Department Health Human jobs in Okanagan, BC

Help create a workplace where Indigenous peoples, cultures, perspectives, and ways of knowing are welcomed, respected, and empowered to thrive. As the Director, Indigenous Workforce & Equitable People Practices, you will play a key role in advancing reconciliation across Interior Health by helping shape a workforce that reflects and honours the strength, diversity, and contributions of Indigenous communities.

Guided by Indigenous values and a commitment to cultural safety, humility, and belonging, you will work collaboratively with Indigenous communities, partners, Elders, leaders, and teams across the organization to transform people practices, remove systemic barriers, and create meaningful pathways for Indigenous recruitment, retention, career growth, and leadership. Drawing on your lived experience, relationship-building abilities, and expertise in human resources, Indigenous workforce development, equity, diversity and inclusion, and organizational transformation, you will help build lasting change that supports Indigenous employees, strengthens communities, and advances Interior Health's commitment to reconciliation.

The worksite location for this position is flexible and can be located anywhere within the Interior Health region.

Some of the Benefits of Joining Interior Health:

• An attractive remuneration package
• Excellent career prospects
• Employer paid training/education
• Employer paid vacation
• Employer paid insurance premiums
• Extended Health & Dental coverage
• Municipal Pension Plan
• Work-life balance

Benefits for Indigenous Employees:

• Ceremonial, Cultural, Spiritual Leave
• Indigenous Employee Network
• Indigenous Employee Voices Committee

Salary Range:

The salary range for this position is $118,923 (min) to $148,653 (midpoint) to $170,951 (max) per annum, based on 1.0 FTE. Interior Health typically establishes salaries within the minimum and midpoint of the salary range based on qualifications, experience of the applicant, and an internal equity review of the salaries of other employees.

How will you create an impact?

In accordance with the established vision and values of the organization, the Director, Indigenous Workforce & Equitable People Practices oversees the advancement and sustainment of processes and practice related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), belonging, and Indigenous-specific anti-racism across Interior Health (IH), supporting the organization’s overall strategic approach to enhance cultural safety and humility.

Working collaboratively with Recruitment, Employee Experience & Engagement, the broader People and Engagement portfolio, Indigenous Partnerships, operational leaders, Indigenous partners, post-secondary institutions and other external partners, the Director leads transformational initiatives that remove systemic barriers, advance reconciliation commitments, and create culturally safe workplaces that support the attraction, retention, development, and advancement of Indigenous employees.

The Director is accountable for effectively addressing equitable people practice issues that cross programs, portfolios, and geographic lines by implementing initiatives and programs that support collaborative change processes as well as quality improvement activities related to DEI, accessibility, and cultural safety and humility. This position will support the Executive Director in the execution of the province of British Columbia’s Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Strategy, supporting the implementation of the In Plain Sight report, and supporting the decolonization of IH’s human resources practices.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Recruitment, Equity & Engagement, this position brings their lived experience as an Indigenous person and supports a range of provincial and regional initiatives, playing a pivotal role in shaping IH’s commitment and advancement of reconciliation initiatives through its human resources strategy and practices. Specifically, while embracing a distinctions-based approach, the position plays a key role in the standardization and performance monitoring of practices, policies, and procedures to ensure they are in accordance with legislative, contractual, and organizational standards and promote an anti-racist, equitable and culturally safe culture in the organization, that enriches the workplace experience and provides exceptional and consistent service for Indigenous employees

What will you work on:

• Leads the planning, implementation and completion of IH-wide HR policies, strategies, and procedures that are aligned with HR best practices and related to equitable people practices to drive change on a wide range of cultural safety and humility activities that meet IH’s vision, mission, and values.

• Responsible for the implementation of change initiatives, policy development, and operational requirements to ensure people are supported in a culturally safe work environment.

• Directs, creates and implements plans, programs and initiatives focused on DEI, belonging, accessibility, and Indigenous-specific anti-racism.

• Enables adherence to provincial and national standards and guidelines, while advancing DEI and accessibility efforts through idea generation, planning, design, implementation, and evaluation.

