Senior Legal Counsel, North America

Position Title: Senior Legal Counsel, North America

Position Type: Regular - Full-Time ​

Position Location: Toronto HQ

Requisition ID: 33213

In every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and interested in helping each other create good work experiences. We think about the customer and make doing business with McCain easy.

We are seeking a Sr. Legal Counsel, North America to join as a key member of the Legal team to assist with supporting our North American region, located in our Toronto, ON office. This person will report to our General Counsel, Americas and VP Legal, Sustainability. As an integral part of McCain's Legal team, this person will serve as a trusted business partner to our Sales and Marketing teams, navigating complex legal issues and providing strategic and tactical day-to-day legal advice to these teams and collaborate closely with senior leadership in North America.

Accountabilities:

• Act as a strategic partner to McCain's Sales and Marketing teams, fostering strong relationships with senior leaders and helping to drive business goals across North America.
• Provide legal advice and support to the Sales team on key business initiatives and negotiating critical contracts, ensuring alignment with McCain's strategic vision.
• Provide legal guidance to the Marketing team on marketing campaigns, partnerships and other advertising, branding, promotions, and digital marketing matters, ensuring legal risks are properly mitigated and that all materials meet legal and regulatory requirements. Also, review and negotiate marketing agreements, including influencer contracts, licensing agreements, and sponsorship agreements.
• Offer day-to-day legal guidance on a variety of matters, addressing the evolving needs of internal clients by proactively identifying solutions, estimating risks, and prioritizing support. This includes developing templates, conducting training sessions, and ensuring smooth operations.
• Contribute to cross-functional teams, providing legal support in managing special situations such as product safety incidents, food recalls, and other key issues in North America.
• Collaborate in the development and implementation of corporate policies, procedures, and compliance programs, including areas like antitrust, anti-corruption, privacy, and record retention. Offer training and mentoring on these topics.
• Work seamlessly with McCain's global legal teams, ensuring consistency and alignment across regions.
• Manage relationships with external counsel, ensuring quality legal work and selecting the right external support when necessary.

Qualifications:

• You have a J.D. from an accredited law school and licensed to practice law in Ontario, Canada.
• You bring at least 7 years of broad legal experience, with a focus on corporate/commercial law and experience with marketing and advertising law, including a strong understanding of advertising regulations, consumer protection laws, and data privacy laws. Ideally experience is gained from both in-house and private practice settings.
• Experience in the international manufacturing or food manufacturing sectors is a plus.

Skills:

• You have a collaborative, hands-on, and business-focused approach, with the ability to manage risk in a practical, forward-thinking way.
• Your leadership and interpersonal skills are exceptional, enabling you to build strong relationships and effectively collaborate across teams.
• You excel in a fast-paced environment, able to juggle multiple priorities and work under pressure while maintaining a high level of organization and attention to detail.
• You have excellent drafting skills, and experience with a wide range of corporate contracts and legal materials.
• You have excellent communication and problem-solving skills.

About the team.

At McCain, the Legal team is responsible for providing and managing legal and compliance services and assisting with the management of risks associated with McCain's global business operations. The business groups look to the Legal team for assistance and guidance in a variety of arrangements, strategic initiatives, contractual, and other dealings with third parties.

About McCain.
At McCain, we're feeding the world: from French fries to cakes, we contribute to the important role food plays in people's lives. That's why we're dedicated to ensuring our core values—Family, Authentic, Trusted, and Quality—shine through every day. As a privately owned family company with over 60 years of experience, a presence in more than 160 countries, and a global team of 22,000 people, our values and culture are at the heart of everything we do. We believe that we can work together, along with our business and community partners, to bring sustainable growth and positive change today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. Join us and see how you can MAKE IT at McCain!

Leadership Principles.
Our principles, each with related practices, guide our actions across the organization. Together, they address how McCain interacts with our customers and employees, and how we work as individuals and collectively to find success. While each role adheres to the Leadership Principles, individual roles may focus more on a specific principle or principles.

• We are customer obsessed. Customers are our starting point. By understanding their needs and leveraging data and consumer insights, we drive mutual success.
• We think big and plan ahead. Through ambition, curiosity, and smart risks, we can accomplish goals, refine processes, and innovate to scale success.
• We bring out the best in our people. We create safe spaces for our people so that trust and empowerment come naturally. Inclusion is about listening first, showing humility, and working together.
• We act like owners. Together, we clear obstacles and do the work that makes us all successful and proud to be part of McCain.

The McCain experience.
We are McCain: this statement is about our power collectively and our importance individually—your impact is a significant part of the business. Our winning culture focuses on authenticity and trust so we can always bring out the best in our people. Here, you have the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive while being yourself. Join our team to see why we're better together.

Compensation Package: $146,200.00 - $195,000.00 CAD annually + bonus eligibility + Long Term Incentive eligibility

The above reflects the target compensation range for the position at the time of posting. Hiring compensation will be determined based on experience, skill set, education/training, and other organizational needs.

Benefits: At McCain, we're on a mission to create a winning culture that puts employee safety and wellbeing at the heart of what we do, every day. We understand and appreciate that each person's needs are unique and ensure our benefits & wellbeing programs reflect that. Employees are eligible for the following benefits: health coverage (medical, dental, vision, prescription drug), retirement savings benefits, and leave support including medical, family and bereavement. Wellbeing programs include vacation and holidays, company-supported volunteering time, and mental health resources. Coverages are aligned to country, provincial and state governing plans and can vary by work level, location and nature of the role. Additional benefit details available during the application process.

Your well-being matters to us, and we're here to provide you with the necessary resources to support you in being your best self at work — and at home.

McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. We see value in ensuring we have a diverse, antiracist, inclusive, merit-based, and equitable workplace. As a global family-owned company we are proud to reflect the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that diversity drives our creativity, resilience, and success and makes our business stronger.

McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms), please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.

Your privacy is important to us. By submitting personal data or information to us, you agree this will be handled in accordance with the Global Employee Privacy Policy

Job Family: General & Administration
Division: Global Legal and Governance
Department: ​Legal Americas ​
Location(s): CA - Canada : Ontario : Toronto

Company: McCain Foods (Canada)