Primary Legal Counsel - Canada

• Serve as Primary Counsel to Diageo Canada, Inc., providing the highest quality legal/strategic guidance and support to the Canada Executive team and its business partners across Demand and Supply


• Member of the North American legal team, delivering world class legal support, including with respect to wide variety of contracts, compliance, and other commercial matters


• Ensure compliance with Canadian laws, regulations, and applicable policy


• Oversight of corporate governance from a legal perspective


• Ensure effective and tight management of external counsel within budget


• Represent Diageo North America before federal and provincial agencies


• Advise internal clients on key legal and regulatory considerations


• Effectively partner with Diageo North America to deliver consistent strategic training, advice and practices throughout Canada

Financial Responsibility

• Manage vendor/outside counsel fees for ongoing and special projects or activities


• Advise internal clients on matters related to settlement of legal, regulatory and compliance matters, and negotiate same

Complexity of Role

• Strategic business partnering and legal support to Canada exec and business functions


• Partner with and provide service to regulatory, compliance, and corporate specialists at all levels of the organization


• Oversight of corporate governance from a legal perspective


• Regular interaction and negotiations with federal and provincial agencies


• Wide variety of commercial transactions and general business/legal support across Demand and Supply


• Ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously across business units


• Ability to effectively partner with Diageo North America management teams, advising and coaching teams on a variety of corporate, regulatory, and compliance related issues, which impact the entire organization

Management Responsibility

• Supervise teams of outside counsel and various consultants


• Lead project teams within Diageo Canada to create necessary practice, policy and procedure to assure legal compliance


• Provide strategic input to the organization on the management of large projects, and effectively supervising in their implementation

Decision Making

• Advise and coach management on all issues related to compliance


• Provide strategic risk assessment advice on multi-layered and complex projects


• Establish and maintain strictest standards for legal compliance across all facets of Diageo North America’s business


• Represent Diageo Canada in various files, disputes, and investigations relating to compliance in Canada


• Determine and implement best practices with respect to communications, interplay, and on-going relationships with provincial and federal Canadian regulators

Key Outputs/Deliverables

• Proactively contribute to North American Legal Team, Diageo Canada Executive, corporate management, work sessions, training opportunities and initiatives


• Create, launch, and administer internal compliance auditing systems and ensure successful on-going implementation of compliance audit systems


• Create a culture of best practices within Canadian operations


• Effectively represent Diageo Canada before various federal and provincial administrative agencies


• Establish proactive, open-door policies available to all Diageo Canada relating to compliance


• Ensure best practices govern external counsel management

Experience

• BA/BS undergraduate degree, J.D. or LL.B Degree and a provincial bar admission, preferably Ontario


• Minimum of 6 years legal experience working in energetic and multitasking legal environment


• Proven track record in representing management of corporate and compliance files


• Superior oral, written, and inter-personal skills


• Sound drafter and negotiator


• Proven business judgment and risk assessment skills

Primary Legal Counsel - Canada