• Accountable for supporting the organization’s overall strategic approach to addressing Indigenous-specific anti-racism and identifies and removes systemic barriers to Indigenous peoples. Leads organizational efforts related to Indigenous recruitment, retention, career progression, succession planning and leadership development. Identifies and develops sustainable pathways for Indigenous employment through partnerships with communities, educational institutions and Indigenous organizations.

• Partners with the Director, Recruitment to redesign hiring practices and remove systemic barriers to employment.

• Partners with the Director, Employee Experience & Engagement to improve Indigenous employee experience, belonging, retention and advancement outcomes.

• Partners with other departments to build and sustain community engagement initiatives that enable collection of feedback in support of IH’s commitment to advance equitable people practices.

• Collaborates with other portfolios to develop, build and maintain mutually beneficial working partnerships, including with Indigenous communities, Elders, Knowledge Keepers and Indigenous-led organizations. Represents IH and its interests across various audiences and partner groups and collaborates and liaises with internal and external groups including regional health organizations, post-secondary institutions, Health Employers Association of BC, union partners, other central agencies, provincial/national associations, and across provincial networks. Engages and works with peers at other BC Health Organizations, the Ministry of Health, and partner organizations, as appropriate.

• Responsible for staying up to date about industry best practices in global research trends, data insights, and approaches to design programs that enable an equitable and inclusive employee lifecycle in order to make informed recommendations and decisions.

• Establishes and implements meaningful HR metrics and reports for a range of audiences related to equitable people practices and organizational wellness, creating and maintaining Indigenous data governance practices. Develops capacity and approaches to organize and mobilize data in support of strategic HR programs, which will drive positive change within the organization.

• Partners with peers and leaders across the organization to create a framework to proactively address current and future equitable people practice needs, by analyzing current workforce data, employee engagement surveys, and external research, to support the organization’s current and future objectives.

• Acts as a senior-level strategic resource to IH’s leadership, providing coaching, mentoring, subject matter expertise, and providing recommendations on specific questions or issues that arise for embedding culturally safe, trauma-informed, and anti-racist measures throughout the continuum of services in IH.

• Provides leadership and guidance to employees using effective management techniques; coaches and mentors employees; conducts performance evaluations and creates a learning environment that promotes and supports professional growth of all employees; participates in recruitment activities and makes hiring and discipline decisions.

• Develops and recommends the department budgets, monitors expenditures, performs variance analysis and reporting, and implements remedial action. Manages Indigenous Workforce & Equitable People Practices department within the approved budget in a manner that is responsive and sustainable.

• In alignment with IH’s Occupational Health & Safety Program, maintain a healthy and safe work environment through complying with and implementing applicable Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, responding to requests from WSBC, identifying hazards and communicating risks, ensuring compliance with employee training, conducting effective incident investigations and implementing required corrective actions.

• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Interior Health strives to create an environment where you enjoy the work you do, the place where you work, and the people around you. Together, we create great workplaces. Apply today!

Honouring Interior Health’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), and Pursuant to Section 42 of the BC Human Rights Code, preferential consideration and/or hiring will be given to qualified applicants who self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit).

Education, Training, and Experience:

• Master’s degree in Human Resources, or a related discipline supplemented by employee relations, health management, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience to support advanced practices.

• A minimum of ten years of recent, related experience, including progressive experience in leadership roles and experience with programs and activities in support of equity, Indigenous workforce development, organizational effectiveness, cultural safety and humility, workforce transformation or related fields.

• Change management, project management, DEI, accessibility and /or anti-racism designations or certifications are assets.

• Comprehensive knowledge of the social, economic, political realities of settler-colonialism and systemic racism and historic and ongoing impacts on Indigenous peoples in social and health contexts and Indigenous-specific mandates. Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of, and commitment to upholding legislative obligations and provincial commitments in the foundational documents: Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan, Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study, the Distinctions Based Approach, Anti-Racism Data Act, and BC Human Rights Code.

• Ability to travel, as needed.