Career

Executive Director, PPF Academy & Action Canada

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position Title: Executive Director, PPF Academy & Action Canada

Term: Full-time, 1-Year Term with the possibility of renewal

Reports to: Executive Director, Economic & Policy

Location: Montreal, Ottawa or Toronto, with flexibility to travel on occasion as needed

Working hours: Regular business hours but flexibility to work outside of these hours as needed

Language Requirement: Excellent public speaking and writing in both English and French.

Salary Range: $120,000 – $135,000

Effective: Immediately

ABOUT THE PUBLIC POLICY FORUM (PPF)

The Public Policy Forum (PPF) is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit think tank that was established in 1987. We work to inject fresh thinking into Canadian policymaking. The public interest is our north star.   

OUR MISSION

We believe good policy is critical to building a better Canada — a country that’s cohesive, prosperous and secure.  

We contribute by: 

Researching the issues that challenge Canadians today;

Convening frank, honest discussions with a wide range of participants — conversations that fuel fresh policy thinking; and

Celebrating exceptional policy leaders who contribute to public policy excellence.

For more information, please visit: www.ppforum.ca

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Public Policy Forum (PPF) is seeking an exceptional Executive Director to continue to build the PPF Academy, PPF’s learning portfolio in support of the organization’s mission and mandate to build better governments in Canada. The Director will lead the development and delivery of high‐quality learning offerings, including the flagship Action Canada Fellowship Program.

The Executive Director will deliver the Action Canada program that will:

Build leadership for Canada’s future. The Program is designed to equip Fellows with the tools and skills they need to contribute to Canada as leaders in a broad range of sectors.

Foster a network that supports emerging leaders. The Program is designed to connect current Fellows to each other and to the Alumni Network, as well as to mentors and advisors who represent various backgrounds and disciplines. Each cohort of Fellows will be selected with the goal of representing Canada’s linguistic, regional, gender, and other forms of diversity, including Indigenous peoples.

Develop Fellows’ knowledge and understanding of Canada, including Canada’s North, and its public policy processes, through experiential learning, including in-person study tours to the extent possible. The Program is designed to provide Fellows with opportunities to meet and learn from leaders from different backgrounds, sectors, and regions, and to be immersed in Canada’s official languages as well as its history and cultures, including those of Indigenous peoples. To these ends, the Program shall require Fellows to investigate public policy challenges, engage the public, and develop recommendations to the Government of Canada during the Fellows’ year in the Program (the “Fellowship Year”).

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Coordinate the application and selection process (estimated as 250 applications per year) to identify 17-20 emerging leaders;

Develop a curriculum for participants based on a relevant policy theme;

Develop 2-4 new bilingual online modules each year about public policy topics and skills;

Deliver 3-5 study tours with a hybrid format of online and in-person sessions;

Host an annual Action Canada lecture on Reconciliation with the fellows and local community members once per year as part of a study tour;

Support leadership and collaboration opportunities for participants in the program through formal and informal opportunities;

Set priorities, goals and budgets for the Action Canada Fellowship Program;

Oversee all logistics and program activities;

Collaborate and liaise with external and program partners and review contracts; research, identify and cultivate potential partners

Build broad networks reaching into the Action Canada Alumni community and communities with a public policy interest;

Assign tasks among the team members ensuring that the staff’s capabilities and expertise are used effectively, work plans are carried out, and the results of the work are of consistently high quality;

Expand and implement the PPF Academy strategy and work alongside management team in implementing corporate PPF strategy;

Develop the learning goals, the curriculum and the leadership development content for the portfolio;

Ensure stewardship and reporting to donors/funders;

Fundraising;

Oversee all logistics and program activities; and,

Develop new program opportunities and partnerships

SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

Strong understanding of fundamental professional and leadership development principles;

In-depth knowledge and understanding of public policy development and implementation and of federal, provincial, and/or territorial government operations with a passion for staying current on policy and political trends;

Track record of results implementing a program within your organization;

Strong planning and organizational skills, the ability to prioritize workload and be able to manage several initiatives at once, including unplanned requests;

Relationship building skills and connections to a network of leading Canadians across the country and ability to leverage that network to achieve the objectives of Action Canada;

Experience fundraising and managing donor relations;

Strong leadership skills to advance and manage various partnerships and stakeholder relations;

Team player, provides constructive feedback and contributes ideas to achieve common goals.

Ability to work with a board of directors to deliver organizational change

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

A university degree in social sciences or related field or an equivalent range of education and experience;

Minimum of 7-10 years of program and project delivery experience, with at least three years of management experience; alumni of the Action Canada Fellowship will be given priority consideration.

Fluent in using suite of Office tools (Word, PowerPoint).

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

In our early years, inclusion entailed gathering government, business, labour and civil society in the same room. Today, the proposition is far more ambitious. As much as possible, we aim to incorporate a broader cross-section of participants and contributors – reflecting factors such as identity and geography – in our research, convening and learning processes.

PPF recognizes the existence of systemic racism in Canada. We are firmly committed to Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and social justice for all communities. We subscribe to the 50-30 Challenge and seek to live our core belief that good policy makes for a better Canada.

We recognize there is more progress to be made and that good policy outcomes for everyone mark the ultimate measure of a successful society. As Canada’s think tank about tomorrow, we take our responsibility seriously to use our work to illuminate inclusive and diverse policy pathways.

Please send your CV and cover letter to: careers@ppforum.ca

We thank all applicants for their interest in this opportunity. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Accommodation will be provided at all stages of the hiring process. We ask applicants to make their needs known in advance.