Public Policy jobs

Position Overview

AAFMP is hiring a Director of Competence and Practice Development to design and deliver programs that educate and assess the competencies of candidates. This role puts education and instructional design expertise to work in a regulated professional setting — where program design is grounded in legislation and oriented toward protection of the public interest.

The role is responsible for the design, content development, administration, and continuous improvement of asynchronous online training, the professional examination, and conducting competency assessments of graduates of non-accredited institutions. These services are used to develop the critical professional skills of early-career registrant and assess professional competencies, preparing candidates to practise independently as forestry professionals.

Under the direction of the Executive Director and Registrar, the successful candidate with work collaboratively with SMEs, volunteers, and registrants to ensure that learning materials are accurate, engaging, aligned with AAFMP’s regulatory framework and program priorities, and reflects authentic professional practice contexts. They will ensure the program content is pedagogically-sound, reflects current best practices, is grounded in professional competency standards, and serves the public interest.

This role is part of a small, agile team of employees who operate under the direction of the Executive Director and Registrar.

Organizational Context

The Association of Alberta Forest Management Professionals (AAFMP) is the professional regulatory organization responsible for regulating 1200 forestry professionals in Alberta under applicable provincial legislation. AAFMP mandate as a regulator is to protect the public interest by setting and enforcing standards relating to the competence and professional conduct of registrants of two forestry professions (registered professionals foresters and registered professional forest technologists).

Key Responsibilities

AAFMP employees are expected to exercise professional judgement, manage multiple concurrent priorities, and engage constructively with a range of interest holders at the provincial and national level, including contractors, volunteers, registrants, post-secondary institutions, and the public.

Curriculum Architecture & Learning Strategy

Leads the architectural design of AAFMP's initial development program and professional exam, establishing the structural foundation, learning pathways, and assessment strategies that ensure coherent, outcomes-based learning experiences aligned to adult learning principles and professional competency standards.

• Designs end-to-end training programs and courses, including structure, sequencing, and learning pathways across delivery modalities.
• Develop program and course-level learning objectives, enabling objectives, and assessment strategies aligned to adult learning principles.
• Create and maintain curriculum maps demonstrating alignment between course goals, objectives, instructional strategies, and assessments.

Competency Assessment Programs

Leads the design, administration, and maintenance of initial development courses and the professional jurisprudence examination that prepare and assess the competency of in-training registrants for independent professional practice, and supports the ongoing assessment requirements of professional registrants.

• Designs educational courses and professional examination in collaboration with SMEs applying adult learning principles and education best practices, ensuring content remains current and aligned with legislation, policy, and professional competency standards that promotes the practical application of knowledge through innovative teaching methods.
• Administers and maintains educational courses and professional examination, ensuring it remains current, secure, and aligned with standards of practice, legislation, and policy related to the practice of forestry.
• Works with SMEs to elicit, structure, and normalize content into organized curriculum frameworks.
• Apply instructional design methodologies (e.g., ADDIE, SAM) to develop instructional materials in support of approved curriculum designs.
• Create design documents, storyboards, performance-based tasks, learning resources and visual elements to enhance learner engagement and improve the accessibility of course content.
• Maintains the integrity the the programs through the application of security protocols and applications throughout program delivery and results management.
• Administers AAFMP’s learning management systems — BrightSpace (D2L) and Trainer Central — maintaining the platform administer the programs and ensure accurate tracking and reporting of data to support registration and continuing competence requirements.
• Collects and analyses data to generate reports that identify opportunities for improvement, to support updates to policies, procedures, tools, and program materials, and alignment with the regulatory frameworks.

Credit for Prior Learning Assessments

Administers fair, consistent, and evidence-based credential assessments for graduates of non-accredited post-secondary programs (including Canadian and internationally trained individuals), measuring qualifications against professional competency standards applying fair registration principles.

• Evaluates academic transcripts, work experience, and supporting documentation submitted by applicants from non-accredited Canadian and international programs.
• Interpret and apply relevant legislation to support the application of policies and procedures in a manner that is legally defensible.
• Applies credit for prior learning assessment methodologies to recognize and evaluate prior learning equitably and transparency.
• Communicates assessment outcomes to applicants with clarity and procedural fairness, including rationale for decisions and available recourse processes.
• Maintains accurate and complete assessment records in AAFMP’s registrant management system.

Professional Competency Standards

Supports the development and periodic review of professional competency standards for advanced practice working with subject matter experts and interest holders at the provincial and national level.

• Prepares background research, drafts consultation materials, and maintains records of decisions arising from standards development work.
• Researches best practices in competency-based standards from comparable professional regulatory organizations across Canada.

Continuing Competence Framework

Contributes to the development of AAFMP’s continuing competence framework, grounded in best practices from comparable professional regulatory organizations and designed to support registrants across all career stages and areas of practice.

Data Management and Reporting

Maintains program data with accuracy and integrity and produces regular reports that support evidence-based decision-making by the Executive Director and Registrar.

• Organizes, maintains, and interprets program and candidate data within AAFMP’s registrant management and program data systems.
• Prepares regular reports on program activities, assessment trends, and performance.

General Competencies

Understanding of Professional Regulation

Demonstrates working knowledge of how professional regulatory organizations operate within a legislative mandate to protect the public interest, including how regulatory frameworks, standards, and decisions, are oriented toward public benefit rather than to serve the interests of registrants or the profession.

