Premises & Vendor Coordinator

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes), one of Canada’s largest and most successful law firms, is looking for a Premises & Vendor Coordinator to work in the Procurement & Facilities department in the Toronto office.

Reporting to the Supervisor, Procurement & Premises, this role supports monitoring, improving, and making repairs and changes to the physical premises of the Firm’s Toronto office to ensure it is a safe, functional and comfortable workplace. The role also supports delivering key Firm programs, including the ergonomic and travel programs. This position involves standing, pushing and lifting objects of up to 40 pounds. The preferred work hours for this position are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with some weekend work as required.

Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Acting as the point person for building service providers: Establishing relationships with building service providers and maintaining open lines of communication to ensure service issues are resolved promptly and to the Firm’s standards.
Liaising with external contractors and vendors: Liaising with external contractors, such as general contractors, furniture vendors, plumbers, etc., to schedule preventative maintenance and office repairs; ensuring contractors and vendors are fulfilling all service agreements and preventative maintenance is being performed and documented as needed; assisting with submitting work permits, and repair requests to the landlord for external contractors, such as electricians, furniture installers, cleaning contractors, etc.
Coordinating small to medium-sized projects: Working with stakeholders to understand project requirements and timelines; providing project plans and details to contractors/vendors to obtain quotes and reviewing quotes with the project sponsor(s); managing external contractors/vendors against timelines and budgets to ensure projects are completed on time, and performing deficiency checks.
Assisting with adherence to the Firm’s Physical Security Manual and Policy: Supporting the Supervisor in conducting regular checks of the Firm’s security systems; maintaining a record of findings and escalating issues as needed; assisting with retrieving, maintaining and auditing access reports to ensure there are no irregularities.
Conducting site inspections: Performing weekly site inspections to ensure a safe and healthy workplace; liaising with the landlord, contractors and staff to address any issues identified during inspections.
Facilitating moves/relocation of Blakes staff and lawyers: Retrieving and reviewing employee move notifications to ensure there are no discrepancies; developing a move plan to ensure an orderly execution of the move; assisting with packing and unpacking of office contents, if required; ensuring internal resources (labour, materials, etc.) are allocated appropriately to complete the move while meeting individual requirements and addressing any concerns.
Overseeing the Firm’s ergonomic program: Coordinating appointments with employees and the ergonomist and ordering the recommended ergonomic equipment.
Assisting with managing the Firm’s travel program: Reviewing usage reports provided by the travel agency and comparing them against flight-pass capacity and expiration; working with management to purchase new flight passes or extending existing passes to initiate flight-pass purchases; reviewing upcoming travel reports to identify high-risk countries, ensuring travelers have all relevant travel information and updating the travel security vendor accordingly.
Assisting with coordinating the Firm’s Emergency Response program: Working with the Supervisor and emergency response teams to ensure the emergency response program is well-documented and adhered to; filling in as an alternate to the Supervisor as needed.
Assisting with managing offsite inventory storage: Working with the Firm’s offsite inventory storage company to maintain an accurate inventory list; monitoring offsite inventory relative to current Firm needs, and making recommendations to the Supervisor about inventory-level adjustments.
Team support: Assisting and providing coverage for the broader Procurement & Facilities team as needed.

Qualifications

Education/Experience:

A high school diploma is required.
College/university education and/or procurement/facility-related courses would be considered an asset.
A minimum of three years of experience in office services, facilities or related business services departments is required.

Skills/Abilities:

Ability to prioritize and organize tasks under time restraints
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Interpersonal skills, including a high degree of customer service and professionalism
Ability to work collaboratively with others in a team setting to accomplish common goals
Building effective working relationships with contractors/vendors
Experience with using power tools
Experience with modular and systems furniture
Carpentry skills and a good understanding of measurements (e.g., ability to mathematically calculate centre points).
Ability to multitask while promptly responding to all service requests
Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office programs, such as Outlook, Word and Excel
Experience with procurement software and AutoCad would be an asset

How to Apply:

To apply for this position, please submit your application, including your cover letter and résumé, directly to our application portal.

Blakes wishes to thank all applicants for their interest. However, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Who We Are

At Blakes, we care about our people. We are committed to providing exceptional experiences for not only our clients, but also our employees by fostering an open and inclusive workplace culture. As a winner of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers and Greater Toronto’s Top Employers awards, we understand the importance of fostering an environment that brings out the best in each person. Our success as a firm starts with hiring, training and retaining top talent.

Blakes welcomes applications from all qualified applicants. The Firm is committed to maintaining an inclusive work environment comprised of people with diverse perspectives, backgrounds, identities and cultures.

The Firm provides accommodation for applicants with disabilities and in respect of other protected grounds during the recruitment process in accordance with applicable laws. Please contact us to request accommodation.