BMO U.S. · 2 days ago
Senior Legal Counsel - Employment, Benefits and Compensation
Milwaukee, WI
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$133K/yr - $247K/yr
7+ years expBMO U.S. is a part of BMO Financial Group, focused on creating lasting, positive change for customers, communities, and employees. The Senior Legal Counsel will provide and manage legal and regulatory advice on U.S. employment law, benefits plans, and equity compensation plans, while influencing business objectives and minimizing legal risks.
Banking
Responsibilities
Provides advice and counsel on wide range of employment, compensation, and employee benefit plans/ERISA matters, including on retirement plans, and health and welfare plans, and on issues including employee relations, performance management, leaves of absence and accommodations, wage and hour, pay equity, internal investigations, compensation and benefits, contingent workers, immigration, recruitment, inclusion, and mergers, acquisitions and outsourcing
Makes recommendations to senior leaders on strategy and new initiatives, based on an in-depth understanding of the business/group
May participate in the design of legal advice strategies & approaches for the unit activity and making recommendations to minimize legal issues
Acts as the prime subject matter expert for internal/external stakeholders
Exercises judgement on complex, confidential and sensitive matters
Identifies and resolves moderately complex issues
Determines root causes and negotiates resolutions
Delivers legal advice, instructs external counsel and ensures compliance with internal policies & procedures for a single or small number of function(s)
Acts as a subject matter expert on relevant laws, regulations and policies
Resolves daily issues and/or escalates with appropriate analysis and/or recommendations
Identifies risks and implements appropriate actions to mitigate them
Implements areas of improvement to ensure consistency with market place
Builds effective relationships with internal/ external stakeholders
Geographic scope: up to global
Operates at a group/enterprise-wide level and serves as a specialist resource to senior leaders and stakeholders
Applies expertise and thinks creatively to address unique or ambiguous situations and to find solutions to problems that can be complex and non-routine
Implements changes in response to shifting trends
Broader work or accountabilities may be assigned as needed
Qualification
Required
Typically 7 years of legal practice or an equivalent combination of education and experience
Degree in law (LLB or JD) and license to practice law in relevant jurisdiction
Private practice, in-house experience or experience at regulatory body relating to the regulation of business/group activities may be required
Knowledge in legal field, typically with a functional or business line specialization
Knowledge of business and regulatory environment in which BMO Financial Group operates
Advanced knowledge of subject matter legal requirements and the operations of a single client group
Negotiation skills - in depth
Seasoned professional with a combination of education, experience and industry knowledge
Verbal & written communication skills - In-depth / Expert
Analytical and problem solving skills - In-depth / Expert
Influence skills - In-depth / Expert
Collaboration & team skills; with a focus on cross-group collaboration - In-depth / Expert
Able to manage ambiguity
Data driven decision making - In-depth / Expert
Benefits
Health insurance
Tuition reimbursement
Accident and life insurance
Retirement savings plans
Company
BMO U.S.
We’re a bank, but there’s more to it than that. We're a top ten bank in North America and have been serving our customers since 1817.
5001-10000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
BMO U.S. has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (1)
2024 (11)
2023 (41)
2022 (22)
2021 (14)
2020 (21)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Mike Morton
Vice Chair U.S. Commercial Banking
Recent News
2025-10-16
2025-09-23
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