This is a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity for a champion of best practices in all things equity who can lead by example and act as a valued source of expertise, ensuring evidence-based policy development reflective of equity and diversity principles and, ultimately, assisting the legal professions in becoming more accessible to Ontario’s diverse communities and population.
About the Law Society of Ontario
Created in 1797, the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) regulates, licenses and disciplines Ontario’s 57,000+ lawyers and10,000+ licensed paralegals, pursuant to the Law Society Act and the Law Society's rules, regulations, and guidelines. LSO is proud to be one of the top regulatory bodies in the world, as it works to ensure that the people of Ontario are served by lawyers and paralegals who meet high standards of learning, competence and professional conduct. Along with protecting the public interest, LSO has a duty to maintain and advance the cause of justice and the rule of law, to facilitate access to justice for Ontarians, and to act in a timely, open, and efficient manner.
The Law Society of Ontario is guided by its values of Excellence, United in Purpose, Compassion, Legacy, and Responsiveness, and believes in the importance of a collaborative, collegial workplace and progressive employment policies that result in high levels of employee engagement, and in the delivery of high-quality, professional services to the public, lawyers and paralegals, and other stakeholders.
About the Role
Regularly flexing your work location between home and LSO’s office in Toronto, you will provide policy development research, advice, and guidance to benchers on equity and diversity issues and initiatives. As the Law Society’s Director, Equity Initiatives, Policy, you will provide expertise to the professions by developing model policies, services, and programs, including education and awareness to assist the lawyer and paralegal professions in becoming more accessible to diverse communities and reflective of the Ontario population. In particular, you will also be expected to build, maintain and manage relationships with Indigenous and Francophone licensees as well as licensees belonging to equity-seeking groups, and advise on equity issues that arise in other Law Society divisions.
A driver of change, you will identify equity and diversity issues to be addressed, determine sources of relevant information, and analyze a variety of data and information in order to develop a range of acceptable alternatives, then communicate issues, alternatives and priorities for action to decision-makers, facilitating change within the legal professions in Ontario. You will also take a lead role on major policy reviews with respect to equity and diversity in the legal professions, lead the department in researching and developing policy for approval by Committee and presentation to Convocation, and provide for research and secretariat support to the Equity and Indigenous Affairs Committee, the Equity Advisory Group, and the Indigenous Advisory Group.
An integral part of your portfolio will involve directing and/or recommending the development of policy regarding broad equity and diversity issues impacting workplaces across the province, the legal professions and access to legal services, particularly externally as it relates to legal practitioners, legal education providers and their constituents. It will be your job to ensure that policy development reflects the principles of equity and diversity in the workplace, and is based on evidence, sound research, an in-depth understanding of issues, as well as new developments and best practices in the field.
A skilled builder of relationships and alliances, you will represent the Law Society to organizations representing Indigenous and Francophone licensees and equity-seeking licensee groups, professional and regulatory bodies, stakeholders, equity-seeking communities, and the general public, promoting equity and diversity initiatives, and building commitment and consensus. Above all, you will build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships, continuously role-model behaviour, and enhance the credibility of the Law Society and the legal professions in the areas of equity, diversity and societal change.
About the Candidate
The qualified Director, Equity Initiatives, Policy, we seek will have a master’s degree in a related discipline, such as Diversity and Inclusion, Sociology, Social Sciences, or Public Administration, or a combination of education, training and experience deemed equivalent, coupled with relevant, ongoing research and development in the field of equity and diversity. As you will be supporting the Treasurer, senior management and Convocation in the development and implementation of policy and positioning affecting the legal professions in Ontario, your profile will include no fewer than 10 years’ progressive, related experience, with 3 of these years having been in a management capacity.
Your solid understanding of equity-related legislation, theory and practice, including human rights legislation, jurisprudence, procedural justice and best practices, is backed by proven experience in developing, implementing and evaluating Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) programs, and in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis.
This track record of accomplishments is complemented by a solid understanding of the political process and strategies for resolution of controversial issues. An expressive, persuasive communicator, verbally and inwriting, you are adept at developing and applying complex information, and comfortable dealing with both individual and group situations. Bilingualism in French and English will be considered an asset.
To be successful in this key role, you will also need to have an understanding of, or be willing to learn about, the Law Society’s mandate and relationship with the public and the profession.
To apply to this critical senior leadership role in equity, diversity, and inclusion, submit your application to Phelps at careers@phelpsgroup.ca, specifying the job title in the subject line of your-mail. Application deadline: 18th day, September 2022.
Working Arrangement
The Law Society of Ontario has introduced a Distributed Workforce Model to leverage flexibility and agility, and to maximize employee productivity and engagement. Work arrangements will be determined by role and departmental requirements. The working arrangement for this position has been classified as hybrid, where the employee will regularly flex their work location between home and office. The specific application of this will be communicated to applicants contacted during the recruitment process.
Accommodation
The Law Society of Ontario values and respects diversity. We are committed to creating an accessible, barrier-free and inclusive workplace in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Please make any requirement you may have for accommodation during the recruitment process known when contacted. If you are unable to apply to this position due to the requirement for an accommodation of any kind, please email us at hr@lso.ca or call 416 947-3475.
401 Bay Street, Suite 1400,Toronto, ON M5H 2Y4
Phone: 416 364 6229