Senior Applications Analyst

Job Description

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.

We are recruiting for a Senior Applications Analyst to join our team in our Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary or Montreal offices. The successful candidate must have a minimum of 7 years experience in progressive IT Experience. McCarthy Tétrault employees benefit from a hybrid work environment.

As a Senior Applications Analyst, duties and responsibilites include:

• Application Portfolio: Lead the analysis, design, testing, and implementation of updates, enhancements, and new capabilities across the application portfolio, ensuring alignment with user requirements and business objectives. This includes overseeing the full application lifecycle from planning and development through deployment, support, and continuous improvement, while identifying opportunities to leverage automation and emerging technologies to enhance efficiency and business value.
• Project Delivery: Participate and act as application lead for projects related to upgrades, integrations, and new deployments. Work with vendors and internal teams to plan and execute system changes with minimal disruption, supporting the delivery of modern cloud, automation, and productivity solutions as part of broader digital initiatives.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with IT groups and business stakeholders. Gather and document business requirements, translate them into technical specifications, and coordinate with cross-functional teams (e.g. developers, vendors, end-users) to implement application changes or new systems. Clearly communicate application capabilities and limitations to stakeholders to set appropriate expectations.
• Operational Support: Monitor application performance and availability on a daily basis, troubleshoot issues promptly, and implement solutions to maximize system reliability and user satisfaction. Ensure that any incidents or problems are resolved and properly documented, with steps taken to prevent recurrence. Act with discretion to address major incidents during critical periods, including outside regular hours when necessary, to maintain application stability and support business continuity.
• Documentation & Knowledge: Develop and maintain documentation for application configurations, processes, and procedures. Create knowledge articles and deliver knowledge transfer sessions to support effective use of applications, promote consistent practices, and enable adoption of new capabilities across the organization.
• Compliance: Adhere to ITIL best practices, security policies, and governance standards across the application portfolio. Ensure systems meet corporate and regulatory requirements for data security, privacy, and responsible use of technology.
• Mentorship & Leadership: Serve as a senior technical resource on the team by mentoring Application Analysts and IT Service Management team. Support the Manager, Applications in the administration and operation of the application portfolio life cycle. Provide guidance on team processes, enforce quality standards in deliverables, and champion continuous improvement and knowledge sharing —
• Security Partnership: Act as a key liaison with the Security team to support security governance processes, including security assessments, risk remediation activities, and the integration of security considerations into application design and change activities. Provides subject matter expertise on application architecture, data flows, and integrations to help identify risks, assess impacts, and support informed security decisions.
• Quality Assurance Partnership: Partner with Quality Assurance teams to support and strengthen testing and quality processes, including contributing to test strategies, validating complex changes, and addressing systemic quality issues. Assist with test device preparation, issue reproduction, defect resolution, and post-change validation. Where applicable, explore the use of AI-assisted testing and automation tools to improve coverage and efficiency.
• AI Platforms, Tools, Development & Support: The Senior Applications Analyst will support the implementation, configuration, and integration of AI-enabled capabilities within the enterprise application portfolio, working within the architectural patterns and standards defined for the enterprise. This includes building and configuring AI features in business applications and workflows, helping evaluate AI platforms and tools, and contributing to the identification of practical use cases. The role will collaborate with business, application, data, security, and vendor teams to deliver AI solutions that are secure, supportable, and consistent with established enterprise architecture standards. Responsibilities include applying recommended AI development practices — including integration, data access, prompt design, testing, monitoring, and ongoing maintenance — and providing day-to-day support for AI-enabled solutions. The Senior Applications Analyst will also help uphold AI governance by ensuring solutions are implemented in accordance with organizational standards for privacy, security, ethical use, data protection, and regulatory compliance, and by adopting the reusable frameworks and best practices established for the organization.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify opportunities to improve application performance, reliability, and user experience through trend analysis, user feedback, and operational insights. Proactively recommend enhancements and process improvements, leveraging modern tools and approaches where appropriate.
• Applications Support: Following ITIL incident and problem management best practices as second/third level support in incident resolution related to applications, with a focus on escalated issues, root cause analysis, and major/high priority incidents.

