The Role
CanREA is looking to fill a Vice-President of Policy—Eastern Canada position on a full-time, permanent basis. Reporting to the President and CEO, the VP of Policy—Eastern Canada will be accountable for the development and implementation of CanREA’s advocacy strategies with governments, regulators, system operators and utilities in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario (Eastern Canada), in support of the organization’s strategic objectives as determined by the Board of Directors.
Such strategies will utilize a synergistic mix of tools and approaches, including government relations, policy research and alliance building, and will require collaboration with CanREA’s Senior Director of Communications with respect to public affairs strategies and to showcase your thought leadership through public statements, blogs, op-eds, social media and media interviews.
This role has a high level of interdependency, spanning the depth and breadth of the organization; objectives are achieved through collaboration.
Primary Responsibilities include:
Strategy and Leadership
- Function as a top strategic adviser to the President and CEO with regard to policy, regulatory and advocacy issues and positioning.
- Participate in CanREA Board meetings and provide updates and strategic advice on issues related to policy, regulatory and advocacy issues.
- Manage CanREA Directors overseeing the Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada Caucuses, and any special projects as directed.
- Work as an integral part of CanREA’s Management Team to develop strategic plans to advance CanREA’s vision, mandate, objectives and values, and to promote the development and the sustainable operation of renewable energy and energy storage projects, while ensuring operational performance in a high performing culture.
- Work as an integral part of CanREA’s Management Team to manage all cross-cutting policy initiatives, and coordinate reporting with CanREA’s Western Canada and National Affairs Policy Team and the Communications Team.
Advocacy
- Responsible for the development and implementation of CanREA’s advocacy strategies with governments, regulators, system operators and utilities in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, in support of the organization’s strategic objectives, as determined by the Board of Directors.
- Provide strategic guidance and advice to CanREA’s Eastern Canada Policy Team, ensuring their work is consistent with CanREA’s strategic objectives.
- Lead a coordinated effort by CanREA’s Eastern Canada Policy Team to pursue the organization’s strategic objectives and to facilitate a cohesive and coherent team.
- Work co-operatively with CanREA’s VP, Western Canada and National Affairs and Senior Director of Communications to coordinate policy submissions and reporting.
Team Leadership
- Foster a culture of engagement, creating and supporting a high-energy, results oriented, inclusive team that is consistent with the organization’s strategic intent and that emphasizes CanREA’s mission and vision.
- Engage, develop, and inspire the team to successfully collaborate in pursuit of CanREA’s strategic plans.
- Provide oversight and direction to the employees in the Eastern Canada Policy Team, in accordance with the organization’s policies and procedures.
- Build, lead and manage the team, including talent decisions, performance management, development, resource management, work allocation and career progression, providing an overall framework to encourage employee contribution.
- Coach, mentor, develop and empower employees to meet the organization’s expectations for productivity and quality, building an environment in which the team can thrive and bring their best to work every day.
- Maintain transparent communication; authentically communicating information through multiple media to ensure inclusive and engaged messaging.
- Model CanREA’s values, policies and procedures to foster a spirit of teamwork and unity among team members that allows for disagreement over ideas, conflict and expeditious conflict resolution, and the appreciation of diversity, as well as cohesiveness, supportiveness, and working effectively together to enable each employee, and the team, to succeed.
Organization and Fiscal Leadership
- Collaborate with CanREA’s Management Team in the development of CanREA’s Strategic objectives, budget and work-plans.
- Actively participate in Board Meetings and weekly Management Team meetings.
- Develop and oversee the implementation of the Eastern Canada Policy Team’s Strategy, budget and work-plan, ensuring alignment with the organization’s strategic objectives.
- Establish objectives and metrics for the Eastern Canada Policy Team, measuring and monitoring progress against those objectives and metrics.
- Build and strengthen working relationships between all CanREA teams.
- Work closely with CanREA’s Business Development Team on initiatives that involve policy content and are directed toward the achievement of CanREA’s strategic objectives with respect to revenue generation and member services.
- Work closely with the Senior Director of Communications and the communications team to develop and implement public affairs strategies supporting CanREA’s overall objectives.
- Provide strategic advice to CanREA’s President & CEO, and Management team on policy challenges and opportunities across the country.
- Manage the overall operational, budgetary, and financial responsibilities and activities of the Eastern Canada Policy Team.
- Plan and implement systems that perform the work and fulfill the mission and the goals of the Policy Team efficiently and effectively.
- Plan and allocate resources to effectively staff and accomplish the work to meet departmental productivity and quality goals.
- Make business decisions that are financially responsible, accountable, justifiable, and defensible in accordance with organization policies and procedures.
- Prepare periodic reports for management, as necessary or requested, to track strategic goal accomplishment.
Please note other duties may be assigned as needed to meet the evolving needs of the Association and its mandate.
Key Requirements:
- University degree in a relevant area of study or an acceptable combination of education and relevant experience.
- Minimum of 10 years’ experience in a leadership role for a large division or organization.
- Experience in the development and implementation of advocacy strategies with governments, regulators, system operators and utilities in Eastern Canada.
- Relevant experience in the not-for-profit or association sector, and in the renewable energy industry or a related sector, is an asset.
- Ability to develop a strategic plan to support/advance the organization’s mission and objectives and to promote growth as an organization.
- Demonstrated management experience, with hands-on experience in strategy development and execution.
- Experience overseeing departmental operations, to ensure production efficiency, quality, service, and cost-effective management of resources.
- Experience reviewing activity reports and financial statements to determine progress and status in attaining departmental objectives, and in revising objectives and plans in accordance with current conditions.
- Ability to motivate teams and simultaneously manage multiple initiatives.
- Experience evaluating performance of functional managers, assessing their compliance with established policies and objectives of the organization and their contributions in attaining objectives.
- Strong interpersonal skills for building relationships with the Board, association members, allies and key stakeholders.
- Experience working with multiple stakeholders/members with differing mandates and views.
- Effective communication, public relations and interpersonal skills, to communicate/ interact with government officials, and work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in diverse communities.
- Action- and results-oriented.
- Principled and ethical, valuing openness and transparency.
- Team leader and team builder.
- Ability to create a clear vision, model end-to-end value creation, define key objectives and inspire others to achieve. Can scale from big-picture thinking to detail-orientation in order to succeed.
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office.
- Ability to travel on a monthly basis (15-20 % of time), mainly across Canada.
Benefits
- Competitive salary plus potential for annual performance bonus.
- Employer-matched RRSP contributions.
- Competitive health & dental plan.
- Three weeks paid vacation.
- Paid time off Dec 20 to Jan 1st.
- Financial support for setting up ergonomic home office.
Location
Our team has moved to an entirely remote working arrangement. Occasional (15-20%) travel is anticipated, mainly across Canada.
To Apply
Please send your resume, with a cover letter indicating why you are uniquely qualified for this position, to careers@businesssherpagroup.com
The application deadline is June 30, 2023.
We thank all applicants for their interest in CanREA, however only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
CanREA is an equal-opportunity employer with policies and practices intended to build an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require accommodation during the recruitment process, please include this in your cover letter and all efforts to provide the appropriate accommodation will be put into place.