Important Notice: This position is being managed by Smith Legal Search. To be considered, candidates must apply directly via the job posting on the Smith Legal Search website using the link below.
Job posting link via Smith Legal Search: Legal Counsel – Vancity – Smith Legal Search (https://smithlegalsearch.com/job_posting/legal-counsel-vancity/)
Our Story & Purpose:
We’re Vancity, a member-owned credit union built on the principles of inclusion and social justice. Since 1946, our relentless commitment to these values has helped us challenge the status quo and break down barriers. We’ve made bold commitments to become net-zero by 2040 across all mortgages and loans, and we’re actively pursuing strategies in Indigenous banking and financial resilience for our members.
As the largest private sector Living Wage Employer in Canada, we’re proud to be consistently recognized as one of the country’s Top Employers. If you’re ready to join our team of 2,300 diverse individuals, access competitive rewards and benefits, and be part of a greater movement - apply today!
Your Role in Supporting Our Members:
As a Legal Counsel, you’ll work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, providing strategic legal advice to Vancity and its subsidiaries to mitigate risk and help achieve business goals. You’ll be surrounded by a team of senior, experienced lawyers who are genuinely invested in your growth - offering guidance and training to support your career development. It’s a role where you’ll build broad in-house expertise across a range of practice areas.
This is a Full-time, Permanent role based at our Vancouver head office and will report to either the Director, Deputy General Counsel or the VP Legal, General Counsel, and through them to the Chief Legal Officer. This is a hybrid role, four days per week in office.
How You'll Make an Impact:
- Experiencing a dynamic mix of legal matters where no two days look the same, supported by a collaborative team of experienced lawyers who love what they do
- Partnering with business and operational teams to provide strategic legal advice that reduces risk and enables business goals. You address challenges with proactive, solution-oriented guidance
- Supporting senior lawyers across a broad range of legal areas, including strategic procurement contract review and negotiation (with a focus on IT agreements), marketing and sponsorships, privacy, AI and data, litigation support, retail and commercial products and services (including retail lending), branch operations, and labour and employment matters
- Advising on legislation, regulations, industry standards and best practices in the financial services industry
- Researching, negotiating, drafting, and reviewing various types of agreements, including member-facing agreements, third party services agreements and product and services terms and conditions
- Assisting the business and functions in proactively identifying and mitigating legal risk
- Delivering clear, timely legal guidance that helps decision-makers understand the risks and impacts at both the business unit and enterprise level
- Finding ways to make legal services more efficient and helpful for the teams you support
- Managing legal projects, including those related to strategic initiatives and business goals
What You’ll Bring to the Team:
- Bachelor of Law or Juris Doctor
- Minimum of 4-8 years’ relevant experience at either a law firm or in-house
- Member in good standing of Law Society of British Columbia
- High degree of professional ethics and integrity
- Commercial law expertise and experience in the financial services industry
- Ability to distill complex legal issues into clear, actionable advice
Extra Skills That Set You Apart:
- Experienced in retail lending, labor and employment, or litigation
You’ll Thrive Here If You Are:
- Strategic Legal Expert – You bring a deep understanding of legal principles, strong professional ethics, and sound judgment shaped by your education and experience. You translate complex legal issues into clear, actionable advice and consistently provide practical guidance to senior leaders.
- Collaborative Relationship Builder – You thrive on partnership, actively building strong working relationships across Vancity. You share your knowledge openly, contribute to team initiatives, and work effectively with colleagues, business partners, and cross‑functional teams to solve challenges together.
- Effective Communicator & Trusted Advisor – You listen carefully, respond promptly, and communicate with clarity. Your ability to distill complexity, provide timely insights, and support decision‑making at all levels helps you earn trust as a reliable advisor.
- Adaptive, Growth‑Minded Problem Solver – You approach problems with curiosity and a solutions‑oriented mindset. You investigate issues analytically, identify risks or anomalies, and embrace new technologies, approaches, and ways of working to improve outcomes and advance legal services.
- Confident Negotiator & Representative – You engage confidently with opposing counsel, vendors, service providers, government partners, and external committees. You represent Vancity and the legal team with professionalism, integrity, and the ability to remain firm yet collaborative.
We value lived experience, so if you are interested in this role, we encourage you to apply even if you feel your skills don't perfectly align with those listed.
What You’ll Earn:
This role offers a salary range of $125,000 to $161,700 per annum. The base pay offered may vary depending on factors such as relevant qualifications, skills, previous experience, and internal equity. As part of our total rewards package, employees may also be eligible for our annual incentive program, subject to program eligibility requirements.
Why You’ll Love Working Here:
A career at Vancity is more than just a job, you’re joining a tradition of change-makers who are creating lasting change for our communities. Beyond base pay, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package to ensure our employees are empowered to thrive:
- Living Wage Employer: We’re the largest private-sector Living Wage Employer in Canada and consistently ranked among Canada’s Top Employers.
- Customizable Benefits: Permanent employees receive flexible benefit packages that can be tailored annually to meet evolving needs.
- Generous Vacation: New employees start with 3-4 weeks of vacation per year, with additional days earned over time.
- Extra Stat Holidays: In addition to BC’s 11 statutory holidays, we offer 2 extra days, plus care days for personal or family illness.
- Immediate Health Coverage: Health and dental benefits begin on your hire date, with three levels of coverage to choose from.
- Defined Benefit Pension: Our retirement plan provides a guaranteed income for life, recognizing that retirement looks different for everyone.
Vancity Talent Programs:
Vancity supports an inclusive hiring process for candidates who self-identify as Indigenous, Black, or Trans. With special permission from the BC Human Rights Commissioner, this initiative provides access to career development opportunities, prioritized job screening, and feedback. Any information you choose to share will be stored securely and used only for recruitment and career development connected to this initiative, in line with the BC Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). For details, please see our dedicated Talent Programs job posting.
At Vancity we’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace to help our people and communities thrive and prosper. Diversity in our workforce is integral so that we can truly represent, understand and respond to our community needs and deliver on our member experience.
We are also committed to an inclusive, barrier-free and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates. If you require any accommodations or support at any stage of the recruitment process (including the application stage), we encourage you to let us know by contacting our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected]. We’re here to work with you to ensure your needs are met promptly and effectively. All requests will be handled with the utmost respect and confidentiality, so you can participate fully in the process.
