Director, Legal

Purpose. Performance. People. Joining CPP Investments means joining one of the world’s most admired and respected institutional investors to drive a single mandate: to deliver strong, sustainable returns for generations of Canadians. With a long-term horizon and global reach, we deploy capital at scale across public and private markets. Our size, stability, and disciplined investment philosophy allow us to pursue complex opportunities and build enduring partnerships worldwide. For our people, this means meaningful work with tangible impact, real opportunity, and collaboration with exceptional colleagues who value partnership and performance. Here, you’ll contribute to outcomes that matter alongside team members committed to excellence and shared success.

Role Summary

The Director, Legal, engages directly with senior leadership and business units to partner and provide strategic advice enabling CPP Investments to navigate, understand, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements consistent with our Guiding Principles and our investment mandate.

Team Description

The successful candidate will report to a Managing Director in Investment Legal, will be a member of our global Investment Legal team and will work closely with other senior lawyers in CPP Investments’ international offices, with the investment teams and with other partners across the organization. The position may periodically involve travel. The ideal candidate is a commercially minded transactional lawyer with broad international private markets experience and strong legal judgment. They are likely to come from a generalist M&A or private equity background, but could also have focused on credit, infrastructure, real assets or investment funds. They must be intellectually flexible and able to reason across unfamiliar structures from first principles. They should be comfortable operating independently, advising senior stakeholders, managing and critically engaging with external counsel, and making practical recommendations in circumstances where the answer is not obvious and the facts are still developing.

Accountabilities & Qualifications

Accountabilities

• Lead and provide senior-level legal advice on transactions and asset management matters, including structuring, negotiation strategy, review of investment recommendations, governance considerations, regulatory issues and risk allocation, within the scope of CPP Investments’ legal services model.
• Work with all of CPP Investments’ strategies in Europe across Real Assets, Private Equity and Credit Investments, with Real Assets expected to represent the majority of the role.
• Apply legal and commercial judgment across complex private markets transactions, including consortium and co-investment arrangements and fund/sponsor dynamics, and understand quickly how equity, debt, downside protection, control rights, security, enforcement, governance, regulatory and exit considerations interact across direct and fund investments.
• Engage with external counsel as a constructive peer on both deal‑specific and institutional‑level transactional and asset management issues.
• Provide advice and support on investment-related projects with Group‑or Department‑level impacts.
• Anticipate, identify, and assist in managing legal risks relating to new investment strategies and activities, and new or changed laws or regulations that impact CPP Investments’ investment strategies.
• Contribute to Legal Department and CPP Investments-wide initiatives, including policies, procedures, systems, training and cross‑functional projects relevant to investment activities.

Qualifications

• Qualified to practice law in England and Wales, or equivalent common law jurisdiction.
• 7+ years of post‑qualification legal experience at a major international law firm or an in‑house corporate or financial investor legal department, focused on transactional work.
• Significant international transactional experience across complex private market transactions and investment structures.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across M&A, funds, credit, real assets, governance, asset management and regulatory considerations.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including ability to work cooperatively with many different stakeholders.
• Excellent legal judgment in ambiguous or novel situations, including the ability to distinguish material from immaterial issues, make practical recommendations with incomplete information, and know when to decide, when to consult, and when to elevate.
• Strong organizational skills: flexible, adaptable, and able to operate and make decisions in ambiguity, under time pressure and across multiple projects.
• Professional conduct reflecting the quality of work, demeanour, ethical values, and high standards of CPP Investments.

You are motivated to contribute to something larger than yourself, approach complex challenges with rigor, and hold yourself to high standards in a collaborative, performance‑driven environment. We provide colleagues with cutting‑edge AI tools, dedicated learning time, and practical support to help them deliver with greater impact.

Inclusion & Accessibility

CPP Investments is committed to equitable access to employment and building a workforce that reflects diverse talent and perspectives. If you require accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.