Director, Human Resources, Client & People Services (Hybrid, Toronto)

Role Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director, Client & People Services, the Director, Human Resources, as head of human resources (HR), manages the HR team and is the lead advisor to senior staff of the Law Society on HR issues and best practices. The Director, Human Resources, is responsible for developing and executing a multi-year Human Resources Plan in support of operational objectives and the strategic plan of the organization. The role provides strategic advice to the Senior Management Team (SMT) and drives the importance and role of people in long term planning. The role is responsible for leading the Human Resources team and driving efficient and effective delivery of all employee related functions including diversity, equity and inclusion, talent acquisition, performance management, total rewards, health and safety, pension and benefit management, with a strong focus on excellence in client service within the organization and mitigation of human resources risk.

Academic Background, Skills and Experience

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree in business, human resources management or related field. Other post graduate training and specialized designations are considered an asset.
• Excellent knowledge of effective human resources services delivery.
• Minimum 15 years of experience focused on talent and organizational development, utilizing strengths in change management and project management, including experience with leading high-profile projects, excellent execution of strategies, process improvement, and communication.
• Expressive and persuasive in both spoken and written language for individual and/or group situations.
• Excellent grasp of delivering relevant and strategic human resources services.
• Depth of DEI knowledge with a commitment to ongoing DEI learning and applying that to your work.
• Demonstrated ability to reason through complex spoken and written information.
• Knowledge of current trends and developments in the human resources field.
• Excellent understanding of HR analytics and performance metrics to support evidence based decision-making.
• Excellent knowledge of Human Capital Management systems, and vendor interface systems.
• Solid understanding of employment related legislation.

Client/Customer Service Planning

• Provides the SMT with appropriate analysis with respect to the organization’s readiness for, and advisability of, embarking upon a variety of strategic initiatives taking human capital needs into consideration.
• Leads the development and execution of the multi-year Human Resources Plan in collaboration with senior leaders.
• Takes an active leadership role in the development and implementation of the Law Society’s strategic plan and related business planning processes, providing advice on the importance of people in the planning process.
• Advises senior management and managers regarding strategic approaches for organizational structures, management methods and styles, and Law Society policies, practices and ‘culture’ to achieve strong and effective employee performance.

Client/Customer Service Delivery

• Ensures the organization’s human resources practices, programs, and policies are in compliance with relevant legislation.
• Fosters a healthy workplace, leading programs and initiatives geared towards wellness and a healthy work environment.
• Supports the Executive Director, Client & People Services in preparing reports, etc. for the relevant committees of the Board.
• Fulfils fiduciary requirements with respect to the governance, management and operations of the employee pensions plan.
• Provides vision and technical expertise to ensure high quality of services and that quality levels are maintained, and deliverables are achieved.
• Drives a range of performance and operational improvement activities, targets and metrics to optimize the performance of the Human Resources function.
• Establishes and maintains total rewards management, ensuring effective compensation, benefit and pension management infrastructures are developed, managed and implemented.

Performance Goals, Targets and Standards

• Contributes to the success of the organization’s strategic plan and operational plans by providing leadership related to people, including resourcing needs, engagement, talent management and change management.
• Ensures the organization’s human resources practices, programs and policies are in compliance with relevant federal and provincial legislation, such as ESA, OHSA, PBA, AODA, CRA, and HRC.
• Analyzes and incorporates performance metrics and risk indicators in formulating and executing a Human Resources operational plan with specific targets and measures that aligns with the organization’s strategic plan.

Team Membership

• Contributes to decision-making and processes, generating ideas, which are strategically sound, integrated with the Law Society’s broader mandate, and achievable in a timely, balanced and fiscally sound manner.
• Demonstrates personal excellence, bringing knowledge and functional expertise to the team.

Policy Development

• Oversees the development and implementation of policies and procedures related to effective human resources practices linked with the Law Society’s goals, and ensures that policies and processes are consistently applied to ensure the fairness of the application of processes.
• Anticipates and monitors legislative changes, which may impact upon organizational HR policy and practice(s).
• Implements changes to ensure the effective implementation of changes to policy and/or practice, communicating changes to managers and employees.

Financial Responsibility

• Negotiates contracts for services with vendors and outsource service providers.
• Develops and monitors the HR budget, adjusting plans as required. Identifies operational and staff budget requirements, preparing forecasts and projections, monitoring budget adherence, identifying/explaining variances and discrepancies and authorizing expenditures within budget and approved limits.
• Develops and monitors corporate training budget, assessing organization-wide training requirements and implementing the corporate training agenda in support of organization-wide culture change initiatives and requirements.

Relationship and Alliance Building

• Develops mutually beneficial relationships with key external stakeholders, professional associations, partners and industry colleagues to share information, maintain currency on emerging best practices, trends etc. identify emerging risks and opportunities.
• Develops and maintains working relationships with third party vendors, leveraging where appropriate and maintains strong contract management.
• Acts as a trusted advisor with a focus on client service; builds and maintains relationships with senior leaders to develop a clear understanding of business needs; ensures cost effective delivery of human resources services to meet those needs and is able to respond with agility to changing demands.

People Leadership

• Hires, trains, develops and evaluates employees accountable to the Director, in accordance with the policies of the organization and best human resources practices.
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviours, and proactively managing bias.
• Ensures that the HR team adds value to organizational culture change and performance improvement initiatives through ongoing communication, coaching, consultation and problem solving around the effectiveness of the client centered model of human resources service delivery.
• Fosters a team environment by role modeling leadership behaviour, empowering employees accountable to the Director, and building team capability.

The Law Society 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.

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 [email protected] or call 416-947-3438.