About MaRS

MaRS Discovery District (@MaRSDD) in Toronto is one of the world’s largest urban innovation hubs.

MaRS supports promising high-growth companies to scale their businesses globally, while tackling key societal challenges in areas such as Health, Cleantech, Finance, Transportation, AI, and others. In addition to helping start-ups launch, grow and scale, the MaRS community is dedicated to cross-disciplinary collaboration, commercialization of discoveries, and driving ideas to impact.

MaRS is the place where you can play a meaningful role in our innovation economy.

We understand qualifications on a job posting can be daunting. If you're passionate about the role and believe you can make a meaningful impact, we want to hear from you, even if you don't meet every listed qualification. We’re always looking for great talent to join our team on planet MaRS.

We actively encourage all candidates, including equity-deserving communities, including those who identify as BIPOC, racialized, women, people with disabilities, and people with diverse gender identities, expressions and sexual orientations.

We want you to be comfortable being your most authentic self throughout our recruitment process. Please reach out to careers@marsdd.com if there’s anything we can do to make your experience more accessible and inclusive, including accommodations. Include 'Accessibility Request' in your subject line.

About the Position

The Manager, Legal Operations provides integral support to the legal function and MaRS business units. This position manages the day-to-day coordination and administration of legal services and governance work, working closely with external counsel as needed. This role supports key governance work including collaborating in support of the board cycle, organization and preparation of documents, the administration of minute books, filings, minutes and other governance matters.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as key point person for legal inquiries from all levels and members of the organization, including ensuring that legal instruments are complete and executed appropriately, organizing and updating legal and compliance files, etc., all while providing timely and valuable internal service for all legal requests and inquiries with a high volume under time pressure.
• Continuously improve and streamline the legal intake process using Asana and other platforms to better serve the business units.
• Liaise with external legal counsel and the business units, ensuring legal tasks are moving forward in a timely manner.
  
• With support from external counsel, where necessary, prepare, review and edit various legal documents including contracts (Non-Disclosure Agreements, Creative Services Agreements, Templates, Contest Rules), correspondence, summaries, presentations, etc. to support MaRS legal, the business units and MaRS strategic initiatives. Research as required for legal inquiries.
• Provide project management for strategic legal initiatives and larger legal projects (e.g., certain compliance and partner solutions initiatives) as they arise. Working with the external counsel, manage the overarching portfolio of long-term legal projects to ensure they continue to move ahead despite a high-volume of day-to-day imperatives.
• Support grant-writing and serve as the project manager for RFP submissions, coordinating between cross-functional stakeholders to develop and submit proposals efficiently.
• Support procurement matters including reviewing RFP requests and contracts and acting as an advisor on RFP responses, while documenting approvals in compliance with MaRS’ procurement policy and contractual requirements.
• Provide back-up support to the finance & operations lead for procurement inquiries to ensure seamless support during vacation and/or sick days, as needed.
• Working in partnership with the CEO’s Executive Assistant, support governance administration for the entire organization and its subsidiaries including close collaboration for all board and committee cycles.
• Governance administration includes logistic and administrative matters such as first drafts, agendas, minute books, resolutions, record keeping, administration of signatures and filings including annual corporate returns, etc.
• Other key partners in this work will be the CEO, Corporate Secretary, and the Senior Director, Finance & Business Operations to ensure seamless governance and operational processes.
  

Qualifications

• Completed Bachelors Degree
• Law Clerk Certification or experience as Paralegal; OR
• Law degree (equivalent of Juris Doctor in Canada) from an international legal institution (e.g., looking to have NCA qualification in Canada).
• 5+ years experience in a legal department or firm
• Strong proficiency with Word, Google Docs, Adobe, Excel, PowerPoint
• Superb attention to detail and accuracy
• Strong ability to use varied software and tools
• Excellent organization and time management skills
• Strong written communication skills
• Ability to multitask multiple projects in parallel, work independently and self-prioritize
• Ability to thrive in a high-pressure, time-sensitive, entrepreneurial environment
• Service-minded and self-motivated personality with clear communication skills
• Superb ability to read and interpret legal documents, with a solid understanding of legal terminology and its practical implications
• Generous nature, helpful and “can-do” attitude

Applications will close at 5pm EDT on November 24, 2025.

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada, reside in Ontario and be willing to work out of our Toronto office (101 College Street) a minimum of 3 days per week.

Salary Range: $80,000 - $95,000, extended healthcare benefits, wellness spending account, and paid time-off.

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