Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

To provide province-wide leadership, promotion, planning and co-ordination for the production and release of public provincial forest reports as prescribed by the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA) and Environmental Assessment Act approvals. To evaluate the effectiveness of provincial forest reporting activities, recommend improvements and provide expert professional advice to the Section Manager, Branch Director, Assistant Deputy Minister and their staff in support of sound sustainable forest management program reporting.

Duties / Responsibilities :

As a member of a multi-disciplinary team in the Forest Evaluation and Standards Section, Forests Branch, under general direction of the unit supervisor, major responsibilities include:

1. Leading the strategic design and development of annual and five-year report formats and other section and forest program publications to ensure that Policy Division retains its position as a national leader in forest sustainability reporting by: providing input and support to the development of content and methodologies for annual and five-year reports, as well as other section and forest program publications including representing the program on provincial committees (e.g. State of the Forest, Environmental Assessment committees) employing analytical and evaluation methodologies, data management systems, data acquisition models and expertise in related natural resources program requirements to make recommendations and provide strategic advice on the final design and content of reports planning, leading and facilitating the development of agreements and partnerships related to the provision of data information and resources from internal and external sources (e.g. senior forestry industry officials) to support the production of current and future forest program reports providing a variety of reporting advisory services to ministry and industrial clients (e.g. potential formats, design options, publishing requirements,) throughout the province

2. Facilitating the process of report/publication creation and editing by: planning, scheduling, facilitating and integrating comprehensive input from contributing authors located in multiple divisions from throughout the province, to ensure that reporting requirements and legislated or prescribed deadlines are met facilitating the development of high quality written reports by using professional resource management knowledge in combination with excellent writing skills to translate reports, data and information from contributing authors into understandable, cohesive, technical or plain English reports leading the editing of section or forest program publications, including reports and regulated manuals, for technical accuracy, clarity, political acuity and plain English.

3. Coordinating the final release of all related publications by: coordinating the design, publishing and printing processes for all related publications (e.g. contracting out publishing jobs, scheduling, cost analysis/monitoring) to ensure that established deadlines and government requirements are met. coordinating the preparation of briefing materials related to the approval and publication of the annual and five-year report

4. Leading section Communication Planning by: participating in the review and/or development of communications and issues management plans for various reporting or tabling priorities ensuring communication plans are congruent with government and program objectives and are responsive to forest industry, resource management sectors, stakeholders and the general publics information requirements

5. Evaluating the effectiveness of provincial forest reporting activities by: assessing reporting activities in relation to emerging issues, government and program objectives for transparency, ease of information access and the public's interests, and recommending required modifications and/or improvements to senior branch and division staff (Managers have the right to assign additional duties.)

The incumbent while in the workplace shall conduct themselves in compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and any workplace practices as directed by his/her manager and report any hazards of which he/she is aware to the Manager.

Staffing and Licencing :

n/a

Knowledge :

Job requires comprehensive knowledge of the theories, principles and practices of forest resource management normally associated with a degree in the science of forestry, biology or ecology to translate forest reports, data and information into understandable, cohesive, technical or plain language reports and to make recommendations and provide strategic advice on final content of reports. Job requires an in-depth understanding of Ontarios legislation, policies, and practices (e.g. CFSA/regulated manuals, EA approvals) related to forest management planning, forest-based information systems, monitoring, evaluating and reporting, to provide province-wide leadership and coordination for the production and release of public provincial forest reports. Job requires a demonstrated understanding of the inter-relationship between forest information, evaluation and reporting requirements, and an understanding of methods and information sources to evaluate the effectiveness of program reporting and public communication activities. Job requires a sound understanding of publication requirements and processes, demonstrated through the design, development and production of public documents, to manage publishing contracts and to ensure established deadlines and government reporting requirements are met. Job requires a demonstrated understanding of the value of objective, science-based methods for reporting. Job requires comprehensive knowledge of recent provincial, national and international developments related to measuring, evaluating and reporting on forest sustainability to assess reporting activities in relation to emerging issues, government and program objectives and to recommend improvements to senior ministry staff.

Skills :

Job requires excellent leadership, project planning, facilitation, consensus building and time management skills necessary to incorporate differing interests and opinions, address multiple design/production deadlines and to lead the strategic design and development of provincial forest reports and publications. Job requires proven ability to translate complex forest resource management concepts into documentation that is technically accurate and easily understood by informed audiences. Job requires ability to tactfully and effectively communicate with executive management, internal and external clients/ and partners to provide expert professional advice related to sound forest management program reporting. Job requires relationship building and negotiation skills to be responsive to client information requirements, and to facilitate the development of agreements and partnerships to support the production of forest program reports. Job requires demonstrated advanced technical writing and editing skills to lead the production and editing of forest program publications.

Freedom of Action :

Position functions within a team under the general direction of the unit supervisor. Job requires working independently in accordance with government legislation, regulations, policies, guidelines, and directives. Job requires the individual to take leadership and independently develop plans, make program level decisions, establish provincial teams and processes, solve complex issues, and set appropriate (or meet established) deadlines with minimal supervision. Position provides province-wide leadership in the design, development and publication of public forest reports while utilizing the skills and input of the Evaluation Team. Job requires the incumbent to work with various internal program and scientific professionals at all levels across the province and throughout various parts of the external forest resource management sector. Job requires extremely well developed political acuity and sensitivity to concerns of the forest industry, related resource management sectors, concerned stakeholders and the general public. Job requires proven technical skills in publication design, production and distribution to manage publishing contracts and to meet prescribed reporting deadlines. Job requires ability to function well in a team environment. Job requires sound political acuity and demonstrated ability to understand government and program impacts of written public reports to ensure that reporting activities are congruent with government and program objectives, including transparency and ease of information access.