Initiatives/Project Manager - Service Designer

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request specialized accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

When submitting an application to this selection process, you will be prompted to answer screening questions concerning the essential education and experience qualifications and, if applicable, other (nonessential) qualifications.

When you apply for this process, please keep in mind that most essential merit criteria (education, experience and competencies) will be assessed by the answers you provide in your online application. As a result, please ensure you allow yourself a significant amount of time to complete this application.

Information on your described skills, experience, etc. provided in the screening questions should be supported by your resume. Failure to provide the above information in the format required may result in your application being rejected from the process.

Candidates may not be solicited for incomplete or possible missing information. Resumes may be used as a secondary source to validate the experience and education described in the screening questions.

It is NOT sufficient to only state that the qualifications are met or to provide a listing of current or past responsibilities. Rather you must clearly demonstrate HOW, WHEN, and WHERE the qualification was met through substantiation by examples.

INSTRUCTIONS
When recording your examples, be sure you:
• Provide concrete, specific examples of actions that speak directly to the experience sought.
• Choose examples with sufficient complexity, impact and degree of difficulty that will allow you to illustrate to what extent and depth you have shown the behaviours expected for each qualification.
• Focus on what you did. In referring to an experience achieved in the context of a team, set your role apart from the role(s) of others.
• Please describe the achievements in the past tense. This will help to ensure that you are providing concrete examples, rather than making general statements (e.g.instead of saying “I work well within a team….” you can say “I worked well with a team when….”).
• Use action verbs when describing your experience i.e. lead, managed, organized, planned, prepared, informed, determined, etc.
• Provide all examples in sentence format.
• Each example must include when the example took place, background of each situation, what you did, how you did it, what your role was in the situation, and what was the outcome.

Veterans Affairs Canada takes pride in being a workplace of choice and promotes a flexible work environment.

Duties

Your job as a member of the Innovation Hub team will be to assist in establishing a standard of practice for human-centered design methodologies across the Department.

Human-centered design focuses on engaging people, learning from their experiences, and using the available data to unpack the root-causes of problems in order to explore and design impactful solutions. Working at the Hub, you can expand upon your unique work experience and build dynamic skills in emerging fields such as user experience research, service design, change management, innovation strategy, ethnography, data analytics and much more. It will also allow you to hone interpersonal, time management, planning, organization, and digital literacy skills while working in an agile environment. The Innovation Hub takes a “big picture” approach when providing human-centered design services to the whole Department, connecting groups focused on aligned challenges and supporting the use of an iterative design and testing approach that leans on emerging technologies and metrics to inform recommendations for change.

So, what would a day in your work life look like? There’s no typical day in the life of a service designer! But, in general, you’ll do the following sorts of things:
• Advance service design at VAC by: identifying and developing opportunities to enhance service and program delivery; and providing expert advice to Senior Management.
• Contribute to monitoring and evaluation frameworks; plan and execute studies/reviews; analyze results; and prepare associated briefing materials, reports and other documentation for VAC senior management.
• Create and foster strong, collaborative working arrangements with internal and external stakeholders.
• Manage service design initiatives — design, deliverables, results—and lead and/or participate in project teams, working groups and/or committees.

Sound good so far? Then apply online following all the instructions. We look forward to hearing from you!

Work environment

The Innovation Hub (the Hub) at Veterans Affairs Canada was established in 2019 to provide specialized expertise and skill sets in innovation and service design methodologies and practices. The Hub will identify, validate, and test new concepts and business approaches to address and resolve service challenges faced by staff, Veterans and their families.

The Hub is a challenging and stimulating work environment that aims to change the way VAC approaches issues so that solutions have maximum positive impact for the people who deliver and receive VAC’s benefits and services. The goal is to work with stakeholders, colleagues across VAC and most importantly, with clients and VAC employees to make sure their voices are heard. The Hub will blaze new trails to improve processes and tools to support service excellence.

The specific scope of the Innovation Hub includes:
• Providing human-centered design services that support innovation initiatives;
• Developing a Centre of Expertise to standardize and continuously improve the Departmental approach to human-centered design and to make it accessible to managers throughout the organization;
• Building capability and capacity across the department to innovate via learn-by-doing, team initiatives and targeted training;
• Overseeing the inventory of innovation initiatives and supporting the cultural shift towards human-centered design; and
• Operating both physical and virtual Innovation Hub collaboration workspaces.

Veterans Affairs Canada is a great place to work!

Forbes ranked VAC in the top 5 of Canada’s best employers in the Government Services category in 2020.

