Senior Legal Counsel

Job Type: Full-time |

Location:

Vancouver BC, Canada |Department:

People, Culture & Community |Reporting to:
Senior |Work Location Type:#Hybrid

IREN is a vertically integrated AI Cloud provider, delivering large-scale data centers and GPU clusters for AI training and inference. IREN’s platform is underpinned by its expansive portfolio of grid-connected land and power in renewable-rich regions across North America, Europe and APAC.

IREN is seeking an experienced employment lawyer to join our Legal team as Senior Legal Counsel – Employment, based in our Vancouver office. Reporting to the Senior Employment Counsel in Australia, you will be the primary in-house employment law adviser to our Canadian operations, supporting both our corporate workforce and the operational, site-based teams behind our data centres. This is a broad, hands-on role spanning the full employment lifecycle – from day-to-day advice and policy through to disputes, investigations and workforce change – together with the review and negotiation of HR-related commercial contracts.

While your focus will be on Canada, you will also contribute to cross-border matters across our operations in the United States, Australia and other regions.

With 100% renewable energy, we build, own and operate our data centers and take pride in being at the forefront of sustainable solutions for the ever-evolving applications of high-performance compute. We believe that human progress is invaluable, but it should be done in the right way – responsibly, sustainably and having a positive impact on the communities we operate in.

• Qualified to practise law in Canada and in good standing, with admission in British Columbia (or the ability to become admitted).
• At least 8 years’ post-qualification experience in Canadian employment and labour law.
• In-house experience preferred, but not essential.
• Strong working knowledge of federal and provincial employment law, particularly British Columbia.
• Experience advising on both corporate/white-collar and operational/blue-collar work forces desirable.
• Experience reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts, particularly HR-related agreements.
• Exposure to cross-border or multi-jurisdictional employment matters (United States and/or EMEA) advantageous.
• Excellent judgement and commercial acumen, with the ability to translate complex legal issues into practical business advice.
• Able to work autonomously and manage a broad, varied workload in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, comfortable partnering with HR and business teams.

• Advising on the full employment lifecycle – recruitment, onboarding, performance management, discipline, restructures, terminations and post-employment obligations – across IREN’s Canadian corporate and data centre workforce.
• Providing practical, risk-based advice on Canadian federal and provincial employment and labour law (with a focus on British Columbia), including employment standards, human rights, occupational health and safety, privacy, and workers’ compensation.
• Drafting, reviewing and updating employment contracts, offer letters, restrictive covenants, policies, handbooks and other workforce documentation.
• Managing employment complaints, investigations, disputes and litigation, and instructing and supervising external counsel where required.
• Supporting workforce change initiatives, including restructures, redundancies, and the employment aspects of corporate and asset transactions.
• Advising on occupational health and safety compliance relevant to data centre operations and site-based teams.
• Reviewing and negotiating HR-related commercial contracts (for example recruitment, staffing, payroll, benefits, immigration and HR technology agreements).
• Partnering with HR and business leaders on day-to-day people matters, and training and upskilling stakeholders on employment law risk.
• Monitoring legislative and case law developments across relevant jurisdictions and updating policies and practices accordingly.
• Contributing to cross-border employment matters across IREN’s United States, Australian and other operations as required.

At IREN, we offer a…