Senior Policy Researcher

Job Title

Senior Policy Researcher

Job Category

M&P - AAPS

Job Profile

AAPS Salaried - Research and Facilitation, Level B

Job Family Group

Staff - Non Union

Department

Research | Sonia Li Trottier | Peter A. Allard School of Law

Compensation Range

$7,158.42 - $10,292.25 CAD Monthly

The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.

Job End Date

October 31, 2027

Posting End Date

October 28, 2026

Note:Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

This position is expected to be filled by promotion/reassignment and is included here to inform you of its vacancy at the University.

Job Summary
The Senior Policy Researcher, under the supervision of the Director of the Canada Climate Law Initiative, will play a crucial role in leading the policy research, writing in-depth analysis, and meeting with key policymakers, regulators, and partners. The Senior Policy Researcher will be responsible for performing research and analysis, engaging with the policy and partners’ ecosystem, and providing thought leadership.

The Senior Policy Researcher identifies research opportunities, leads approved research projects, and provides high-quality research and analysis to advance CCLI's policy objectives. The position also supervises research assistants and represents CCLI in external research and policy engagement activities.

The Senior Policy Researcher will benefit from opportunities to expand their professional network, engage in cutting-edge research collaboration, and receive support from leading Canadian scholars.

The Director retains authority for approval of research projects, final research scopes, final publications and policy submissions, and commitments that would create financial, legal, contractual, or other material obligations on behalf of CCLI.

Organizational Status
The Senior Policy Researcher reports to the Director, Canada Climate Law Initiative. Works with considerable latitude under general supervision, while collaborating closely with the CCLI team. Maintains strong working relationships with Allard staff, as well as external partners. This role is visible to the external community, working with government and regulatory agencies, community partners, consultants, and the public.

Work Performed
Primary responsibilities will include, but non exclusively:

Research and policy engagement (50%)

• Leads ongoing strategic legal and policy research projects to advance CCLI’s policy objectives, working at times with an interdisciplinary scholarly team. Also leads and carries out legal and policy research on mandatory climate-related disclosures for issuers and federally regulated companies, greenwashing, international and national climate-related standards, and transition plans.
• Conducts and prepares comprehensive analyses used for CCLI policy briefing notes, letters, and submissions.
• Develops proposed research opportunities and research scopes for consideration and approval by the Director, including identifying research questions, potential areas of inquiry, anticipated outputs, and required resources.
• Develops proposed research opportunities and research scopes for consideration and approval, including identifying research questions, potential areas of inquiry, anticipated outputs, and required resources.
• Leads approved legal and policy research projects and independently determines the day-to-day research approach, priorities, methodology, activities, and timelines within the approved scope.
• Identifies emerging legal, regulatory, policy, and market developments and independently identifies potential research opportunities that align with CCLI's strategic objectives.
• Identifies research opportunities and analysis gaps, and originates strategic research initiatives that advance CCLI policy objectives and greater organizational objectives.
• Identifies opportunities for CCLI to participate in government, regulatory, standard-setting, and other public consultations and develops proposed policy submissions for the Director's consideration and approval.
• Collects policy feedback from CCLI Director, Climate Governance Experts, external consultants, and partners in the ecosystem to better form policy recommendations.
• Identifies emerging trends in both domestic and international environments that may impact the organization’s objectives and work. By identifying emerging trends, the Senior Policy Researcher can better provide recommendations.
• Maintains and updates databases that contain policy information, key contact information of senior policymakers, legislators, supervisors, and regulators.
• Engages independently with academic experts, research partners, practitioners, policymakers, and regulators at the federal and provincial levels, such as the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Canada, etc., and other subject-matter experts such as Science and Economic Development Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, etc., to inform the development and refinement of research questions and approaches.
• Leads consultations with experts and partners during the development of research projects and incorporates relevant feedback into research scopes and outputs.
• Conducts legal and policy research, translates complex legal and policy concepts and knowledge into educational blogs for CCLI website.
• Reviews and quality-assures research and analysis prepared by research assistants and external research partners, including research undertaken with organizations and academic institutes.
• Oversees research assistants working on CCLI policy-related research projects, including assigning research responsibilities, providing clear research instructions, establishing expectations and timelines, meeting individually with research assistants to discuss project progress, providing feedback and guidance, reviewing the quality and accuracy of completed work, and assessing performance.
• Coordinates research assistant schedules and workloads to accommodate academic schedules and other commitments while ensuring research activities are completed in accordance with project requirements and timelines.
• Participates in the interview and selection process for research assistants in collaboration with the Director. Formal hiring decisions and final approval remain with the Director.
• Reads relevant published papers and reports.
• Stays well-informed on climate and ESG-related developments.