Note: Direct experience within a professional regulatory organization is preferred but not required. Candidates who have worked in adjacent sectors (e.g., occupational regulation, compliance administration, quality assurance in a licensed industry) with demonstrated ability to apply regulatory concepts will be considered.

Risk-Based Regulation Principles

Understands the application of risk-based approaches to regulatory design and decision-making, including how to calibrate regulatory effort proportionate to the level of risk to the public interest.

Project Management

Able to plan, execute, and monitor program or project deliverables within defined resource constraints, including employee time, budget, volunteer capacity, and consultant agreements.

Volunteer and Interest Holder Engagement and Support

Builds and maintains productive working relationships with unpaid volunteers and a range of interest holders, including registrants, post-secondary institutions, government representatives, and the public, in a manner consistent with the organization’s regulatory mandate.

Program Quality Assurance and Evaluation

Applies structured approaches across all competence programs to assess whether programs, processes, and services are effective and achieving their intended outcomes and meeting regulatory and organizational standards, using performance data to drive evidence-based improvements.

Qualifications and Education

Education

• Undergraduate degree or an equivalence through the combination of a diploma and additional formal education in instructional design, adult education, or education technology is required. A background in or familiarity with forestry or a related natural resource discipline is an asset, or
• A degree or equivalence such as a degree in forestry or a natural resource or related discipline in combination with formal education in adult education, instructional design, and work experience in training and development in higher education or a related field will be considered.
• Additional certification in instructional design, curriculum development, adult education, competency-based credit for prior learning assessments, and regulatory practice is an asset.

Knowledge

• Expertise in designing or administering education or assessment programs and content, preferably within a regulated or credentialing environment, within a forestry or natural resource management discipline.
• Proven familiarity with competency-based and credit for prior learning assessment frameworks and their application in a professional or academic credentialing context.
• Understanding of professional regulation and the role of competence programs in protecting the public interest.
• Recognizes Indigenous knowledge systems and their relevance to the legislative obligations of forestry professionals practising in Alberta.
• Familiarity with forestry, natural resource, or environmental disciplines informing professional practice context, career pathways, regulatory landscape, or professional practice realities is an asset.**AAFMP regulates the profession, not the industry. However, staff who understand the professional practice environment of registrants are better positioned to communicate credibly with interest holders, contextualize regulatory frameworks, ensure frameworks remain pragmatic and grounded in practice realities, and identify emerging practice risks.

Experience

• Minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible work experience in instructional design and delivery in higher education or a related professional context.
• Experience with credit for prior learning assessment methodologies is an asset.
• Working with internal teams and external interest holders to align program objectives with organizational objectives.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency using digital learning tools or educational technologies (Articulate 360,Storyline) to develop and update materials that support course design, accessibility, and learner engagement.
• Proficiency with learning management systems, specifically BrightSpace (D2L) and Trainer Central, at the platform administration level rather than end-user navigation only, to organize, publish, and maintain learning materials.
• Strong technical writing skills, including the ability to write and edit course materials, assessment criteria, and complex technical and regulatory information in plain language to diverse audiences with varying levels of familiarity with regulatory processes.
• Demonstrates the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools such as text-to-video generation, AI-assisted writing and editing, data analysis, and content creation platforms to critically evaluate and integrate AI-generated outputs in a manner consistent with AAFMP's policies.
• Proficient digital literacy and technical adaptability to learn and apply emerging technologies and online platforms effectively, transferring existing skills to new tools as the technological landscape evolves.
• Competency with integrated software suites such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems used for registrant management, workflow automation, or program tracking.
• Strong data management skills, including the ability to organize, maintain, and interpret program and applicant data to support reporting and decision-making.
• Proficiency with standard office productivity software for document creation, data analysis, and communications.

Personal Characteristics

The following attributes reflect the professional orientation and interpersonal qualities essential to success in this role:

• Principled and impartial — applies consistent standards and exercises sound judgement in assessment and program decisions, without favouritism or bias.
• Detail-oriented — manages complex, multi-step processes with accuracy and attentiveness to procedural requirements.
• Collaborative — works effectively with subject matter experts, vendors, and colleagues to advance shared program goals.
• Self-directed — manages workload and priorities independently in a remote work environment with minimal supervision.
• Continuous learner — stays current with developments in competency-based regulation, adult education, Credit for Prior Learning, and professional standards.
• Service-oriented — committed to responsive, professional engagement with applicants and candidates while maintaining the integrity of regulatory processes.

Conditions of Employment

• This position is fully remote; AAFMP does not maintain a fixed office.
• Employees must be a resident of Alberta, preferably in the Edmonton area and provide evidence of being a Canadian citizen or of holding a current work permit.
• Employees must maintain a dedicated, private, and secure home workspace from which all work is conducted. Working from public or shared spaces, including while travelling, is not permitted.
• Work outside the office within the central Alberta area or in the evening may occasionally be required for engagement activities or audit functions.

This role requires handling confidential information and is subject to AAFMP’s privacy and confidentiality obligations under applicable legislation.

Pay: $78,000.00-$93,600.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Disability insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Extended health care
• Life insurance
• Work from home

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree (preferred)

Experience:

• instructional design in higher education: 3 years (preferred)

Location:

• Alberta (preferred)

Work Location: Remote