Senior Policy Analyst

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

The Federal Public Service is stronger and most effective when we reflect the diversity of the Canadian population we serve. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is dedicated to building and promoting a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce, representative of Canadian society. All candidates who believe they are qualified are encouraged to apply, including Black, other racialized and Indigenous peoples, women, persons with disabilities and persons of the LGBTQ2+ community.

Individuals who identify with the LGBTQ2+ community and have any questions concerning their potential candidacy in this selection process are encouraged to send an email to the following mailbox: . This mailbox is confidentially managed by a person of the LGBTQ2+ community.

The term “Indigenous peoples” aligns with international usage and, in this job advertisement, replaces the legislative term “ Aboriginal peoples” that appears in the Employment Equity Act and the Employment Equity Regulations. Prior to appointment, Indigenous peoples who self-declare will have to complete and sign the Affirmation of Aboriginal Affiliation Form (AAAF) (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/services/appointment-framework/employment-equity-diversity/affirmation-aboriginal-affiliation.html).

On October 6, 2021, the Government of Canada announced its plans to require vaccination across the federal public service.

As per the new Policy on COVID-19 Vaccination for the Core Public Administration Including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, federal public servants in the Core Public Administration and members of the RCMP must attest to their vaccination status. The requirement for employees to be fully vaccinated applies whether they are teleworking, working remotely or working on-site. This is a condition of employment. Accommodation requests will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will be limited to employees who are unable to be vaccinated due to a certified medical contraindication, religion or any other prohibited ground of discrimination as defined in the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA).

- This application process requires you to provide your CV and answer the screening questions in order to describe how you meet the essential qualifications listed below.

Duties

Senior Policy Analysts are responsible to undertake research and do foresight so that the team can prepare projects and material for internal to government and public consumption. Senior Policy Analysts also promote and support the use of foresight in decision making across the Government of Canada.

Key duties include but are not limited to:

• Conducting foresight to develop reports, manage projects, and support policy analysis and planning.
• Planning and designing foresight projects.
• Interpreting and synthesizing data or information.
• Scanning and researching potential changes, disruptions, and shifts.
• Undertaking interviews and conversations with experts.
• Working with stakeholders while building and managing networks.
• Planning and designing workshops, events and partnerships with federal departments, agencies and crown corporations.
• Facilitating events and workshops.
• Supporting training and learning activities.
• Establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with partners and stakeholders.

Work environment

Policy Horizons Canada is a federal government organization that conducts foresight. Our mandate is to help the Government of Canada develop future-oriented policy and programs that are robust and resilient in the face of disruptive change. We do this by analyzing the emerging policy landscape and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. We engage public servants and citizens in conversations about forward-looking research to inform their understanding and decision making. We also build foresight literacy and capacity in the public service. Our main goal is to raise awareness of the value of foresight.
 
Our mandate is government-wide, and we are governed by a Deputy Minister Steering Committee that includes Deputy Ministers from a range of federal departments.

Policy Horizons will be an excellent fit for you if you are:

• curious about the world around you and have an open mind
• comfortable to learn new things and work on unique projects
• organized in your work and time management skills
• a self-starter who can pitch creative ideas clearly, develop plans, and follow through on those plans
• interested in working with a talented team of passionate foresight professionals
• friendly, and comfortable working in a small organization (we are about 40 people)

Come join us. We promise it will be a unique experience!

Intent of the process

A pool of partially and/or fully qualified candidates will be established through this process to staff identical or similar positions with various tenures, various linguistic requirements, various security requirements, various conditions of employment.
Once Policy Horizons has concluded their initial appointments, the pool may be shared with other government departments.

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

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

EDUCATION

Graduation with a degree from a recognized post-secondary institution with acceptable specialization in economics, sociology or statistics

*Candidates must always have a degree. The courses for the specialization must be acceptable and may have been taken at a recognized post-secondary institution, but not necessarily within a degree program in the required specialization. The specialization may also be obtained through an acceptable combination of education, training and/or experience.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE

Significant* experience in performing strategic and/or policy analysis that considers future social, political, environmental, economic or technological changes, using qualitative or quantitative information

Experience in managing a complex** project

Experience in providing advice or recommendations to senior management*** on complex* issues

Significant* experience in establishing and maintaining strong collaborative working relationships with stakeholders

*Significant is defined as experience that would normally be associated with performing these duties as a primary function for approximately 2 years.

**A project is complex if it involves numerous interrelated parts, requires dealing with ambiguity, has challenging or shifting timelines, and involves budgetary or other constraints.