As our ideal candidate, you will distinguish yourself by the following profile:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent practical experience in IT).
• 7+ years of progressive IT experience, including 3+ years in a senior/lead application analyst role.
• Broad technical knowledge across modern IT environments – including Azure & 3rd party cloud services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), enterprise software (Microsoft 365 platform), networking and security principles – and full SDLC experience across on-premise and cloud platforms.
• Proven ability to conceptualize, design, and implement application solutions and digital initiatives (e.g. cloud migrations, process automations, AI-powered tools), seeing projects through from idea to deployment.
• Experience with ITIL framework for support and operations; Agile/DevOps methodology experience for solution delivery (ITIL or Agile/DevOps certifications are an asset).
• Demonstrated business acumen and strong ability to manage relationships with both business stakeholders and external partners/vendors.
• Experience in a cloud-first and AI-focused organization (or consulting/professional services background) is an asset. Familiarity with AI productivity and collaboration platforms such as Microsoft 365 Copilot or Claude for Work is a strong asset.
• Knowledge of PowerShell, JavaScript / TypeScript, C# / .NET, Python and other programming languages.
• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools and platforms (e.g. Claude, Microsoft Copilot, agentic frameworks) and practical experience applying them to automate processes or enhance application capabilities. Working knowledge of how artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and automation can be applied to improve applications and business processes.
• Working experience supporting Windows operating systems and the Microsoft Office / M365 suite.
• Working experience with Microsoft Intune and SCCM.
• Working experience administering Microsoft Active Directory and Azure AD.
• Working experience using Microsoft Power Platform (Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate).
• Working experience with modern enterprise database technologies.
• Working experience with Microsoft SharePoint.
• Working experience with PowerShell, JavaScript / TypeScript, C# / .NET, Python and other programming languages.
• Working experience with the Application System Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Working experience applying Application Development standards.
• Practical experience implementing, configuring, and supporting AI capabilities within enterprise applications, including hands-on familiarity with modern AI platforms and tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, Azure AI services, OpenAI technologies, Anthropic Claude, or comparable large language model (LLM) ecosystems.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to lead meetings, actively contribute in discussions, and share ideas clearly and professionally.
• Demonstrated ownership of tasks and projects, taking initiative to drive work to completion beyond the minimum requirements. Candidates should be proactive in identifying solutions or improvements.
• Demonstrates strategic thinking and sound problem-solving skills when navigating complex or ambiguous situations, including those involving emerging technology and AI adoption.
• Advocates for strategic initiatives — including AI and automation programs — and constructively influences stakeholders to drive alignment and action.
• Working knowledge of common AI solution patterns (e.g., generative AI, natural language processing, intelligent automation) and the ability to translate functional requirements into working, secure, and responsible AI-enabled solutions within defined architectural patterns.
• Demonstrated ability to apply AI integration approaches (APIs, plugins, copilots), follow data privacy and security practices, support model lifecycle and monitoring activities, and work in alignment with responsible AI principles.
• Ability to handle multiple concurrent pieces of work, and appropriately applying judgment about the prioritization of effort.
• Maintains composure and effectiveness under pressure, delivering results within tight timelines when required.
• Applies strong organizational and time-management skills to plan, execute, and follow through on work independently and collaboratively.
• Bilingualism an asset (French and English).

As a member of the McCarthy team, you will have access to:

• Outstanding benefits from day one, including insurance premiums paid by the Firm and wellness and technology reimbursements.
• Competitive compensation, paid overtimeand 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.

How to Apply: 

We encourage external candidates to apply online and internal applicants must apply directly through our internal careers portal on Espresso. We look forward to receiving your application.

We thank all applicants for their interest in McCarthy Tétrault; however, only chosen applicants will be contacted. We regret that we are unable to respond to individual inquiries about application status. McCarthy Tétrault is an equal opportunity employer that fosters an inclusive, equitable, and accessible environment. Please notify us if you require accommodation at any time during the recruitment process.