Government of Saskatchewan Looking for Executive Director – Labour Relations and Mediation at Saskatoon, SK Full Time

The mandate of the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety is to support sustained economic growth and prosperity by fostering a fair and balanced employment environment that respects the rights, duties and responsibilities of employees and employers. The Ministry provides a range of services that encourage, promote and enforce work practices and employment standards to ensure healthy, safe and productive workplaces. The ministry administers various Acts and Regulations which include: The Saskatchewan Employment Act; The Public Service Essential Services Act; The Chartered Professionals in Human Resources Act; The Foreign Worker Immigration and Recruitment Services Act; and, associated Regulations.

The Ministry is seeking a dynamic, high performing, innovative, values driven leader to join the executive team as Executive Director, Labour Relations, and Mediation.

Reporting to the Assistant Deputy Minister, the successful candidate will:

• Lead the delivery and improvement of effective dispute resolution services for the government in service of the Saskatchewan labour relations community;
• Deliver conciliation and mediation services to Saskatchewan employers and unions who have high impact, controversial workplace disputes and collective agreement negotiations to resolve;
• Balance relationships with all parties and be seen as neutral and credible to influence outcomes for Saskatchewan;
• Provide strategies and policy responses to address controversial publicly sensitive labour relations issues with social and economic implications; and
• This is a working supervisory role wherein approximately 60% of the time is spent on direct client service delivery on mediation / conciliation case files with remaining time on management duties.

Ideal Candidate

Our candidate of choice must be a resilient leader who is able to:

• Demonstrate a commitment to excellence in the administration and enforcement of legislation to ensure compliance with legislated standards;
• Provide conciliation services to assist employers, employees and trade unions to conclude collective agreements and manage conflict associated with difficult and controversial labour disputes;
• Intervene in labour disputes as a neutral third party to resolve or prevent work stoppages;
• Conduct joint problem-solving sessions to assist employers, employees, and trade unions to resolve grievances;
• Demonstrate extensive senior management experience that enables you to lead, direct and manage a small but diverse inter-disciplinary team of professionals;
• Establish expertise in the areas of strategic planning, including the design and implementation of accountability frameworks, human resource management and financial management; and
• Demonstrate strong communication and interpersonal skills in order to develop and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Typically, the knowledge and competencies for this position would have been acquired through:

• An educational background in, or equivalent to, a graduate degree in social science or management studies, with extensive collective bargaining and conciliation experience, complemented by training in conflict resolution and alternative dispute resolution processes;
• Experience dealing with grievance / arbitration processes and intense conflict involving groups of individuals in a multi-party setting is desirable;
• Experience in business planning, continuous improvement, accountability processes and risk management; and
• A professional mediator designation would be an asset.

What we offer

The Government of Saskatchewan provides an environment that is committed to workplace diversity and upholds deep rooted values of Respect and Integrity, Serving Citizens, Excellence and Innovation, and Acting as One Team. The Saskatchewan public service offers an attractive compensation package that includes competitive salary; comprehensive health and dental benefits; and pension plan.