Director, Black Equity Branch

Are you a Black leader looking for a challenging opportunity to lead the Ontario Public Service (OPS) in eliminating anti-Black racism and systemic barriers and increasing a sense of belonging for, and the advancement of, Black OPS employees? Do you possess expertise to transform OPS policies, practices, and procedures to create a more equitable workplace where Black employees thrive? Can you champion and drive the necessary change needed for Black OPS employees to advance in their careers, free from racism, discrimination and harassment? Do you have a background in working at the grassroots and/or systems levels to achieve positive change for Black people and communities? Are you a strategic leader with cultural competency and knowledge of relevant theories and frameworks? If so, we would like to hear from you!

The OPS has established a new Black Equity Branch within the Centre for People, Culture and Talent to champion the elimination of anti-Black racism in the OPS. The team will work closely with key partners, including the Black Ontario Public Service (BOPSers) Employees Network, as well as ministry and corporate partners.

As Director, you will lead a team of professionals focused on delivering and coordinating OPS-wide strategies and programs to eliminate anti-Black racism in the OPS, through the removal of systemic barriers. You will play a proactive role in working to deliver strategies and programs that foster an OPS culture centred on equity, diversity, and inclusion. This includes addressing disparities related to recruitment, career development, advancement, leadership diversification and retention for Black employees working in the OPS.

An effective leader in the OPS is responsible, innovative, collaborative, and inclusive. A responsible leader is someone who demonstrates authenticity, accountability, and courage in how they interact with others. An individual who models ethical behaviour, and who is honest and capable of making difficult choices. An innovative leader is someone who leads with common purpose, embraces positive disruption, and has a future mindset. An individual who inspires others, values continuous learning, and encourages development and integration. A collaborative leader focuses on helping others to grow, drives people-centred outcomes and promotes an inclusive environment. An inclusive leader consistently works to confront bias and systemic barriers, while understanding the importance of creating a more diverse, anti-racist, and accessible workplace.


OPS commitment to diversity, inclusion, accessibility and anti-racism

The OPS is an innovative, responsive, and accountable public service that works hard to be diverse, anti-racist, inclusive, accessible, merit-based, respectful and equitable. Diversifying leadership teams is a top OPS priority with the goal to achieve parity with the Ontario labour force by 2025 for the most underrepresented groups (Indigenous, racialized and persons with disabilities) in leadership positions. To advance this goal, the OPS is collecting socio-demographic information that will help to address potential barriers and achieve equity in hiring. You are requested to complete the voluntary survey and contribute to building a more diverse, anti-racist, inclusive and accessible OPS.
The OPS is seeking a Black leader for this role. The OPS encourages applications from persons with disabilities.

Visit the OPS Anti-Racism Policy and the OPS Diversity and Inclusion Blueprint pages to learn more about the OPS commitment to advancing racial equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion in the public service.

The OPS offers employment accommodation across the recruitment process and all aspects of employment consistent with the requirements of Ontario's  Human Rights Code. Refer to the application instructions below if you require a disability-related accommodation.

What can I expect to do in this role?

Reporting to the Assistant Deputy Minister, you will:

• Lead a team in the development and delivery of a strategy for the OPS to address anti-Black racism, from consultation to implementation.
• Be the point of contact and expert in addressing anti-Black racism and use your expertise and change management skills to foster cultural transformation and improve OPS policies, practices, and procedures to create a more equitable OPS workplace.
• Lead and contribute to enterprise-wide initiatives to foster a culture of equity and excellence, building an accessible and inclusive OPS for Black employees and managers.
• Lead key components of the OPS Anti-Racism Policy, bringing a lens responding to anti-Black racism and issues of equity.
• Share expertise and advice on confronting anti-Black racism with internal partners to advance inclusion, equity, and programs and initiatives focused on responding to and eliminating anti-Black racism.
• Maintain meaningful partnerships across the OPS and ongoing engagement with the Black community.

How do I qualify?

Executive Leadership

• You demonstrate the principles of inclusive leadership by empowering employees, encouraging collaboration, and defining a team culture rooted in respect, continuous learning, and performance excellence.
• You have demonstrated commitment to social justice and combatting anti-Black racism, proven success in engaging employees, building leadership capacity, and promoting a strong organizational culture of anti-racism, excellence, equality, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
• You can drive innovative thinking and have the courage to implement and communicate the value of making bold changes to stakeholders, staff, and leaders.
• You possess outstanding interpersonal skills, including being approachable, authentic, courageous and a people-centred leader, who leads by example and demonstrates a high degree of integrity, empathy, loyalty, confidence, and respect for employees.
• Develops, builds, and leads organizational capacity through positive and values-based leadership, inclusive and engaged teams and partnerships.

Relationship Management and Political Acuity

• You have proven experience building solid trusted relationships to enable engagement with partners and stakeholders.
• You have a collaborative approach to working with staff, stakeholders, and partners to advance common goals.
• You demonstrate political acuity and judgment skills to anticipate and manage contentious issues and to identify mitigating strategies.

Strategic Planning, Strategy and Delivery

• You have proven abilities in providing strategic direction, formulating evidence-based solutions, establishing priorities and accountability measures, and developing and implementing policy and programs.
• You demonstrate a strong understanding of the systemic barriers faced by Black employees and managers.
• You have led multi-disciplinary project teams and overseen the development and implementation of special initiatives to support anti-Black/anti-racism priorities.
• You demonstrate exceptional cross-cultural communication, consultation, and facilitation skills, and possess expertise in engaging in matters that require sensitivity and empathy.
• You possess strong links and a wealth of experience in engaging and building relationships within the Black community.
• You can provide strategic advice and work across government to identify, prevent, and dismantle anti-Black racism and systemic barriers in internal government policies, programs, and services.
• You have experience providing strategic direction, compelling advice, recommendations and conducting concise briefings for senior executives.

Knowledge

• You have experience in relevant areas, for example: social justice; human rights; anti-racism; human resources; Black, African and / or Caribbean Studies; and Afro-centric ways of knowing.
• You have expert knowledge of the Black experience, systemic, individual, and cultural dimensions of anti-Black racism, and all forms of anti-Black oppression.
• You understand intersectionality and the importance of the connections between race and dimensions, such as creed, language, and gender.
• You have demonstrated experience identifying opportunities for change and championing ideas that lead to improved outcomes impacting Black employees.

Additional information:

Open House

Interested in learning more about this position and how we work? We are hosting an open house for potential candidates where you'll hear directly from our senior leaders about the new Black Equity Branch and the OPS.

You will have an opportunity to participate in a Q&A session.

If you are interested in attending the open house, please  click here to sign up.

All external applicants (including former employees of the Ontario Public Service) applying to a competition in a ministry or Commission public body must disclose (either in the cover letter or resume) previous employment with the Ontario Public Service. Disclosure must include positions held, dates of employment and any active restrictions as applicable from being rehired by the Ontario Public Service. Active restrictions can include time and/or ministry-specific restrictions currently in force, and may preclude a former employee from being offered a position with the Ontario Public Service for a specific time period (e.g. one year), or from being offered a position with a specific ministry (either for a pre-determined time period or indefinitely). The circumstances around an employee's exit will be considered prior to an offer of employment.

Remember: The deadline to apply is Monday, May 16, 2022 11:59 pm EDT. Late applications will not be accepted.

We thank you for your interest. Only those selected for further screening or an interview will be contacted.