Board Legal Counsel

Role Responsibilities

As the Board Legal Counsel, you play a key role in supporting the Board through all stages of its appeal and decision-making processes. You provide impartial legal guidance while ensuring the Board’s independence remains fully intact. The key job function will be assisting the Board Members in drafting decisions and reports and recommendations.

In this role, you will:

• Provide legal advice throughout appeal processes, ensuring alignment with legislation, natural justice, and procedural fairness while respecting the Board’s independent decision-making role.
• Prepare clear, well-reasoned legal documents including decisions, reports and recommendations, and procedural rulings that are rational, defensible, and easy to understand.
• Support mediation activities by advising what types of agreements may be entered, when ministerial approvals may be required, and how to structure enforceable outcomes.
• Interpret and apply multiple areas of law in situations where precedent is limited, using strong judgment, research skills, and analytical reasoning.
• Anticipate legal, social, economic, and political implications of high-profile matters, ensuring advice aligns with the Board’s legislated framework and responsibilities.
• Collaborate with the General Counsel and other Board Counsel to support consistent, principled approaches to complex or novel matters.
• Apply experience with judicial reviews and similar litigation processes to support legally robust Board procedures and decision‑making.

Please click on this link to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies: https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

Please be advised that there will be a competency-based interview for this competition. The behavioral competencies that have been deemed as critical for this role include:

• Systems Thinking: Understands how issues, risks, and broader contextual factors influence the Board’s work, and incorporates this understanding into planning and decision support.
• Creative Problem Solving: Applies sound judgment and creativity to address complex issues where precedents may not exist, developing practical and principled approaches.
• Drive for Results: Produces high quality legal work within required timeframes, removes obstacles to progress, and maintains a strong commitment to fairness and due process.

Qualifications

Requirements:

• Active membership in good standing with a Canadian law society and eligibility for membership with the Law Society of Alberta.
• Minimum seven (7) years of experience providing legal advice to administrative bodies, tribunals, regulatory decision‑makers, and conducting judicial reviews.

Assets:

• Experience in environmental law, including regulatory approvals, compliance, or related administrative proceedings.
• Mediation or dispute resolution experience in regulatory or administrative contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to draft clear, defensible legal decisions or recommendations.
• Strong legal writing skills for decisions, recommendations, or complex legal analyses.
• Strong legal research skills across statutes, regulations, case law, and policy.
• Knowledge of natural justice, procedural fairness, and quasi-judicial processes.
• Ability to manage high profile matters involving multiple jurisdictions and complex stakeholder environments.
• Experience conducting judicial reviews or similar litigation matters is required.

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification. Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

Notes

This is a full-time temporary position, up to 12 months. Standard work hours are Monday to Friday, 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (36.25 hours weekly)

In your application, please include a cover page detailing your interest in the position, and role-related experience. In your resume, include dates (including months and years) associated with all education and work experience. Also, please indicate whether your work experience is casual, part-time or full-time. For example, January 15, 2006 - June 25, 2009: Assistant (PT three 8 hrs. shifts/week).

Final candidates will be required to undergo a security screening.

A written assessment may be part of the interview process.

A secondment from other Government of Alberta departments may be considered.

Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Links and information on what the GoA have to offer to prospective employees.

• Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx.
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) - https://www.pspp.ca.
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits.
• Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive.
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca.
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.
• Leadership and mentorship programs.