Director, Legal & Lease Documentation

Epic is seeking a proactive leader for Legal and Lease Documentation to join our company and develop a team to serve Epic’s needs nationally. We’re looking for someone who is detail-oriented, keen to continually improve, and able to develop or improve business processes. The person in this role will have relationships in the legal community and will be able to foster those relationships with external legal firms.

The Legal and Lease Documentation function is an integral part of delivering service to Epic’s clients and customers. This role will report to the Vice President of a centralized national services group which also includes sustainability, innovation, and national programs. This role will be required to attend regional offices within Canada from time to time.

These responsibilities below are intended as a general description of the tasks and types of tasks expected in this position. These may evolve and include additional tasks and responsibilities over time.

Your Responsibilities:

• Train and mentor/lead a team of documentation and administration specialists to ensure timely delivery of legal and lease documents to key parts of the business, including leasing, real estate management, and corporate.

• Collaborate with team members and business teams to review processes in place for legal and lease documentation and identify opportunities to improve the team’s effectiveness or minimize risk to the business, the properties, and clients, including through the use of technology.

• Ensure strong communication between department team members and other internal parties with regard to leasing deals, critical dates, and deviations from standard forms.

• Stay apprised of legal precedents and developments related to commercial leases, risk, and liability of landlords.

• Ensure timely and accurate billing of lease documentation fees.

Lease Documentation and Administration

• Draft and if necessary, negotiate lease-related documents and agreements including leases, lease extensions, amendments, consent agreements, termination, surrender, default letters, storage, licenses, releases, etc.

• Oversee preparation of estoppels, lease summaries, and other similar documents.

• Consult with external legal counsel as needed and requested.

• Proactively follow up with other involved personnel, such as asset managers, brokers, and tenants to ensure timely completion of due diligence material gathering and compliance with deadlines, driving accountability and ensuring all parties are informed and organized while maintaining an efficient workflow.

• Provide legal guidance and advice to leasing or real estate management upon request and collaborate with real estate management to address lease-related issues during tenancies.

• Manage standard lease form templates and related document templates including standardized step-down language, ensuring they are up to date in content and format by conducting periodic review, recommending updates to templates, and coordinating approvals as required.

• Efficiently manage the majority of the legal requests in-house to minimize the cost of external legal counsel.

• Support onboarding and offboarding of properties by reviewing existing leases, and as required, preparing summaries, updated standard templates, estoppels, or other documents.

• Flag and ensure tracking of important tenant lease options and any critical dates associated therewith.

• Accountability for elements of lease administration including circulation of documents, credit checks, VTS updates, appropriate filing of documents with consistent filing structure and naming conventions.

Corporate and Other Legal Functions

• Advise on agreements and documents involving the company including those related to proposals, asset management, real estate management, information technology, joint ventures, and various corporate entities.

• Support in the review of legal documents or processes in other departments from time to time.

• Assist with corporate legal setups, regulatory filings, annual corporate recordkeeping requirements, corporate legal dissolutions, and other requirements of corporate secretary.

• Conduct legal due diligence, negotiate and prepare documentation for acquisitions and divestitures.

Requirements:

• 10-15 years of progressive experience in contract management, drafting leases, commercial lease negotiation, or lease administration and a thorough knowledge of leases and related ancillary documents relevant to commercial real estate.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Law, Paralegal, Commerce, or Business Administration.

• Attention to detail, strong ability to review, interpret, and draft complex lease & legal documents.

• Proficient in legal jargon and analyzing lease & legal terms and conditions.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.

• Highly organized, proactive, and ability to follow up and manage multiple tasks and files in parallel.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office and legal software, and familiarity with VTS.

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and build strong and collaborative working relationships across multiple departments and with employees at all levels.

• Ability to work with minimal supervision, exercising strong attention to detail, initiative, and judgment.

• Ability to work in the office 5 days a week.

• Travel to regional offices within Canada is required based on business needs.

About Epic Investment Services

Epic is a fully integrated real estate management platform providing asset, investment, and property management services to institutional, wealth managers, and high-net-worth investors. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Epic has over $13 billion in assets under management across Canada and the U.S. comprised of 22 million square feet of office, retail, industrial, and multi-family residential properties.

How to Apply:

Qualified applicants may e-mail their cover letter and current resume to [email protected] indicating “Director, Legal & Lease Documentation” in the subject line. Epic Investment Services is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to ethnicity, age, religion, race, gender identity, physical ability, or sexual orientation, or any other elements protected by law. Epic Investment Services is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment. For all internal and external applicants who require accommodation in the recruitment and selection process, please contact [email protected] for assistance/support. We sincerely appreciate the interest of all applicants, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone calls or Agencies please.

Visit our website at www.epicinvestmentservices.com for further company details