** This opportunity is now successfully closed**

Position Title: Corporate Director, Organizational Development & Learning
Organization: Covenant Health
Reports To: Chief Human Resources Officer
Location: Edmonton, AB

Covenant Health:

Leading with an innovative and compassionate response to community needs.

With a focus on serving the most vulnerable and marginalized in society, Covenant Health provides high quality care across the full range of healthcare services in 12 communities across Alberta. A leader and key partner in the Alberta healthcare system, Covenant Health is driven by innovation and compassion to meet the needs of individuals, their families, and the communities in which they live.

As one of Canada’s largest Catholic healthcare providers, Covenant Health is committed to diversity and inclusion, serving, employing and celebrating people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds. We honour the legacy of our Catholic health ministry by fulfilling our ethical commitments and creatively giving life to our mission in the places we are called to serve. This includes building connections to and understanding the changing needs of our communities, advocating for opportunities to optimize care and address unmet needs.

With a workforce comprising approximately 11,000 staff, 730 volunteers and 2,410 physicians who either designate a Covenant site as their primary location for practice, or have privileges, Covenant Health provides a range of healthcare in communities across Alberta, including acute care services in two of Edmonton’s busiest hospitals. The Misericordia and Grey Nuns Community Hospitals account for nearly one quarter of the Emergency department visits in the Edmonton Zone and about 30 percent of the bed base in the zone.

In addition to acute care, mental health, addiction, continuing care, assisted living, hospice, rehabilitation, respite care and seniors’ housing round out the complement of services Covenant provides across the province. Covenant Health provides 1 in 4 provincially funded palliative and hospice beds in Alberta, supporting palliative needs in urban and rural communities. Covenant’s Villa Caritas is a unique acute mental health facility specializing in caring for seniors with complex mental and medical health issues.

Covenant Health is proud to be awarded designations with: Alberta’s Top 75 Employers,  Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture, the World’s Most Ethical Companies, and a Canadian Compassionate Company.

Position Purpose:

As a member of the HR Leadership Team, the Director of Organizational Development & Learning contributes to the overall HR strategy with deep understanding of the needs of all businesses and functions. The incumbent acts as the principal advisor to the Chief Human Resources Officer on all aspects of strategic HR including Strategic Talent Management, Organizational Effectiveness and Learning.

In this role, the incumbent will bring the Covenant values to life by designing and delivering innovative talent programs to develop employees and enhance leadership capability across the organization. The Director will be responsible for the design, development and implementation of programing which will offer solutions to support corporate wide Talent Management and Learning strategies and has the skills and experience that will enable them to solve a wide assortment of challenges while leading complex OD & Learning projects from beginning to end. The incumbent will utilize a systems-thinking approach to craft thoughtful and progressive solutions to support the Covenant’s people and programs.

With a foundation of results-oriented business acumen, the Director will have the strategic skill set and experience to analyze business process, seek out gaps and support strategic initiatives on behalf of their clients. The incumbent has the ability, experience, and initiative to understand the business needs, analyze issues and influence solutions and outcomes. The Director is self-driven and has the capability and confidence to interface effectively with senior leaders, members of the HR team, and multiple stakeholders throughout the Covenant driving the implementation of critical talent and learning initiatives focused always on outcomes for the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership

  • Provide leadership, guidance, coaching and mentorship to a team of Organizational Development and Learning Specialists ensuring the teams are equipped with the right skills, tools and talents and perspectives necessary to develop high impact business relationships and deliver innovative programming.
  • Define, establish, and implement department goals and objectives.
  • Partner with HR leadership team to ensure efforts are coordinated across all HR functions to deliver a seamless internal client experience.
  • Serve as an unbiased consultant to the business to develop company-wide Talent, Organizational Development and Learning strategies and programs.
  • Lead the facilitation of meetings, focus groups, and other working sessions to help solve difficult problems, align disparate viewpoints, and build capabilities.
  • Facilitate senior leader meetings where significant organizational development/alignment is at the heart of what needs to be accomplished.
  • Operates effectively within a matrix reporting relationship across the organization, partnering with other subject matter/educational resources to achieve collective objectives.

Organizational Development & Learning Strategy Development

  • Develops and inspires a shared vision, strategy and future looking roadmap for Organizational Development and Learning services aligned with the Covenant Health Vision and Strategic Directions.
  • Drive the design and execution of best-in-class Talent, OD and Learning strategies and solutions, such as: Leadership and Employee Development, Organisational Culture, Performance Management, Employee Engagement, Retention, Succession, Organization Design, Change Management and Learning design and delivery.
  • Listen and gather feedback from employee feedback survey’s and in conversation to fine tune the area’s strategic goals and approach to better meet needs of Covenant.
  • Partner with HR leadership team members in the deliberation, establishment, and planning of both short and long-term departmental strategies; partner with leadership across the Covenant to support successful program implementation.
  • Acts as a strategic advisor to corporate wide organizational projects aligning OD and Learning strategies and programs to support organizational outcomes.
  • Presents strategies and best practice approaches to senior leaders, Board of Directors, and other internal and external partners.
  • Develops optimal working relationships with Covenant Health internal and external partners/subject matter experts to ensure appropriate support for managing change initiatives
  • Reviews, monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of OD and Learning services and interventions to ensure they meet identified needs.
  • Represents Covenant Health at provincial partnership meetings, and at external leadership committees in a positive and professional manner.

Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience:

  • Masters degree in a related field such as Human Resources, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Organizational Development, Business, or Adult Education required. Educational and experience equivalencies may be considered.
  • Certification/training in Project management, Strategic Planning, Leadership Coaching, personality trait assessment tools, change management adult learning and curriculum design preferred.
  • Organizational Psychologist, Organizational Development Practitioner, Certified Human Resource Professional or Certified Management Consultant preferred.
  • Certified Training Practitioner (CTP), Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP) is preferred.
  • Executive Coach and/or Change Management certification preferred.
  • 15 years of directly related HR management and leadership experience in a unionized environment with proven career growth path.
  • 5-8 years experience designing comprehensive organizational HR strategies with a track record of sustainable implementation.
  • Proven track record of establishing credibility and trust through a strong consultative approach and execution.
  • Experience in a fast-paced growth environment, providing strategic direction from a human resources standpoint.
  • Excellent project management, writing, and oral communication skills are required.
  • Strong consultancy skills and an ability to develop and connect OD and Learning solutions to business needs.
  • Ability to present new OD and L&D concepts recommendations to senior leadership, HR and other partners.
  • Experience with problem solving in complex projects that have a company-wide impact.
  • Experience in the conception, design, delivery, and implementation of an array of organizational development and learning programs preferred.
  • Deep experience in leadership development through a variety of channels, with a strong emphasis on experiential learning and learning sustainment preferred.
  • Experience in leading the design and implementing Engagement, Corporate Learning, Performance Management programs and initiatives is an asset.

About Pender & Howe:

Covenant Health has retained Pender & Howe to lead the recruitment initiative for the Corporate Director, Organizational Development & Learning position. Pender & Howe is a boutique retained executive search firm specializing in collaborating with human capital leaders, governing boards and CxOs in identifying exceptional leaders.

The Corporate Director, Organizational Development & Learning search is led by Glenn Lesko (he/him). For consideration, please email a copy of your CV in confidence to:

Glenn Lesko (Partner) –  [email protected]

We thank all applicants in advance. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.