Job Specification

Purpose :

- To plan, supervise and coordinate title searching, conveyancing, expropriation and financial administration activities to support the acquisition and disposal of real property to meet provincial highway engineering program requirements.
- To ensure adherence to related legislation, policies and procedures and to provide technical direction / specialized advisory services to ministry staff/managers, external service providers, and the public.

Key Responsibilities :

1. Staff Supervision
- Supervises staff engaged in legal and paralegal services to effect the acquisition and sale of land and buildings including organizing, prioritizing, monitoring and adjusting service delivery.
- Explains work assignments, assigns caseload, provides technical direction and advice, reviews work to ensure quality and completion by deadlines; provides ongoing training and education.
- Recommends hiring of consultants/lawyers, prepares terms of reference, monitors performance and deliverables for adherence to specifications, and completes consultant performance report.

2. Title Searching/Expropriation Procedures
- Coordinates/directs and/or completes title searches of properties required for the highway engineering program and ministry-owned property in preparation for sale to determine registered ownership and outstanding encumbrances.
- Completes and/or directs expropriation procedures including serving notices, approving legal notices, registering certificates of approval and plans; ensures compliance with statutory time limits for possession of land and offers of compensation.

3. Property Agreements Administration
- Reviews property acquisition agreements and sale agreements; directs and/ or completes legal documentation (e.g. releases, transfers/deeds, notices of abandonment) in accordance with legislation and ministry policy for real property sale or purchase.
- Recommends/ approves outstanding payment entitlements, payment and receipt of compensation for Deleted: Determines and acquisition, expropriation and disposal; recommends/ approves payments for vendor and consultant legal services.
- Ensures compensation payable pursuant to legal agreements and under the Expropriations Act is paid to all parties and that releases have been obtained.

4. Production Control
- Ensures maintenance of all production control records for the section including directing and/or receiving the receipt and filing of property requests, preparation of work orders and monitoring the progress of property requests to ensure strict time lines are met.
- Prepares draft property budgets including reconciling expenditures and generating monthly expenditure reports; oversees the records management of all agreement files, work project files and property request plans.

5. Advice and Consultation
- Provides advice and expertise to staff/management, other ministry areas and ministries, external agencies and municipalities regarding real property policy, procedural and legal issues; prepares reports and statistics for senior management.
- Responds to inquiries from the public, legal representatives and property owners concerning title issue and problems; acts as commissioner for the administering of oaths and the taking of affidavits regarding ministry legal proceedings, etc.

6. Policy, Procedures and Operational Guidelines
- Develops, recommends and implements changes and monitors adherence to operating procedures and Formatted: Bullets and Numbering policies for title searching, conveyancing, expropriation and financial and administrative systems to improve work quality and efficiency.
- Provides input to the review and development of the section's and unit's policies, procedures and business systems and methods.

Knowledge / Skill :

Knowledge of and skills in:
- Ontario real estate practices, common law, contract law, estate law and corporate law related to real property and Formatted: Bullets and Numbering expropriation to supervise acquisition and disposal, manage expropriation procedures and ensure proper application by staff.
- Ministry and government policies, directives and guidelines and provincial and federal legislation related to conveyancing and expropriation to interpret/resolve legal title issues, provide advice and explain ministry policies and position.
- Government/ministry financial and accounting procedures and systems to prepare/ monitor budgets and supervise land payments and receipt of compensation.
- Computer applications for spreadsheets, databases and methods to plot land boundaries (e.g. AutoCAD) and interpret legal and engineering plans, produce correspondence, reports and legal document.
- Internet title searches. [ for which a licence is required to access the database and be entitled to related rights, privileges and responsibilities, including authority to register legally binding documents on behalf of the ministry. ]
- Planning, administration and supervisory techniques to provide direction to staff, schedule priorities and meet pre- determined property acquisition deadlines to support highway engineering projects.
- Written and verbal communication techniques to correspond and deal with property owners, assert the ministry's position, draft legal documents and briefing notes and represent the ministry with a range of external stakeholders.

