Manager, Legal Recruitment and Student Development (12-Month Contract)

Torys LLP

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, Legal Recruitment and Student Development manages the full law student lifecycle, including recruitment, onboarding, evaluations, programming, events, and law school relationships. The role leads lateral associate recruitment in Toronto and coordinates onboarding for lateral associates across all offices. It works closely with legal recruitment and student development teams across offices to support alignment, consistency, and best practices.

The manager leads Toronto 1L and 2L student recruitment, serving as a central point for candidate information, scheduling, interviews, and law school communications. The role manages recruitment events and processes, supports compliance with Law Society of Ontario requirements, oversees year-round student recruitment and external relationships, and manages student development programs and processes from onboarding through departure.

The position also manages Toronto lateral associate recruitment and coordinates pre-onboarding, onboarding, and integration for lateral hires across all offices. Additional responsibilities include improving recruitment processes and systems, leading and developing the team, managing budgets and expenses, and overseeing the Torys 1L Scholar Connect Workshop and LAWS mentoring program.

The position is part of a hybrid work model, with four days in the office per week. New hires are required to work in the office more often during their first few months for cross-training. The role is a 12-month contract.

Requirements

• Post-secondary degree or diploma in Business or Human Resources Management, or comparable educational qualifications, completed or in progress.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience.
• Proficiency in the MS Office product suite.
• Strong client service orientation and ability to manage multiple client needs with urgency.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships at all levels, work collaboratively and independently, and communicate and interpret policies, practices, and procedures effectively.
• People management skills, including delegation, timely feedback, and respectful collaboration with direct reports.
• Proactive self-starter with strong organizational and time-management skills, attention to detail, and ability to prioritize competing demands and meet deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Sound judgment and problem-solving skills, including the ability to assess options, adapt to changing circumstances, and exercise tact, poise, and discretion.
• Flexible and positive attitude.
• Ability to assess processes or services, recommend improvements, and lead and coordinate implementation.

Nice To Haves

• Relevant experience within a law firm or professional services firm.
• At least 2 years of managerial experience or experience coaching people.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution of Toronto 1L and 2L student recruitment and serve as the central hub for candidate processes, scheduling, interviewers, and law school communications.
• Act as the primary liaison with the Law Society of Ontario, monitor rule changes, provide guidance on recruitment best practices, ensure compliance, and respond to lawyer and student inquiries.
• Conduct first-level reviews of 1L and 2L applications.
• Manage on-campus and in-firm interview processes, including preparing materials.
• Maintain and synthesize candidate data and interviewer feedback.
• Work with the events team to plan and execute student events.
• Draft student offer letters and analyze recruitment data, preparing post-recruitment reports and recommendations.
• Manage Toronto year-round law student recruitment, represent the firm at career fairs and on-campus events, and maintain relationships with law school representatives and staff.
• Respond to law students' questions, host coffee meetings, and serve as a resource for prospective candidates.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Business Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Human Resources, and others to maintain the Student Program website and create promotional content.
• Manage advertising, law school sponsorships, and awards, including tracking historical contributions.
• Serve as the primary contact for summer and articling students and their mentors.
• Manage student onboarding, integration, engagement, development, departure, and related systems changes.
• Design and deliver Toronto student orientation and ongoing training in collaboration with the Learning team.
• Manage external student secondments, including identifying opportunities, preparing agreements, and collecting client feedback.
• Oversee the student mentoring program and manage student performance reviews, including timelines, feedback consolidation, and review summaries for the Director.
• Manage the student hire-back process, including scheduling meetings and preparing supporting materials.
• Manage the full Toronto lateral associate recruitment process, including viRecruit, application review, candidate communications, recruiter liaison, interview scheduling, interviewer feedback, hiring decisions, and offer letters.
• Oversee pre-onboarding, onboarding, and integration for lateral associate hires across all offices, including background and conflict checks, systems setup, onboarding schedules, and coordination with office PR Directors and Business Services departments.
• Evaluate end-to-end recruitment processes, propose efficiencies, and implement enhancements.
• Manage Aderant (viRecruit and viEval) system updates, lead process knowledge sharing and training across the PR team, and identify opportunities to optimize processes using technology and AI.
• Lead and develop the team, manage team performance and development, and coordinate recruitment, onboarding, and integration of new team members with HR.
• Manage team resources to support departmental priorities and project requirements.
• Analyze monthly GL reports, reconcile expenses, authorize entries, reallocate costs as needed, and prepare the annual Toronto student and recruitment budget.
• Design and execute the Torys 1L Scholar Connect Workshop, including applications, marketing, programming, and feedback collection.
• Manage the LAWS mentoring program, including communications, programming, scheduling, and new initiatives.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: Associate degree