About the RoleWe are seeking a strategic Legal Counsel to support on high-impact internal investigations, litigation and disputes, and help manage legal aspects of regulatory, compliance, and operational incidents across the enterprise. The successful candidate will bring deep experience in litigation, financial services regulation, regulatory enforcement, internal investigations, and crisis response.
About the teamThis role sits within Wealthsimple's Regulatory function, reporting to the Director, Legal (Risk & Enterprise). We handle the moments where things go wrong or get contested - investigations, incidents, and disputes - and help the business work through them with judgment and rigour. As Wealthsimple grows, so does the volume and complexity of this work, and this team is being built to meet that head-on: not just responding to individual matters, but building the frameworks and processes that let us handle them consistently and well.
What You'll Do:- Lead complex investigations involving regulatory and supervisory matters, fraud, whistleblower complaints, sales practices and customer harm - from investigation strategy through witness interviews and forensic document review.
- Support the legal response to operational and compliance incidents, including cybersecurity, market conduct, consumer protection, and fraud.
- Support our enterprise crisis management, incident and escalation frameworks.
- Partner with Compliance, Risk, Privacy, Finance, and Information Security to identify risks and recommend enhancements.
- Manage litigation proceedings and pre-litigation disputes or complaints including the management of external counsel.
- Provide legal advice and guidance on a range of legal and strategic issues impacting the business and develop tailored solutions to complex problems.
Skills you bring- LL.B. or J.D. and member of a Canadian provincial bar association with an active membership.
- 5 to 7 years of litigation experience, preferably with a mix of private practice and in-house experience.
- Demonstrated knowledge in areas related to litigation, internal investigations, and/or crisis response in a regulated industry, with a preference for experience advising financial institutions, technology, or Fintech companies.
Nice to Have- Bilingualism (English and French).
- Admission to the New York bar.
Who you are- You exercise sound judgment and discretion, especially when the stakes and ambiguity are high
- You stay composed under pressure - incidents and crises don't rattle you, they focus you
- You're comfortable advising senior leaders directly, and you know how to make a complex legal issue clear and actionable
- You take ownership end-to-end, from strategy through execution, and you build process along the way rather than leaving it to someone else
- You build trust easily - with internal partners, with regulators, and with outside counsel
- You can hold several high-stakes matters at once without losing precision on any of them
