GENERAL COUNSEL AND PRIVACY OFFICER, FT

at  Niagara Health System

Niagara Health is looking for a permanent full-time lawyer to join its Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Team. The position reports to the Director of Quality, Patient Safety and Risk and will manage staff in the Privacy and FOI Specialist role. The portfolio provides support across the organization in ensuring high quality safe care, reducing risk, ensuring privacy and exceptional positive care experiences.
Aligned with the Hospital’s strategic direction, the candidate will provide focused expertise. The ideal candidate will have 2-5 years of legal and privacy related experience focused on health, corporate and commercial law. This candidate will have extensive knowledge in privacy legislation and be able to support Niagara Health’s response to privacy concerns and proactively ensure that NH is compliant with changing legislation. Clear understanding of contract law, procurement laws for not-for-profit entities, privacy legislation, and the healthcare sector is required. In this role, you will be expected to do the following:
o Identify, address and manage legal needs in support of the Hospital’s business and strategic objectives through effective fact-finding, research and the provision of high-quality legal advice and in a manner that reflects the organization’s risk tolerance
o Review, draft and negotiate contracts
o Identify potential areas of legal risk/opportunity and make recommendations on risk tolerance and mechanisms to manage risk/opportunity
o Support management and leaders across the Hospital, in implementing strategic and operational initiatives
o Monitor changes to relevant laws and communicate developments/implications to management and staff, as appropriate while staying current on best practices and emerging trends in legal practice within relevant sectors
o Develop strong professional relationships with internal and external partners
o Facilitate ongoing communication throughout the organization, anticipate and proactively manage legal needs and risks
o Manage the Privacy and Freedom of Information Specialist and support their daily activities in the privacy and FOI requirements of NH
o Develop and implement frameworks and procedures across the organization to support proactive learning and understanding of privacy and legal requirements in the health sector

DESIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

o Drafts and negotiates third party contracts, opinions and other legal documents
o Provides organization-wide legal advice and information pertaining to corporate/commercial and not-for-profit matters, and intellectual property and/or privacy matters
o Supports contract management for the organization, working on occasion in collaboration with other organizations in the region
o Ensures corporate compliance with applicable local, provincial and federal laws governing the organization’s operations
o Supports the rollout of the regulatory changes that are occurring in the healthcare sector
o Supports minimizing and managing legal and statutory risks
o Leads privacy-related initiatives and ensures compliance with privacy and data protection laws, including PHIPA and FIPPA

QUALIFICATIONS:

o Must have a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctorate and be a lawyer in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario (LSO)
o A masters level degree in management, business or health administration/management
o Extensive knowledge of privacy and information management principles
o Demonstrated experience managing privacy-related legal matters, particularly privacy impact assessments and risk assessments
o At least 2 years experience in private practice, in-house, or a combination thereof post call or through articling; preferably with experience in a health organization
o Experience handling health care sector privacy-related concerns is preferred
o Experience working within a hospital or other healthcare sector organization is an asset
o Demonstrated experience with drafting, reviewing and negotiating MOUs, service agreements, contracts and policies
o A strong knowledge of hospital information systems is an asset in relation to privacy, data sharing agreements and data security
o A comprehensive understanding of privacy laws in relation to PHIPA and other health-related legislation will be considered an asset
o A strong understanding of management principles
o Service-oriented and strategic thinking with strong decision-making skills; capable of managing a high volume of competing priorities
o Team player with excellent diplomacy and interpersonal skills
o Proficiency in both official languages (English & French) will be considered an asset
Questions, quoting the job posting number, may be directed to hrrecruit@niagarahealth.on.ca
We are especially interested in connecting if you…
Value diversity, equity and inclusion; Are excited about being part of a respectful and hard-working team in the beautiful Region of Niagara; Identify as a member of one or more of the following equity-deserving groups: Indigenous, racialized, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and all others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. Have background or expertise in the healthcare environment, supporting patient care and providing extraordinary customer-service.
In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 and the Ontario Human Rights Code, Niagara Health will provide accommodations through the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. If selected to participate in the recruitment and selection process, please inform Human Resources of the nature of any accommodation(s) that you may require in respect of any materials or processes used to ensure your equal participation.
At Niagara Health, we are committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. As a part of this work, we collect information on Ontario Human Rights Code grounds and non-Code grounds in order to: hire and retain diverse talent, prevent and/or address systemic barriers to access and opportunity, improve service delivery and programs and advance diversity and inclusion overall. All identification questions are optional and include a “prefer not to answer” option.

Please refer the Job description for details