Director, People and Culture
Nestled along Lake Erie’s north shore in the heart of southwestern Ontario’s farm country, Elgin County has everything you need to live the life you’ve always dreamed about. Elgin is an oasis of rural peace and tranquility with all the amenities and conveniences of a larger urban centre without all the hassles. Elgin’s residents enjoy a competitive cost of living, have access to first class medical facilities and can choose from a wide selection of educational institutions.
Residents and visitors alike have easy access to Elgin’s pristine natural environment. Carolinian Forest trails, sandy beaches, and public parks are a few steps away. The main streets of Elgin’s vibrant towns and villages are lined with a myriad of innovative businesses owned and operated by dedicated entrepreneurs. Fresh local produce grown in Elgin’s fertile soils is readily available at local markets. Beautiful homes and properties at affordable prices make Elgin an ideal place to call home.
Elgin’s commercial and industrial sector also continues to thrive. Small and medium-sized manufacturers continue to be at the progressive forefront of technological innovation. Recent developments include Amazon’s Fulfillment Warehouse, that opened in October 2023, the company will ultimately be hiring over 1,000 full-time employees. Volkswagen / PowerCo has announced they will be building the world’s largest electric-vehicle battery plant in the region, adding several more thousand jobs and spurring additional investments.
In 2024 the organization completed a strategic planning process. The resulting strategic plan identified priorities and directions that will guide the organization in delivering high quality services in response to evolving needs of the County. Elgin County’s key values are respect, integrity, collaboration and service focus. Key strategic priorities include: Collaboration, Engagement and Communication, Organizational Culture and Workforce Development, Service Excellence and Efficiency, Sustainable Community Growth, and Community Well-being and Inclusivity. As our new Director of Human Resources you will be an integral part of our continued evolution and strategic plan implementation.
With a combined 2024 operating and capital budget of approximately $101.6 million and 500 permanent and part-time employees, Elgin County is committed to meeting the needs of our seven partner municipalities, our 52,000 residents and the business community by delivering efficient and effective services.
Inspire our Future
As the ideal candidate and our new Director of People and Culture you are an inspiring leader committed to the mission and values of our organization. You have the unique ability to build collaborative relationships and engage our staff in support of our values and strategic directions. In addition, you demonstrate forward thinking people practices and are able to design and implement programs to foster an exceptional workplace culture across the organization.
In this key role, the Director of People and Culture resources will provide strategic oversight and guidance while ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of programs and services provided by the Human Resources team. As a member of the County’s Executive Leadership Team, the Director is responsible for supporting all County programs and services while leading integration with Council’s strategic plan.
The Director provides best practice advice to organizational leadership and County Council to manage challenges proactively, partnering with leaders throughout the organization to build, sustain, and reward success and plan for change.
In summary, you will be accountable for all aligning HR with the strategic needs of the organization while leading all of HR operations including planning, organizational design, labour relations, talent management, employee training and development, compensation and benefits, HR information systems, well-being, disability management programs, occupational health and safety and working collaboratively in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Key Benefits of working at Elgin County
Elgin County offers a competitive salary, a comprehensive benefits package and a defined benefits plan through OMERS. The Elgin area offers a reasonable cost of housing, local recreation, and cultural activities in a vibrant setting with nearby waterfront amenities.
Ideal Professional Qualifications
- Management: Progressively responsible HR management experience, with significant experience in a unionized work setting.
- Human Resources Leadership: 10+ years of human resources leadership experience within a medium to large, preferably public sector employer, including developed expertise in labour relations, compensation, health and safety, disability management, and change management.
- Critical Thinking: Demonstrated superior advisory and consulting experience to educate and guide leaders and to recommend innovative, progressive and viable solutions to organizational issues related to human resources.
- People Leadership: Experience and ability to provide exceptional leadership to staff and to build enthusiastic, high performing staff teams.
- Employee/Labour Relations: Extensive practical staff relations knowledge and skills including negotiations; grievance handling; arbitration, performance management; in-depth applied knowledge of the implementation, interpretation and application of collective agreements.
- Talent Development Strategies: Extensive experience in talent development strategies in the areas of recruitment, employee coaching, leadership, training and development and succession planning.
- Service Excellence: Demonstrated ability to provide customer service excellence across the organization through effective delivery of innovative programs and services in time-sensitive and changing environments.
- HR Modernization: A well-developed knowledge of and experience with a broad range of HR modernization methods, tools and technology to better serve the enterprise.
- Relationship Management: Effective human relations skills in dealing with executives, managers, staff and other stakeholders.
- HR Legislation: A broad knowledge of legislation relative to the Human Resource fields including the Employment Standards Act & Regulations, Ontario Human Rights Code, Occupational Health and Safety Act and regulations, labour relations and pay equity legislation.
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Strong organizational, analytical, communications and presentation skills.
- Education and Designations: University degree in Human Resources, preference given to those with a graduate degree in Human Resources, Industrial Relations, Business, or related discipline. A CHRL or CHRE Designation is an asset.
How to Apply
To explore this opportunity, please apply via email with a covering letter and resume by December 20th, 2024 or sooner to careers@waterhousesearch.net quoting project EL-DH.
Should you wish to speak to our Executive Recruiter or to receive a detailed position description please contact Tim Lukasewich at 416-214-9299 x8, tim@waterhousesearch.net, or Jon Stungevicius at 416-214-9299 x1, jon@waterhousesearch.net.
All applications will be held in strict confidence. We thank all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Personal information is collected under the authority of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and will be used for employment assessment purposes only.
