Director, BC Operations & Legal Admin

Job Title: Director, BC Operations and Legal Administration

Location: Vancouver, BC

Competition Number: MLTA-VAN-202611-091

Base Salary: $150-185K, complemented by a material performance-based bonus opportunity as part of the overall compensation package

Who we are

MLT Aikins is a full-service law firm of more than 375 lawyers across the four western provinces. Named one of Canada’s best law firms by the Globe and Mail, MLT Aikins is the only law firm to have offices in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Regina and Winnipeg. As one of the largest firms in Canada, we have the bench strength and geographic scope to meet the increasingly complex needs of clients.

Job summary

Reporting to the Senior Director, Western Operations and Facilities, and working with the Vancouver office's Commercial and Advocacy Practice Group Coordinators (PGCs), the Director BC Operations and Legal Administration is responsible for running MLT Aikins' growing Vancouver office of nearly 60 lawyers and 50 staff.

In consultation with the PGCs, the Director sets the office's operating direction and is accountable for the achievement of the related business objectives. The Director anticipates the needs of the growing Vancouver office and resolves issues before they impact clients, lawyers or staff.

The Director leads the office's legal support, office services, and finance team members and exemplifies the firm’s “one-team” culture. They develop staff leadership capability, a strong talent pipeline and a culture of accountability, and legal service excellence. As a member of the firm’s Operations Leadership Team, the Director brings the BC perspective to firm-wide decisions and makes sure all initiatives will work locally.

Responsibilities include:

Office and firm-level leadership

• Runs the Vancouver office with the PGCs, setting annual service priorities and plans aligned with the firm Playbook.
• Owns the Vancouver office operating budget, including planning, forecasting, variance reporting and reflects an ownership mindset, and strong knowledge of firm policy, when making expenditure decisions.
• Invests time in building trusted relationships, including with the PGCs and Partners in the office, and business support peers firm-wide.
• Prioritizes understanding client, staff, lawyer, and student perspectives to inform effective business decisions at the office and firm levels.
• Makes collaborative and informed decisions and develops thoughtful business cases related to the office staffing, organizational structure, space planning, and service delivery models.
• Represents the Vancouver office on the Operations Leadership Team.
• Supports and actively leads local rollout of firm-wide initiatives, events, and adoption efforts. Makes time to understand the changes in the works by attending and actively engaging in agile delivery demos and assimilating firm-level communications.
• Identifies opportunities to serve as Business Owner and Subject Matter Expert on firm-level initiatives.

Legal support and service delivery

• Manages and has accountability for the performance of all legal support, trust and accounting, and office services team members in Vancouver, including the development of service standards, and expectations related to responsiveness, and quality of work.
• Manages workload, capacity, revenue generation, and utilization of team members in accordance with firm standards, policy, and support ratios.
• Standardizes best practices and workflows across practice groups and engages firm stakeholders in the development of solutions to support client service excellence.
• Makes sure office processes support the firm's regulatory obligations, including accountability for Law Society of BC trust accounting requirements, in partnership with the Finance team. Trust responsibilities include serving as an approver for all trust transactions and approving and delivering all required monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting and audit requirements.
• Takes ownership of service delivery issues impacting clients and lawyers within the office to ensure expedient and effective solutions are implemented. They regularly get their “hands dirty” to make sure a job is done or a solution is thoroughly investigated.
• Leverages the firm’s centralized HR team in the development and execution of the office's talent strategy, including staff recruitment, onboarding, performance management, retention and engagement practices in keeping with a growing office and competitive market for talent.
• Develops succession plans for office leadership and key staff roles and provides coaching and support to the manager and team leads to ensure every employee has a great leader.
• Serves as a trusted liaison between lawyers and legal support teams for complex or unresolved issues, facilitating open communication, balancing operational and practice needs, to resolve issues in a timely and constructive manner.

Facilities and hospitality

• Oversees all aspects of facility and premises management, physical security, business continuity, and occupational health and safety for the office.
• Takes ownership of all firm onsite and offsite hospitality and events and often serves as an ambassador of firm hospitality and service excellence.
• Owns the design and execution processes for all Vancouver office moves and renovations working in partnership with the PGCs and key firm stakeholders.
• Oversees all aspects of onboarding and off-boarding team members, lawyers, staff, and students, working in BC or the Vancouver office.
• Supports the planning and execution of firm-level events hosted in Vancouver including workshops, Executive Board meetings, and lawyers retreats, etc.

Qualifications include:

• Minimum 10 years of people leadership experience demonstrating progressive increases in responsibility; law firm and professional services leadership experience is considered an asset
• Experience leading large teams (30+ people), remotely and in-office, with diverse responsibilities and skillsets.
• Minimum 5 years working in a law firm or other professional services environment.
• Bachelor’s degree specializing in business, commerce, human resources or related area.
• Experience working effectively with Partners, business owners, and executive leadership teams.
• Demonstrated client centric mindset and history of highly responsive and proactive service delivery to internal and external clients.
• Proven track record of leading successful projects, executing with urgency, and collaborating across functional areas and with key stakeholders to achieve positive business results.
• Strong critical thinking capabilities, problem solving skills and decision-making abilities.
• Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills.

We offer:

• A competitive base salary
• A generous individual performance bonus opportunity
• Paid parking
• Mobile device reimbursement
• Ongoing job-specific training and opportunities for professional development
• Comprehensive coverage for health and wellness benefits
• Access to group savings plans and investment options
• Growth and development opportunities
• Mentorship and support
• A positive and inclusive work environment

Our Diversity Statement

MLT Aikins is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building an inclusive and diverse work environment. Our principles of diversity, equity and inclusion create a space for everyone to collaborate, allowing us to deliver excellent and increasingly innovative legal service to our clients. We encourage individuals of a diverse group to apply to our job postings.

If this sounds like you, please submit your resumé and cover letter by using the Apply Button. Only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.