Head of Wellness, Canada (Closed)
About Gowling WLG
Gowling WLG is an international law firm with more than 1,500 client-facing professionals and over 2,100 business services team members in 19 cities around the world. The Firm delivers in-depth expertise in key global sectors and a full suite of legal services to its clients. Gowling WLG (Canada) is the Canadian arm of Gowling WLG. With seven offices across Canada in Vancouver, Calgary, Waterloo Region, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, Gowling WLG (Canada) is one of the nation’s leading law firms.
Gowling WLG works with many of the world's leading organizations to solve their most critical business problems. The Firm’s diverse, internationally ranked, and highly experienced team across Canada provides insightful advice, valuable counsel, and trusted representation across a variety of key industries, including energy, financial services, government, infrastructure, mining, manufacturing, technology, and life sciences.
The Firm has been repeatedly recognized as a top employer, in part owing to its commitment to social responsibility and creating a positive work environment for its people. Gowling WLG (Canada)’s dedication to their team and community is evidenced by their continued and progressive investment in equity, diversity, inclusion, reconciliation, anti-racism, wellness and community service.
The Opportunity
Head of Wellness
Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, Gowling WLG (Canada) is seeking a Head of Wellness to lead the Firm’s wellness programs across all offices.
The Head of Wellness will work strategically at the national level and in partnership with local office management to develop a cohesive culture of wellness across the organization as part of Gowling WLG (Canada)’s “People-First” strategy. They will be instrumental in driving the conversation on wellness forward by designing, developing, and implementing the Firm’s wellness strategy to support its legal professionals and business services team members.
As the inaugural Head of Wellness at Gowling WLG (Canada), and the first in Canada within the sector, they will be responsible for acquiring an in-depth understanding of the unique wellness needs of the organization’s legal professionals and business services team members. The vision for this position is to develop a culture of wellness where everyone can grow, contribute, and flourish by ensuing people feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work, asking for support when needed, and prioritizing their overall well-being (including: mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing).
This role can be based in any of the firm’s Canadian offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Waterloo Region, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal.
Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Developing strategies, policies, and initiatives to ensure holistic wellness programs are in place that target the needs of both legal professionals and business services team members, recognizing their respective needs and the appropriate programs to meet those needs may differ.
Managing the enhancement and development of systems and tools to support program execution.
Collaborating with Firm leadership, legal talent, professional development, HR, DEI, and other key stakeholder groups on the value and design of new or changing wellness programs.
Evaluating, compiling, and tracking progress on wellness merits while gathering ongoing program feedback to identify opportunities for continued improvement.
Acting as a liaison for those seeking assistance with personal life event challenges and connecting them to Firm and/or external resources.
Facilitating educational presentations and training programs.
Overseeing third-party providers by creating working partnerships, managing service deliverables, and measuring performance.
Establishing credibility and trust with the firm’s leadership, the legal professionals, and business services team members.
Anticipating future wellness trends for legal professionals and business services team members.
Undertaking continuous benchmarking to achieve “Best-in-Class” program status.
Some domestic travel to local offices will be necessary.
Essential Qualities and Experience
The ideal candidate is a proven leader in the wellness and mental health space with a reputable track record of successfully creating and leading evidence-based programs within a provincial or national top-tier professional services firm or comparably complex organization. Candidates must demonstrate strong listening skills with an ability to understand the dynamics and wellness needs of high-performance personalities, and the nuances between and amongst legal professionals and business services team members.
A clinical or theoretical understanding of wellness and a command of organizational change management, combined with an engaging and approachable attitude, strong communication skills, the ability to lead by doing, and high EQ are top priorities for this position. It will be critical for the Head of Wellness to develop a strong base of trust across all levels of the organization and be viewed as a credible subject matter expert in the area of wellness and mental health.
Our client inclusively welcomes experienced leaders with relevant skills to apply for the role, but will prioritize candidates who possess the following attributes:
Post-secondary and preferably graduate education in a relevant field such as organizational psychology, counselling, coaching, or organizational development.
Experience developing wellness strategies, programs, and initiatives for lawyers or other high-performing professionals from comparable industries and sectors such as accounting, real estate, medicine, academia, or banking.
Thorough knowledge of mental health issues and the social determinants of health.
Experience creating surveys and gathering related data to track progress and inform programming—and an understanding of related privacy compliance requirements.
Ability to work with and influence multiple key stakeholders to accomplish common objectives.
Excellent communication skills with an attention to detail.
Ability to prioritize in a fast-paced environment and redefine priorities when necessary.
Search Process
This position is a strategic leadership role and the Firm will pay competitively commensurate with qualifications and comparable roles. The search process may include conventional longlist, shortlist, and committee interview stages. We will request for finalists to offer comprehensive recent references and to complete a background check. We expect to process our first review of applications by November 25, 2022.
Gowling WLG (Canada) is proud to offer equal employment opportunities, and actively encourages equity, diversity, and inclusion in its workplaces. Gowling WLG (Canada) welcomes applications from women, racialized persons, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, persons of all sexual and gender identities, and all who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
An offer of employment will be conditional upon the successful candidate providing proof of full vaccination against COVID-19. Any exemption request will be considered on a case-by-case basis and granted only where the request meets the requirements of applicable legislation. Any exemption request will be considered on a case-by-case basis and granted only where the request meets the requirements of applicable legislation.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. In accordance with provincial legislation, accommodation will be provided by Gowling WLG (Canada) and Mosaic Executive Search throughout the recruitment, selection, and assessment process, upon request, to applicants with disabilities.
Applications (cover letter and curriculum vitae) or nominations for the Head of Wellness opportunity with Gowling WLG (Canada) should be submitted in confidence to: info@mosaicsearch.ca
You are also welcome to email:
Dave Namkung (dave@mosaicsearch.ca) or
Beth Mountford (bmountford@mosaicsearch.ca) with any related questions.
