Senior Counsel – Commercial

• This position is located in Montreal.

Summary Job description : The Senior Counsel plays an integral role in the day-to-day needs of the legal team, as well as the company’s business associates. The position provides legal counsel and guidance to various levels of management on legal, commercial, and strategic issues; negotiates and interprets commercial contracts to assure legal compliance, adherence to contract guidelines, and mitigation of risk for Division personnel. Additionally, the Senior Counsel works on a variety of commercial and compliance issues, some ad hoc, in the best interests of the company, including proactively mitigating pre-litigation risk.
 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Draft, review, interpret, and negotiate a variety of contracts and other legal documents for Canada and the United States, ensuring legal compliance and risk mitigation.

• Master and revise the company’s standard form contracts as well as acceptable alternative language, maintaining their legal integrity and commercial viability.

• Lead and advance negotiations related to contractual terms and conditions directly with customers, suppliers, and third parties.

• Interpret contractual provisions to analyze possible legal and business exposure, and ensure that the company's contract terms are consistently followed.

• Apply knowledge of the company’s business and industry to ensure non-standard contracts contain all necessary provisions for the protection of company assets and the mitigation of business and legal risks.

• Advise business associates on compliance with applicable laws, regulatory developments, and company policies and procedures.

• Provide guidance on contract interpretation and breach of contract matters, as well as counsel to leadership and sales teams on potential customer claims and disputes with a view to reaching commercial settlement and avoiding litigation, where advisable.

• Ensure the relevance and timeliness of contract templates, via regular reviews and updates.

• Provide training to company personnel in contract practices and negotiation strategies.

• Motivate and communicate effectively with individuals both inside and outside of the organization across various organizational levels.

• Observe all laws and regulations, maintaining an active awareness of regulatory changes and proactively evaluating their impact on contracts and the company.

• Work in close cooperation with the legal team and with multidisciplinary teams to continuously improve work processes, legal efficiencies, and to share best practices.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in both English and French.  Proficiency in English (spoken and written) is required for this position, as the incumbent will be required to communicate daily with clients and business partners located outside of Quebec (Rest of Canada and United States). 

• Ability to draft, negotiate, and provide guidance in a multi-jurisdictional and bilingual environment, adapting not only legal principles but also differing business and legal approaches cross-border between Canada and the United States.

• Excellent organizational and analytical skills, coupled with a strong commercial, problem-solving mindset.

• Ability to be flexible and adaptive in handling multiple competing priorities within tight deadlines, while remaining results-oriented.

• Self-starter with the ability to perform at a high level without requiring significant direct supervision.

• Maturity to interface and communicate effectively with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders, including all levels of employees, senior leadership, internal and external counsel, customers, consultants, and vendors.

• Strong interpersonal skills in forming and maintaining positive relationships with colleagues, including business management teams; respects the ideas and opinions of others.

• Well-developed sense of professionalism, high ethical standards, and personal integrity.

• Adapts behavior to different types of situations, remains flexible, is open to new ideas, and easily accepts change.

• Ability to travel occasionally as required.

• Established working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Google Suite, along with the ability to quickly learn additional software and contract/database management platforms.

• Juris Doctor (JD) or Bachelor of Laws (LLB/BCL) from an accredited law school.

• Licensed to practice law and in good standing in a state bar of at least one U.S. state, or a law society of a province or territory of Canada.

• 6 to 10 years of relevant legal experience, with a proven track record in complex commercial contracts in an in-house or top-tier law firm setting.

At Air Liquide, we are committed to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the diversity of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders and cultures across the world.

We welcome and consider applications from all qualified applicants, regardless of their background. We strongly believe a diverse organization opens up opportunities for people to express their talent, both individually and collectively and it helps foster our ability to innovate by living our fundamentals, acting for our success and creating an engaging environment in a changing world.