
• Awareness of anti-trust, competition, and not-for-profit compliance principles and frameworks.
• Robust experience in commercial contracting and corporate or not-for-profit law, with familiarity in employment and privacy law.
• Effective collaborator across internal teams, external stakeholders, and global partners, maintaining consistent attention to protecting GS1 Canada's interests.
• Advanced communication skills, with demonstrated ability to explain complex legal issues clearly, succinctly, and practically to non-legal audiences, in writing and verbally.
• Unwavering commitment to professionalism, ethical practice, transparency, accountability, and integrity.
• Treats colleagues, subscribers, and external partners with consistent respect and contributes positively to team culture.
• Skilled negotiator with demonstrated experience managing adversarial third parties with strategic focus and professionalism.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a high volume of concurrent matters independently: prioritize effectively, identify legal risks early, assess context and business impact with sound judgment, and escalate appropriately.
• Applies a resourceful, efficient approach to legal work, calibrating analysis and output to the complexity and urgency of each matter, with an aptitude for developing competency in new areas of law as required