Ecosystem engagement and thought leadership (40%)

• Provides legal research to key partners in the sustainable finance ecosystem aligned with our objectives to advance sustainable finance regulations and policies.
• Independently meets with research partners, policymakers, regulators, standard setters, government representatives, and other stakeholders to discuss CCLI research, emerging policy developments, research opportunities, and areas of collaboration.
• Builds and maintains excellent relationships with key stakeholders, including partners, consultants, policymakers, and regulators.
• Identifies opportunities to collaborate with partners focused on advancing climate governance and sustainable finance policies and regulations through policy submissions, presentations, strategic meetings, and more.
• Collaborates with partners on policy submissions, presentations, strategic meetings, and more, such as the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board and UN Principles for Responsible Investment.
• Identifies opportunities to present to partners, financial and corporate market participants, and academia to enhance the awareness of CCLI work and advance our policy objectives.
• Presents CCLI research findings, legal analysis, and policy recommendations to external audiences, including policymakers, regulators, research partners, financial and corporate market participants, academics, and civil society organizations.
• Acts as a subject-matter expert for climate governance and sustainable finance policy during Chatham House roundtables, conferences, webinars, and other public engagement activities.
• Represents CCLI in external meetings and policy engagement activities without the Director, including meetings with government and regulatory bodies, research organizations, sustainable finance organizations, academic institutions, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Upholds CCLI's professional reputation and established relationships when representing the organization independently in external engagements.
• Provides thought leadership in media interviews, blogs, and other relevant ecosystem, communications, and public relations opportunities.
• Represents CCLI and communicates effectively with media in interviews.

Other responsibilities (10%)

• Works as part of the CCLI team by contributing to the strategy development and other program activities as required.
• Contributes to the overall organizational development, including but not exclusively strategic planning, board engagement, communications and event planning, and branding.
• Other duties may be assigned as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
Actions and decisions are critical in ensuring the reputation and success of CCLI. Errors in judgement may cause financial hardship or serious reputational damage. Incorrect decisions/judgments will directly affect CCLI’s reputation.

This role makes professional decisions and recommendations on all aspects of policy research work and is responsible for the quality of CCLI’s research and analysis activities. The Senior Policy Researcher exercises initiative and judgement in establishing priorities and carrying tasks through to completion, and must demonstrate tact and discretion. The person works independently with considerable latitude. Its work is reviewed in terms of achievement of project objectives and overall regard for CCLI objectives. Makes decisions regarding policy research and engagement with key stakeholders. The performance of this position can have a major impact on how the CCLI is perceived by regulators and government bodies, and partners such as for-profit organizations, environmental non-governmental organizations, and civil society.

Error in the performance of duties or inappropriate disclosure of confidential information may adversely affect the image and reputation of CCLI, the Peter A. Allard School of Law, and the University.

Supervision Received
Reports to the Director of the Canada Climate Law Initiative. Works with considerable latitude; research work is reviewed against achievement of project objectives.

Supervision Given
Provides functional supervision and day-to-day direction to research assistants working on CCLI policy-related research projects.

Responsibilities include assigning and coordinating research tasks, providing research instructions and guidance, establishing timelines, meeting with research assistants to review progress, providing feedback, reviewing and quality-assuring completed work, and assessing performance.

May manage student workers.

Minimum Qualifications
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of two years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Law degree (LL.B., J.D.) and master's degree preferred.
• PhD completed or near completion in corporate and securities law, financial services law, public policy, climate governance, or a related field is an asset.
• Demonstrated ability to independently identify research opportunities and develop research scopes and proposals.
• Demonstrated strong analytical, legal research, and policy research skills.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead research projects from approved scope through completion.
• Demonstrated ability to critically review and quality-assure research undertaken by research assistants and external research partners.
• Demonstrated experience engaging with policymakers, regulators, standard setters, academics, research organizations, or other external stakeholders.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex legal and policy concepts to audiences with varying levels of subject-matter expertise.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgement, discretion, and initiative in external stakeholder engagement.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or coordinating research assistants or junior researchers is an asset.
• Experience in corporate, securities, financial services, climate risk and governance, disclosure, sustainable finance, or related policy areas is an asset.
• Bilingualism (English and French) is an asset.