Policy Advisor

Government of Alberta•Edmonton, AB

2d•CA$82,168 - CA$107,710•Onsite

About The Position

The Alberta Public Service works to build a stronger province for current and future generations. We make a difference in the lives of Albertans through rewarding and diverse career opportunities. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs assists municipalities in providing well-managed, collaborative, and accountable local government to Albertans. Our main responsibilities are: Funding supports for municipalities. A system that strives to ensure appropriate safety standards for the construction and maintenance of buildings and equipment. Protections for new home buyers and required licensing for home builders. Province-wide support for access to public library services for Albertans. Management of about 2.6 million acres of public land in the province's three Special Areas. Independent review and decisions on local matters by the Land and Property Rights Tribunal. To learn more about Municipal Affairs, follow the link to: https://www.alberta.ca/municipal-affairs.aspx.

Requirements

Post-secondary education, such as a Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Political Science, Law, Public Administration, Business or a related field plus a minimum four years of progressively related experience is required; or equivalent as described below.
Equivalency: Directly related education or experience considered on the basis of: 1 year of education for 1 year of experience; OR 1 year of experience for 1 year of education.
Excellent knowledge of government's role, structure, policies, and procedures, particularly those related to policy formation, regulatory reform and legislation development, planning and accountability, and decision-making.
Expert knowledge and ability to interpret Ministry's legislation, such as the Municipal Government Act, the Safety Codes Act, the New Home Buyer Protection Act, the Local Authorities Election Act, Libraries Act, Special Areas Act, etc., and government-wide legislation such as the Government Organization Act.
Knowledge and understanding of political environments and their implications.
Advanced skills in the ability to develop, lead and work within multi-disciplinary teams on a wide variety of complex and at times politically sensitive activities.
Understanding of the interests and perspectives of stakeholders, including other government departments.
Excellent interpersonal skills, relationship management, and communication skills, including the ability to consult and communicate with Ministry staff at all levels.
Ability to develop an idea from concept to implementation.
Excellent conceptual, analytical, and problem-solving skills. Ability to summarize and synthesize complex materials. Ability to identify key issues and develop responses and solutions.
Excellent creativity and the ability to think strategically and critically on a broad scale in the development of innovative and feasible options and strategic solutions to issues, trends, programs, and services.
Ability to multi-task with vague direction while working in an uncertain environment is necessary.
Ability to probe for and present information and options that facilitate government decision-making.
Excellent written communication skills with aptitude for detail and accuracy and ability to modify writing style for different target audiences. Must have the ability to listen to others.
Strong project management and time management skills, with ability to work independently and in a team setting.
Ability to work under tight timelines and assess and balance competing demands on confidential and sensitive matters.
Strong political acumen and ability to assess sensitivity and risk to specific legislative issues; and the ability to take actions to mitigate those risks. Ability to maintain a neutral and objective approach.
Excellent dispute resolution skills and ability to work in a highly charged environment.
Experience with public speaking or providing training/presenting materials to groups of people and ability to clearly convey ideas.

Nice To Haves

Systems Thinking: Considers the inter-relationships among different aspects of an approach and considers emerging trends when contributing ideas to the development of broader priorities, strategies, and approaches.
Agility: Proactively incorporates change into processes
Building Collaborative Environment: Collaborates across functional areas and proactively addresses conflict.
Develop Networks: Creates impactful relationship with the right people.

Responsibilities

Provide expert advice, identify issues, develop solutions and provide leadership to program areas to achieve Ministry and government priorities.
Have expert knowledge and ability to interpret Ministry's legislation, such as the Municipal Government Act, the Safety Codes Act, the New Home Buyer Protection Act, the Local Authorities Election Act, Libraries Act, Special Areas Act, and government-wide legislation such as the Government Organization Act.
Provide specialist policy, legislative, and regulatory support to others in the department. Work with program areas to address issues as they arise and provide advice on whether an issue requires additional decision-making (with rationale and pros and cons).
Coordinate policy and legislative projects, ensuring high-quality, accurate, and timely deliverables.
Prepare briefing materials, decision documents, and Cabinet/Committee packages.
Inform and advise the Manager and Director on issues that emerge related to policy and legislative initiatives.
Provide project management oversight and lead coordination functions across the department.
Provide project management oversight across the department to make sure policy, legislative and regulatory items align with Ministry mandate agenda and timelines.
Lead and coordinate reporting to Executive Council on government commitments for which Municipal Affairs is responsible, and/or Minister mandate items.
Collect, analyze, and consolidate ministry wide information to track the status and forward planning activities of key initiatives.
Work with program areas and subject matter experts to ensure proper processes are followed, including use of templates and preferred formats.
Lead and support policy, legislative, and regulatory initiatives, with program area experts, ensuring materials are well-considered, accurate, and compliant with government decision-making requirements and statutory requirements.
Lead planning and implementation of the policy and legislative agenda for the department, developing and maintaining processes to facilitate timely decision making.
Engage in environmental scanning to inform planning and development of department policies, legislation, and programs.
Monitor legislative and policy developments and assess impacts on ministry programs and initiatives.
Liaise with other branches, divisions, program areas, Deputy Minister's Office, Policy Coordination Office, and King's Printer to support policy, legislation, regulation, and Ministerial Order/Order in Council development.
Lead the development of policy tools, supports, and training materials to improve policy development capacity in the Ministry.
The position will provide support and guidance to junior team members, including provide oversight and feedback across the department to Managers, Directors and Executive Directors, as needed.