Miramichi Herald

Work environment

Working within the Chancellery of Honours at the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, each herald at the Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA) is responsible for managing several dozen files related to the creation of new heraldic emblems for Canadian citizens, institutions and the Canadian Armed Forces. The technical knowledge of heraldry is a definite asset but not a requirement, as the successful candidate will be trained on the job.

The management of the Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada is central to the activities of the CHA. The position of herald requires the writing of correspondence and other legal texts on a daily basis, critically reviewing artwork and texts, and maintaining archival and online records. With a linguistic profile of CCC, a herald works with the public in both official languages and actively participates in the creation and revision of bilingual documents.

Contact with clients, senior government officials and with the general public is a daily part of a herald’s responsibilities; as a result, tact and the ability to speak in public are important skills to possess. In order to develop design concepts for heraldic emblems, a herald needs to work closely with clients by researching, summarizing and sharing historical background, identifying essential design themes, and striving to obtain consensus on symbolic colours and figures for inclusion in the design. With members of the public, a herald is responsible for answering questions related to heraldry as well as emblems in general. A keen interest in family, institutional and general history, as well as in the study of emblems, will be of great assistance in the herald’s professional development.

Intent of the process

The purpose of this selection process is to staff one (1) indeterminate position, bilingual imperative CCC/CCC. Indeterminate employees at the same group and level or equivalent may be considered for a deployment before all the other candidates. However, if no deployment is made, applicants from other groups and levels will be considered in this advertised appointment process. A pool of qualified candidates may be established to staff identical or similar positions with various language and security requirements and tenures within the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (indeterminate, term, acting, secondment or assignment).

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

A covering letter in 1,000 words (maximum) "Why are you interested in this position?"

You must meet all essential qualifications in order to be appointed to the position. Other qualifications may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed. Some essential and other qualifications will be assessed through your application. It is your responsibility to provide appropriate examples that illustrate how you meet each qualification. Failing to do so could result in your application being rejected.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Graduation with a degree from a recognized university with an acceptable specialisation in history or other relevant specialty supplemented by courses or training in archival practices and heraldry.

Degree equivalency

Experience in communicating with the public in writing and orally

Experience in editing and proofreading texts

Experience in writing scholarly articles for publication or academic theses

Experience in working on projects related to heraldry

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Bilingual - Imperative (CCC/CCC)

Information on language requirements

Knowledge of the development of the art and science of heraldry

Thorough knowledge of the structure, mandate and granting process of the Canadian Heraldic Authority

Knowledge of principal sources for heraldic research

Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing

Ability to edit and proofread texts

Ability to plan work and meet deadlines and to deal quickly and effectively with many concurrent priorities

Ability to work with minimal supervision and under pressure

Attentive to detail

Initiative

Flexible

Creative

Effective interpersonal relations

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

Master or Doctorate in history

Degree equivalency

Ability to describe coats of arms using the specialized heraldic language (blazon)

Ability to create design concepts for heraldic emblems

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

Other information

1. Acknowledgement of receipt of applications will not be sent.

2. Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred language in their application.

3. Candidates who have valid second language evaluation (SLE) results are to provide proof of their test results. It is the responsibility of those candidates who do not have their results to obtain them from the Public Service Commission (PSC). http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/ppc-cpp/test-examen-result/result-eng.htm

4. For this selection process, the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General will communicate with candidates by email. You must provide a valid email address to which you wish to receive communication regarding this selection process. Applicants must include in their application a valid email address that is functional at all times and accepts messages from unknown users as some email systems block certain types of email.

5. Please note that all Notifications related to this process will be posted on the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS). It is your responsibility to check for notifications on the PSRS site to avail yourself of the right to informal discussion with the manager and/or recourse to be submitted to the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board.

6. Various assessment tools may be used in this selection process, such as a written examination, a take-home exam, an interview, references, etc.

7. INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED:
Candidates must provide the following information when submitting their application
on jobs.gc.ca (Public Service Resourcing System, PSRS):
- A résumé;
- A covering letter;
- Responses to all required questions pertaining to Essential Qualifications (Education
and Experience).

8. Your responses to required questions will be used as the primary source of information and your CV/résumé will only be used to validate the information.

Note : Asset Qualifications could be used for screening or selection decisions. A person may be appointed without meeting the Asset Qualifications; however, the asset may be a determining/deciding factor in the selection decision.

We thank all those who apply.

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled, diverse workforce reflective of Canadian society. As a result, it promotes employment equity and encourages candidates to indicate voluntarily on their application if they are a woman, an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability or a member of a visible minority group.

The Public Service of Canada is also committed to developing inclusive, barrier-free selection processes and work environments. If contacted in relation to a job opportunity or testing, you should advise the Public Service Commission or the departmental official in a timely fashion of the accommodation measures which must be taken to enable you to be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.