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About the Role

Beacon is seeking a highly skilled and entrepreneurially-minded employment lawyer to join its legal team as the first dedicated employment specialist. This foundational role involves building Beacon's employment legal function from the ground up, partnering with HR to establish policies, templates, and processes for Beacon and its portfolio companies. Reporting to Beacon’s VP, Legal, you will be the go-to employment law resource, advising on a full spectrum of employment matters, managing complex terminations, navigating employment claims, and building scalable infrastructure for a permanent-hold, multi-entity acquirer. This is a high-impact, high-autonomy role for a lawyer who thrives on building, enjoys variety, and wants to own an entire function.

Responsibilities

Own the build-out of Beacon’s employment legal function, establishing infrastructure, designing governance, setting employment law coverage, and creating workflows and escalation protocols.
Partner with Beacon’s HR team to build foundational employment relationship blocks: employment agreements, offer letter templates, onboarding/offboarding documentation, HR policies, employee handbooks, and codes of conduct.
Ensure all policies and practices are legally compliant, commercially sensible, and scalable across a multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction organization.
Partner with HR on sensitive people matters, providing real-time legal guidance that balances risk management with practical business outcomes.
Serve as the employment law resource for Beacon’s portfolio of vertical market software companies, fielding and resolving employment questions.
Develop repeatable frameworks and toolkits for portfolio company operators to handle routine matters confidently.
Manage and advise on all aspects of employee terminations and separations, including drafting and negotiating separation agreements and releases.
Advise on appropriate severance entitlements, minimizing legal exposure while achieving business objectives.
Provide practical guidance to HR and management on conducting terminations appropriately.
Own the management of employment-related claims and disputes, including human rights complaints, wrongful dismissal claims, constructive dismissal claims, and regulatory complaints.
Act as the primary internal contact for external counsel, managing relationships, providing instructions, and ensuring alignment with objectives and budget.
Maintain a working knowledge of active matters and provide regular updates to leadership.
Build and maintain a library of employment law templates, precedents, and playbooks.
Monitor and manage ongoing compliance with employment standards legislation, pay equity, accessibility, workplace health and safety, and other applicable regulatory requirements.
Advise on the employment law implications of M&A transactions, including employment due diligence and post-closing integration.
Leverage AI tools and technology to accelerate document drafting, policy review, legal research, and claims management.
Continuously identify opportunities to build AI-assisted workflows that increase efficiency and reduce cost.

Requirements

J.D. or LL.B. from an accredited Canadian law school.
Member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario.
6+ years of employment law experience at a top-tier law firm, or 5–7 years in an in-house employment counsel role at a technology company or high-growth organization.
Deep, hands-on expertise in Canadian employment law, including the Employment Standards Act (Ontario), Human Rights Code, Occupational Health and Safety Act, and common law obligations.
Proven experience managing terminations and drafting separation agreements.
Experience managing employment claims and disputes.
Demonstrated ability to draft and maintain employment agreements, HR policies, employee handbooks, and employment templates from scratch or from precedent.
Strong track record of partnering directly with HR and People teams as a business-oriented, solutions-focused legal partner.
Highly proficient with AI tools for legal work (e.g., AI-assisted document drafting, legal research, policy review).
Comfortable operating as a generalist employment lawyer, capable of handling a wide range of matters simultaneously across multiple entities and jurisdictions.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Experience in M&A employment diligence and integration is a strong asset.
Familiarity with federal employment legislation (Canada Labour Code) is a strong asset.

Skills

Employment law expertise
Policy development
HR partnership
Contract drafting and negotiation
Litigation management
Regulatory compliance
M&A employment diligence
AI tools for legal work
Business-oriented legal advice
Communication skills

Location

Ontario

Work Type

Full-time

Experience Level

6+ years
5-7 years

Education Level

J.D. or LL.B.

About the Company

Beacon is building the essential technology infrastructure for the everyday economy, acquiring, operating, and growing vertical market software and services companies.
Beacon's model is to buy great businesses, invest in their continued growth, and hold them permanently.
Beacon is comprised of technology entrepreneurs and operators who believe in supporting and improving niche, founder-built businesses.
Beacon offers entrepreneurs a unique option to implement a transition that ensures company continuity while receiving liquidity at full value.
Beacon is permanent, committed capital with no exit pressure and a long-term time horizon.
Beacon is backed by a diverse base of investors including D1 Capital, CPMG, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, and the family offices of world-class technology entrepreneurs.
Beacon was founded by Nilam Ganenthiran, entrepreneur, former President of Instacart, and investor at D1 Capital.

Equal Opportunity

Beacon Software uses Artificial Intelligence and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.
AI does not make hiring decisions: Every application is reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans.
Beacon uses AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment.
Beacon is committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate.