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