Director, Legal Corporate

Shopify’s mission is to make commerce better for everyone. From building a new product feature for our commerce platform, to helping a merchant troubleshoot an issue over the phone, we want to empower our ecosystem through our work.

Having a unified vision, a north star, is vitally important to ensure that we are all headed in the same direction. No matter the size or experience, we want to power every merchant’s experience. This is why we’re all here.

Shopify is now permanently remote, and we’re working towards a future that is digital by design. That location you see above? Consider it merely an example of hundreds of potential locations across North America where Shopify is hiring. Learn more here: https://www.shopify.com/careers/work-anywhere

Shopify is the world’s fastest growing commerce platform, with no plans to slow down, powering over 1.7 million stores in more than 175 different countries. It takes a whole team of dedicated lawyers working behind the scenes to help Shopify create a platform that makes commerce better for everyone. Lawyers on our team must be able to apply their knowledge and experience to novel scenarios and provide the best possible advice on sometimes unprecedented legal issues, in ways that allow Shopify’s business to stay agile and innovative. Every person on our team is committed to making commerce better for everyone, and it truly shows.

About the team
Shopify’s Corporate Team is a small but important part of our broader Legal Team. Our focus is on supporting Shopify’s business teams through corporate governance work, securities filings and compliance matters to keep Shopify in good standing as a public company listed on the NYSE and the TSX. We support a diverse array of teams across Shopify, both proactively and as issues arise, to ensure we are in compliance with constantly changing laws and regulations. Our work is challenging, varied and constantly evolving. 

To be successful on our team, collaboration and engagement are key. Our team members regularly collaborate with each other and with internal and external stakeholders. Being a member of a fast-moving team doing cutting edge legal work is not always easy but practicing at the top of your game with smart, dedicated and highly-engaged colleagues and clients is incredibly fulfilling and a great catalyst for personal growth.

About you
We are searching for a curious, dedicated, and driven Director of Legal Corporate, with experience and a strong interest in public company and subsidiary corporate governance, including intercompany agreements and transactions. You must be adept at managing teams and projects, juggling competing priorities, be equally adept at playing a lead (or even solo) role on some projects and a supporting role on others, and be adept at using your business acumen, creativity and collegiality (both internally and in dealing with external parties) to get stuff done. You should have excellent problem solving and issue spotting skills.

Supporting a variety of fast-moving teams while working on projects with immoveable deadlines ensures the job is never boring! You should expect to encounter issues you couldn’t dream up if you tried. This work is varied and constantly evolving. Success on the Shopify Corporate legal team requires intellect, humility and a sense of humour. You need to take the work seriously, but not take yourself too seriously. Practicing at the top of your game with an incredibly smart and highly-engaged team is very fulfilling, and we can guarantee that you will never stop learning.

Responsibilities

• Oversee global corporate governance, including entity formation and set up, appropriately recording contributions and distributions, and general corporate maintenance for our growing list of domestic and international subsidiaries. This will involve working closely with our Law Clerks, Finance and Tax teams. 
• Oversee continuous disclosure and securities filings, capital markets transactions, equity programs, and corporate communications and marketing.
• Oversee various compliance, regulatory and other matters.
• Manage and administer our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Conduct, Insider Trading Policy, Disclosure Policy, Anti-Corruption Policy, and other policies, including coordination of education and training.
• Support the Corporate Secretary in their duties.
• Oversee special projects relating to corporate governance, and coordination of those projects with the legal team and other stakeholders.
• Advise on conflicts of interest and related party transactions.
• Act as Legal lead for company-wide sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts, including coordination of public disclosures.
• Assist where needed on other legal matters and work on other legal functions from time to time, as necessary.

• A J.D. or LL.B.
• A license to practice law in the United States or in Canada (Canada preferred).
• A willingness to work Eastern Time zone hours, or close to them.
• 10+ years of relevant corporate legal experience - ideally having started out at a top-tier law firm, followed by in-house experience (public company experience preferred).
• A proven ability to efficiently work cross functionally.
• Experience with international corporate governance and managing multiple international subsidiaries. 
• Experience leading and managing people and projects, as well as managing multiple priorities, stakeholders and deadlines.
• A keen interest in creative legal problem solving, including researching novel and ambiguous areas of law.
• Experience managing external legal counsel, especially in foreign jurisdictions.
• The ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and on an individual basis without a lot of guidance or oversight.
• Exceptional business judgement and relationship-building skills.
• Strong written and interpersonal communication skills.
• An exceptional ability to triage and prioritize - being able to quickly pivot from providing legal advice on the fly, to reviewing communications, and back again. Our to-do lists are constantly being re-written.

We know that applying to a new role takes a lot of work and we truly value your time. Erin Zipes, Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, is looking forward to reading your application and finding someone amazing to work with.

Please include in your cover letter a short description (without breaching confidentiality) of a time you were able to influence a decision or outcome when you weren’t “in charge” or leading a project or team.

Closing date: Monday, October 18, 2021 at 11:59 PM ET. Successful candidates can expect to hear back from us by Friday, October, 29, 2021.

At Shopify, we are committed to building and fostering an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion enables us to truly make commerce better for everyone. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, racialized people, people with disabilities, people from gender and sexually diverse communities and/or people with intersectional identities. Please take a look at our 2020 Sustainability Report to learn more about Shopify's commitments.

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