Bilingual Talent Acquisition Specialist, Legal Support

McCarthy Tétrault LLP • Montreal, QC

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

McCarthy Tétrault is a leading Canadian law firm offering a full suite of legal and business solutions to clients in Canada and around the world. With offices in Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, Calgary and Vancouver, we provide challenging and rewarding career opportunities across the country. Recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for eleven consecutive years and one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for fourteen consecutive years, our culture is guided by The McCarthy Way—our shared approach to working with clients and with each other.
The McCarthy Way is built on four core elements: Excellence, through attracting and developing top talent committed to delivering on our Client Commitment; Collaboration, through seamless, integrated teamwork; Inclusion, through eliminating barriers to belonging and success; and Innovation, through delivering maximum value by embracing leading-edge technologies and approaches. Together, these principles shape how we work, lead, and grow—every day.
The Bilingual Talent Acquisition Specialist is responsible for delivering full-cycle recruitment for Legal Support Services (LSS) positions across the Firm, including Legal Assistants, Legal Administrative Assistants (LAAs), and Document Specialists. Acting as the primary recruitment partner for LSS leaders and hiring managers, this role develops proactive talent pipelines, provides market intelligence, and delivers a consistent, high-quality candidate and hiring manager experience across all offices, including bilingual recruitment requirements in Québec and Montréal.
French and English bilingualism is required for this position as the incumbent is responsible for recruiting and supporting hiring activities across multiple offices in Canada, including Montréal and Québec. The role requires regular communication, both written and verbal, with French-speaking and English-speaking candidates, hiring managers, legal support leaders, and other internal stakeholders. The ability to communicate effectively in both official languages is essential to provide a consistent candidate and client experience, conduct interviews and assessments, support bilingual recruitment requirements, and ensure successful delivery of national recruitment services across the Firm.

Requirements

• Post-secondary education with an HR focus or equivalent experience
• Minimum 6-8 years of proven success in a strategic sourcing or full-cycle Talent Acquisition role
• Bilingualism in French and English is required to support national recruitment and bilingual hiring needs, including Québec and Montréal requirements
• Experience in a professional services environment is required; experience recruiting in a law firm or legal services environment is strongly preferred.
• Experience in high-volume; full-cycle recruitment is required
• Strong knowledge and familiarity with recruitment technology and eRecruiting, including ATS platforms, LinkedIn Recruiter, and other sourcing or social media channels used for recruitment purposes

Nice To Haves

• Experience in both search firm/agency and corporate recruitment environments is an asset
• Experience recruiting Legal Assistants, Legal Administrative Assistants, Document Specialists, or comparable legal support roles is required
• Experience with talent acquisition analytics and reporting is an asset

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end recruitment for Legal Assistant, Legal Administrative Assistant, Document Specialist, and other legal support positions across the Firm
• Conduct intake meetings with hiring managers to understand business needs, team dynamics, required competencies, and hiring timelines
• Develop and execute proactive sourcing strategies tailored to specialized legal support talent markets, leveraging strong sourcing skills to identify and engage high volumes of qualified candidates
• Manage job postings, candidate screening, interviews, assessments, references, offer negotiations, and onboarding handoffs
• Build and maintain talent pipelines for recurring and high-volume LSS positions
• Conduct behavioral and competency-based interviews and provide candidate recommendations to hiring leaders
• Coordinate technical, document formatting, and bilingual language assessments where required
• Partner with HR Business Partners and Compensation to support market-aligned hiring decisions
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation, pay transparency requirements, internal policies, and equitable hiring practices
• Act as a subject matter expert by coaching and supporting hiring managers in preparing for and conducting interviews, including structured interview guidance for legal support positions
• Build the Firm’s talent brand in the marketplace by providing an exceptional candidate experience, seeking feedback, and recommending improvements to candidate communications and recruitment channels
• Develop and maintain relationships with external recruitment agencies to ensure appropriate representation of the Firm externally and timely, cost-effective solutions when agency support is required
• Provide backup recruitment support for other client groups as needed, while maintaining primary accountability for Legal Support Services recruitment
• Track recruitment metrics including time-to-fill, source of hire, pipeline conversion rates, vacancy trends, and hiring volumes
• Develop quarterly reporting and hiring forecasts for Legal Support Services leadership and Talent Acquisition leadership
• Analyze recruitment trends, identify bottlenecks, and recommend process improvements
• Maintain current knowledge of recruitment trends, market practices, technology, and professional networks relevant to legal support recruitment
• Perform other duties as assigned

Benefits

• Outstanding benefits from day one, including insurance premiums paid by the Firm and wellness and technology reimbursements
• Competitive compensation
• Paid overtime
• Generous time off, including a day off to volunteer and a day off for your birthday
• A commitment to professional development and growth opportunities for our people at all levels, supported by a culture that fully embraces and encourages two-way feedback
• Strong community involvement and a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion
• A collaborative, cohesive culture that connects lawyers and business teams through collective purpose

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed