2026-0063 Senior Director, People & Culture

Electrical Safety Authority • Mississauga, ON

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About The Position

The Senior Director, People & Culture reports to the Vice President, People, Strategy & Transformation and serves as the senior operational leader for ESA's People & Culture portfolio. The role is responsible for translating People & Culture strategy into operational priorities and coordinating the delivery of workforce, talent, labour relations, total rewards, employee experience, and organizational development initiatives that support ESA’s strategic and operational objectives. The Senior Director provides leadership across the People & Culture portfolio, supports the integration and delivery of people-related initiatives, and ensures the organization has the workforce capabilities, programs, and services required to support business performance and organizational change.

Requirements

• University degree in Human Resources, Industrial Relations, or related field; Graduate degree is considered an asset.
• Minimum of 10–12 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in People & Culture, including several years leading multiple functional areas.
• CHRP, CHRL, or equivalent professional designation is preferred.
• Experience leading diverse portfolios such as total rewards, talent management, organizational development, workforce planning, employee experience, health and safety, and labour relations.
• Experience operating in a complex, unionized environment.
• Experience advising senior leaders on workforce, labour relations, organizational effectiveness, and employee-related matters.
• Strong understanding of labour relations, workforce management, organizational development, talent management, total rewards, and employee experience practices.
• Experience preparing executive-level reports, presentations, business cases, and governance materials.
• Experience managing operational budgets and external vendor relationships.
• Knowledge of change management principles, methodologies, and best practices, with the ability to apply structured approaches to support organizational transformation and employee adoption of change.
• Executive compensation experience is an asset.
• Experience with performance management tools.
• Exposure to HRIS systems and the use of technology to add value and efficiency, including use of people data to support workforce planning, performance, engagement, and decision-making.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and team development skills to establish direction, align people, and build commitment towards achieving goals.
• Excellent relationship management and stakeholder engagement capabilities.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Communication and presentation skills to present information to staff and stakeholders.
• Ability to balance operational execution with strategic objectives.
• Ability to influence, collaborate, and build partnerships across functions.
• A positive attitude toward diversity, inclusion, equity, accessibility, and psychological health and safety.

Nice To Haves

• Graduate degree is considered an asset.
• CHRP, CHRL, or equivalent professional designation is preferred.
• Executive compensation experience is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Provides operational leadership across ESA’s People & Culture portfolio, coordinating priorities, resources, performance, and cross-functional delivery through the Talent & Organizational Development, Rewards & Employee Experience, and Labour Relations functions.
• Provides leadership, coaching, and direction to the People & Culture leadership team, promoting accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and service excellence.
• Leads the development and implementation of People & Culture plans and initiatives in support of the strategies established by the Vice President.
• Oversees the People & Culture operating budget, ensuring effective stewardship of resources and alignment with organizational priorities.
• Oversees the development, implementation, and regular review of People & Culture policies, frameworks, standards, and governance practices to ensure consistency, compliance, and organizational effectiveness.
• Translates strategic workforce priorities into operational plans, programs, and deliverables across the portfolio.
• Monitors progress against People & Culture objectives and recommends adjustments as required.
• Supports the implementation of workforce, talent, leadership, succession, culture, and employee experience strategies across ESA.
• Provides integrated operational oversight across P&C functional areas, ensuring workforce, labour relations, talent, organizational development, rewards, employee experience, and health and safety activities are coordinated and aligned with approved priorities.
• Champions inclusive leadership practices and supports initiatives that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging across ESA.
• Provides oversight of labour relations risks, trends, and escalations. Working closely with the Director, Labour Relations to ensure collective agreement obligations, union-management processes, and employee relations matters are effectively managed.
• Monitors workforce risks, emerging issues, compliance requirements, and portfolio performance, and develops appropriate mitigation strategies while ensuring People & Culture programs, policies, and practices comply with legislative, regulatory, and collective agreement obligations.
• Escalates significant workforce, labour relations, organizational, and compliance matters to the Vice President as appropriate.
• Supports executive reporting, workforce analytics, audits, and governance activities.
• Supports and operationalizes workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, and organizational design initiatives in alignment with strategic direction established by the Vice President.
• Leads the people-related components of organizational change initiatives, including workforce readiness, employee engagement, communications alignment, and implementation support.
• Partners with leaders across ESA to ensure people considerations are appropriately incorporated into business initiatives and decisions.
• Ensures the People & Culture team has the capabilities, capacity, and support required to meet organizational needs.
• Builds trusted relationships with Executive Leadership Team members and senior leaders to provide operational leadership and integrated people solutions supporting organizational priorities.
• Makes operational decisions within delegated authority regarding People & Culture priorities, resource allocation, and risk mitigation, escalating strategic matters to the Vice President as appropriate.
• Leads continuous improvement initiatives to enhance People & Culture processes, systems, service delivery, and employee experience through innovation and best practices.

Benefits

• The salary range for this position is subject to change and will be determined in accordance with the applicable collective agreement or, where no collective agreement applies, based on the successful candidate’s skills, experience, and internal equity.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior