Director – Legal Services and City Clerk
Purpose of position
Reporting to the Director General, the Director of Legal Services and City Clerk plans, coordinates, manages and controls activities related to the City's corporate secretariat. The incumbent is also responsible for providing the necessary support for organization and follow up of Municipal Council meetings and support for elected officials.
Qualifications
- Hold a Bachelor’s degree appropriate to the position, i.e. Law or Notary;
- Member of the Barreau du Québec or the Chambre des Notaires is and asset.
Experience
- Have a minimum of 7 years of experience allowing the incumbent to become familiar with the responsibilities of the position.
Main Responsibilities
1. Determine, in collaboration with his/her superior, the orientations, strategies, objectives and priorities of the department according to the mission;
2. Manages the department’s human, financial, material and information resources in compliance with the rules, standards, regulations and collective agreements in force, oversees staff training and suggests and prepares appropriate succession plans;
3. Handle all legal matters of the City (except for matters relating to labour law and pension plans), provide counsel and relevant information on the legality of the City’s actions and measures and, if necessary, hire external lawyers to handle certain matters while ensuring the necessary follow-up and management;
4. Is responsible for the custody of the city’s archives and ensures document management in accordance with the laws and regulations recommended in this regard, as well as the retention schedule for city documents and the classification plan for administrative documents;
5. Prepare legal opinions upon request and reports on various municipal matters at the request of Council or the Director General and conduct research on provincial legislation and regulations;
6. Act as returning officer for municipal elections or referendums, in accordance with the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities;
7. Supervises the preparation of documents required for regular and special Council meetings, for General Committee Meetings
and other public consultation meetings, ensures their quality and compliance with the requirements set out in the various laws; oversees the legality of the City’s decision-making process and advises his or her superior of any shortcomings or irregularities in this regard;
8. Is responsible for access to documents and the protection of the City’s personal information as defined in the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information and, as such, makes a decision on each request made to the city.
Essential Knowledge
- application of procedures and regulations related to the field of activity;
- both languages (French, English) spoken and written.
Abilities and Skill
- personnel management;
- resolve conflicts and problems;
- act as an expert consultant in his/her field of activity;
- good judgment;
- analytical and synthesizing skills;
- ability to argue and convince stakeholders;
- develop leadership skills;
- manage change;
- control and advice;
- broad vision and strategy.