Interpersonal / Influencing Skill :

- Interpersonal and influencing skills to represent the ministry with property owners and lawyers on contentious expropriation and conveyancing matters.
- Negotiation and consultation skills to define issues (e.g. status of property title), resolve discrepancies and determine courses of action acceptable to a number of parties (e.g. land owners, land registry offices, municipalities, the ministry).
- Persuasion, presentation and advisory skills to convince stakeholders to accept an alternative response to issues; keep management apprised of issues, and recommends actions.
- Coaching skills and leadership, to interact effectively with staff to coordinate resources, transfer knowledge, and develop skills.

Analyzing / Problem Solving Skill :

Analyzing and problem solving skills in:
- Identifying and determining contentious issues related to title and expropriation; researching and evaluating Formatted: Bullets and Numbering information to ensure relevance; developing appropriate responses considering costs, risks and effectiveness.
- Interpreting and applying policies, procedures and statute and common law to ensure course of action is appropriate and authorized; reviewing precedents and industry standards to ensure consistency of approach province wide.
- Assessing operational, technical and administrative needs of the unit to implement and/or recommend business improvements.

Decision Making / Responsibility :

Responsible for:
- Planning, supervising and coordinating title searching, conveyancing, expropriation and financial administration Formatted: Bullets and Numbering activities to support the acquisition and disposal of real property to meet provincial highway engineering program requirements.
- Ensuring the ministry acquires good, unencumbered title to property for highway construction projects.
- Providing technical direction / specialized advisory services to ministry staff/ managers, external service providers, and the public.
- Serving as commissioner for the administering of oaths and the taking of affidavits regarding ministry legal proceedings.
- Prioritizing and assigning work to ensure property clearances adhere to fluctuating engineering schedules.
- Ensuring compensation payments are made to property owners in accordance with terms of legal documents and monitoring availability of funds so that legal financial commitments can be made.
- Recommending changes to policy and operating procedures to improve business processes and service quality.

Has latitude to:
- Identify title deficiencies and alternative approaches and determine resolution, where insufficient information, clear policy interpretation or precedent is available; and determine which title interests need to be served with notice.
- Recommend/approve all requisitions for cheques for compensation under legal agreements and service contracts, in accordance with regional delegated authority.
Decisions are guided by legislation, regulations, real estate practices and common law related to real property, title searching and conveyancing procedures and ministry/government property and financial manuals and directives.

Contacts / Stakeholder :

- Other engineering sections and ministry areas and other ministries to receive/exchange information, explain procedures, consult on and resolve title issues and coordinate and conclude joint activities (e.g. transfer of property between ministries by Order in Council ).
- Municipalities, property owners, legal representatives, financial institutions to instruct on the execution of documents, explain conveyancing/expropriation procedures, determine entitlements, assert ministry position and conclude transactions.
- External service providers to resolve operational issues with products, explain terms of reference and provide guidance during assignments.

Guidance / Supervision :

- Supervises staff by explaining work assignments, providing technical direction and advice, reviewing work, Formatted: Bullets and Numbering providing training, coordinating work to ensure deadlines are met and that unit procedures and processes are adhered to.
- Provides technical advice to other section staff; explains legal concepts and conveyancing and expropriation agreement processing functions.
- Provides guidance to other engineering sections by explaining services provided, legal concepts, procedural steps, and reviewing their draft Property Requests.
- Provides technical and procedural information, makes verbal/written recommendations to head office to ensure that manuals and directives are accurate.
- Provides briefings, reports and recommendations to senior management on contentious issues.

Demands / Pressures :

Work Demands :

- Frequent changes to deadlines, unexpected/conflicting work demands and priorities and time pressures due to changes in construction schedule, unscheduled projects and concurrent project due dates.
- Occasional requirement to work beyond normal hours to meet deadlines.

Mental / Sensory :

- Frequent requirement to concentrate intently when reviewing complex legal documents, case law and statutes and when negotiating complex issues with property owners and legal representatives. ( multi-tasking )
- Frequent requirement to observe staff and give instructions when assessing work, giving work assignments and explaining courses of action in
complex cases.
- Requirement to work through frequent interruptions.

Conditions / Environment :

Work is performed in a typical office environment.