Senior Legal Counsel - Privacy

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Reporting to the Head of Integrity, Corporate Compliance and Privacy, the Senior Legal Counsel - Privacy plays a key and trusted role within Air Canada's Legal Department: they represent the Corporation and provide strategic legal advice on privacy, artificial intelligence and anti-spam issues applicable to multiple jurisdictions. This position opens prospects for commercial innovation in a heavily regulated and data-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide legal support for complex or innovative initiatives involving emerging technologies, new business models or the use of sensitive data.
• Work closely with various departments (Customer Experience, Procurement, Employees, Culture and Communications, Loyalty, E-commerce, Sales, etc.) to drive the Corporation's initiatives, including online or electronic message marketing campaigns, contests and social media practices, by providing advice on legal obligations arising from privacy, artificial intelligence and anti-spam laws.
• Provide specialized legal advice on international privacy and data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the CPRA, Quebec's Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and other emerging regulations. Provide legal advice on regulatory inquiries, privacy by design, privacy impact assessments and data requests.
• Provide specialized legal advice on international AI laws and other emerging regulations.
• Provide specialized legal advice on anti-spam laws, including Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
• Monitor the evolution of issues affecting privacy, artificial intelligence and anti-spam laws, both in Canada and abroad, to ensure the legality at all times of Air Canada's policies and practices, and stay informed on the subject.
• Help translate legal obligations into internal policies, audits and training so that they are accessible and actionable.
• Assist in analyzing the nature of parties involved in supplier contracts (i.e., whether they are personal data 'controllers' or 'processors') and the cross-border data flows necessary to determine appropriate data protection provisions, and provide advice thereon.
• Provide advice on the collection, use, retention, disclosure and cross-border transfers of data between internal products, services and activities.
• Support interactions with regulators and external stakeholders, including preparing positions and responses.
• Support incident response activities, including breach assessment, notification analysis and post-incident remediation.
• Review AI use cases, conduct AI impact assessments and support AI governance frameworks.

Qualifications

• At least ten years of experience in a top-tier law firm or a recognized in-house legal/privacy department; privacy certification is an asset.
• Member of the bar of a province, essential; training in common law and civil law is an asset.
• Outstanding and demonstrable degrees, credentials and background.
• Excellent understanding and practical experience of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Quebec's Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), as well as a good knowledge of common law and civil law regarding privacy.
• Knowledge of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other international privacy laws and experience in providing legal advice applicable to multiple jurisdictions, are assets.
• Experience in cyber law is an asset.
• Strong analytical, negotiation, representation and communication skills, both oral and written.
• Ability to understand and anticipate business needs, and respond to them, communicate effectively and always consider related risks.
• Autonomous, proactive and enjoys taking full responsibility.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, constantly evolving environment within a close-knit team of professionals.
• Result-oriented, eagerness and motivation to achieve objectives.
• Business acumen, ability to be strategic, pragmatic and thorough, and a solid ability to assess legal and business risks.
• Creativity to consider, clarify and merge different approaches to find practical solutions.
• Ability to work autonomously in a dynamic environment, demonstrating composure in difficult situations.
• Proven punctuality and reliability to promote the overall success of the team in a fast-paced environment.

Conditions of Employment:

Candidates must be eligible to work in the country concerned at the time an offer of employment is presented and are responsible for obtaining work permits, visas or other necessary authorizations. Proof of eligibility must be provided before the start date.

Language Requirements

Equal skills permitting, preference will be given to bilingual candidates.

Diversity and Inclusion

Air Canada is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion and aims to create a healthy, accessible and rewarding workplace that highlights the unique contribution of our employees to the success of our business.

As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage diverse applications so that we can have a varied workforce representative of our customers and the communities where we live and offer our services.

Air Canada thanks all applicants for their interest, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.