In Apolitical’s inaugural ‘Public Service Workplace of the Year Awards 2019’, VAC was voted winner of the ‘Mental Health in the Workplace’ category.
https://apolitical.co/en/solution_article/winners-public-service-workplace-awards-2019

We offer:
• An excellent benefits package with competitive salaries, annual increases, vacation and other forms of leave, pension, and health care coverage;
• Career development and learning, including opportunities to partake in Government and industry networking and learning events;
• Flexible work arrangements that help you balance your work life with everything else; and
• An inclusive and respectful work place.

If you’re not familiar with PEI, spend some time here virtually: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en

Whether or not you choose to apply, check us out on social media. You can find all the links here: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/resources/stay-connected/social-media
(If you had been thinking of NOT applying, those links might just change your mind!)

Cracking the code - video
The Cracking the Code video helps people who are looking for a new career with the Government of Canada to navigate the application process step by step.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GW7P3g9hhI&feature=youtu.be

Intent of the process

The intent of this process is to immediately staff four (4) term positions: 2 English essential and 2 bilingual imperative CBC/CBC. The intent of this process is also to establish a pool of qualified candidates which could be used to staff similar or identical positions with various tenures, workplace arrangements, language requirements, and/or security clearance levels in various locations.

Positions to be filled: 4

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

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

Education:
ED1: Graduation with a Diploma or Bachelor’s degree from a recognized post-secondary institution with specialization in service design or a related field or employer approved alternatives.*

* Employer-approved alternatives include: Completion of a post-secondary program from a recognized institution including some course work in design and significant** experience working on design initiatives or doing business analysis.

**Significant is defined as the depth and breadth normally obtained over the course of 2 years applying design methodologies in a work environment.

Degree equivalency

Experiences:
EX1: Recent*** experience in one of the following: service design, innovation design, design thinking, interaction design, experience design, product design, industrial design or user research.
EX2: Recent*** experience designing or facilitating client or stakeholder engagement activities in order to develop innovative, user based solutions aimed at improving client service or business approaches; e.g., consultations, workshops, design thinking sessions, product design sessions, research results sessions etc.
EX3: Experience analyzing, interpreting and providing advice and recommendations, e.g., background papers, corporate strategies, statistical reports, presentations or briefing materials to management.
EX4: Experience supervising staff, e.g., monitoring employee performance; developing training and learning plans; establishing performance goals and objectives; assigning work and/or providing functional direction.

*** Recent is defined as occurring within the past two years.

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

Various language requirements
English Essential
Bilingual Imperative CBC/CBC

Information on language requirements

Competencies:
C1: Create Vision and Strategy
C2: Mobilize People*
C3: Uphold Integrity and Respect*
C4: Collaborate with Partners and Stakeholders
C5: Promote Innovation and Guide Change*
C6: Achieve Results
C7: Communicate Effectively orally
C8: Communicate Effectively in writing*
C9: Dependability
C10: Judgement

*Please note: These competencies will be assessed on this application.

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

Asset Qualifications:
AEX1: Experience as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces
AEX2: Experience working with Veterans
AEX3: Experience in innovation or change in a Government of Canada organization or experience participating in corporate projects related to change initiatives in government. Identify which role you played, i.e. leading vs supporting or participating
AEX4: Experience developing solutions to identified issues, which might involve creating policy options and/or conducting comparative analysis related to financial and business impacts.
AEX5: Experience in leading an interdisciplinary project team, working group, or organizational unit designing and delivering digital services using an Agile approach.
AEX6: Experience developing models, tools and approaches for tracking, analyzing, estimating and reporting on research findings.
AEX7: Graduation with a Master’s degree from a recognized post-secondary institution with specialization in service design or design thinking.

Organizational Needs:
In support of achieving a diversified workforce, consideration may be given to candidates self-identifying as belonging to one of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal peoples, Persons with a disability, Visible Minorities, Women.

Operational Requirements:
Willingness and ability to work overtime on short notice.
Willingness and ability to travel and work in other locations (including from home) for periods of time, as required.
Willingness and ability to carry a Departmental cellular device and respond after hours including evenings and weekends.

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

It is your responsibility to ensure that your email and contact information are maintained with the hiring board. All communication for this process will be sent by email and it is your responsibility to verify your messages regularly.

Education and/or Experience factors in the asset qualifications may be used for screening. Applicants should clearly demonstrate on their application if they meet any of the education and/or experience asset qualifications.

One or more asset qualifications may be used during the screening to manage the volume of applications.

Candidates will be asked to provide proof of their education credentials at a later date.

An interview and/or written exam may be administered.

Reference checks may be sought.

The Assessment Committee reserves the right to contact references other than those provided by the candidates (within the Public Service only) in order to adequately assess the candidates.

PLEASE NOTE: All information must be provided through the “apply online” application process. Do not fax, mail, email or drop-off a hard copy application as these will not be accepted. To apply in an alternate format due to disability, you must contact the email address indicated in the "Contact information" section below PRIOR to the Closing Date.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

Information on the preference to veterans

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