***Senior management is defined as executives.

If you possess any of the following, your application must also clearly explain how you meet it (other qualifications)

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

Masters, PhD, or Professional degree from a recognized post-secondary institution with a specialization in a field relevant to the position.

Foresight training

Degree equivalency

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS

EXPERIENCE

Experience conducting foresight work

Experience designing or facilitating foresight events or activities

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

Bilingual - Imperative (BBB/BBB)

Information on language requirements

Second Language Writing Skills Self-Assessment
In order to help you decide if you should apply to a bilingual position, an optional self-assessment of your writing skills in your second official language is available for you to take before completing your application.

For more information, please consult:
Unsupervised Internet Test of Second Language Writing Skills

ABILITIES

Ability to manage projects

Ability to work effectively in a team

Ability to synthetize and clarify complex information for a specific audience

Ability to communicate effectively in writing

Ability to communicate effectively orally

PERSONAL SUITABILITIES

Leadership

Judgment

Diplomacy

Initiative

Achieving Results

Innovation

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

ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS

Employment and Social Development Canada is committed to Employment Equity (EE). In order to achieve a representative workforce, selection may be based on qualified candidates self-declaring as belonging to one or more of the following EE designated groups: Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, women and visible minorities. We encourage you to indicate if you belong to one or more of the designated groups by completing the EE section in your application.

Conditions of employment

Various Security Profiles: Secret, Reliability

May require overtime during periods of high demand for foresight products (e.g. ahead of briefings with senior officials).

Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and attest to their vaccination status or have a supported accommodation measure based on a medical contraindication, religion, or any other prohibited ground for discrimination as defined under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

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

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ABOUT THIS SELECTION PROCESS
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CANDIDANCY
We are looking for the best candidates. Show us that you are one of them!
In order for your application to be retained for the next steps of the evaluation, you must provide complete answers to the preselection questions. The answers provided to the screening questions will be the main source of information used to evaluate your candidacy. Your résumé will only be used as a secondary source of information. Do not assume that the screening board has any previous knowledge of your background, qualifications, or work history. Applicants will not be solicited for incomplete or possible missing information.

When you are invited to demonstrate that you have the required qualifications
and experience in the screening questions, please proceed as follows:

----> Read the questions carefully
----> Clearly explain where, when and how you acquired the qualifications and experience by providing concrete examples of tasks you accomplished.
----> IMPORTANT - It is not enough to simply mention that you acquired the qualifications and experiences, to list your current and past duties, nor to refer us to your résumé. You must be specific and provide concrete examples/details for each element, as applications will be screened only on the information provided. If you do not clearly demonstrate that you have the required qualifications with concrete examples, your application will be rejected.
----> Information on your described education, experience, etc. provided in the screening questions should be supported by your resume.

The online application may take 1-2 hours to complete. You may save your application as a draft and return to it at a later date. Your application must be completed and submitted in order to be considered. Partially completed applications, or those in draft cannot be considered. You can make modifications to your submitted application at any time, but once the selection process is closed, you will no longer be able to make modifications (except to update your personal information) and your submission will be considered final.

EVALUATION
Note that all assessments will be done virtually.

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

We may assess the essential and asset qualifications using interviews, Online Exams, references or a combination of these or other methods.

Please note that asset qualifications, top-down and/or random selection and a cut-off score may be used to identify which applications will be given further consideration.

Applicants may be appointed to the position even though he/she does not meet any or all of the asset qualifications. However, meeting these criteria is desirable and may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed. In the event that there are as many applicants who meet the essential qualifications as there are vacancies, the manager may decide not to assess some or all of the asset qualifications.

COMMUNICATION
We will communicate with applicants by e-mail. It is your responsibility to verify your e- mails regularly to ensure that you do not miss out on any opportunities. Failure to respond in the prescribed timeframe will result in your application not being further considered. The applicant shall ensure that the e-mail address provided is valid and make sure this address is functional at all times and accepts messages from unknown users.

Acknowledgment of receipt of applications will not be sent; we will contact only candidates that have passed the screening phase.

APPOINTMENT
Appointment decisions may be based on one or more of the following criteria:
• Organizational Needs.
• Matching of the individual's experience or qualifications to the strengths and weaknesses of the work team.
• Matching of the individual's experience or qualifications to the specific duties of the position being staffed.
• Depth, breadth, type of work-specific experience.
• Level/degree of one or more competencies/qualifications

OTHER

Presently, the official location (designated workplace*) of the positons to be staffed is 360 Albert Street (Ottawa) in the National Capital Region (NCR). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Policy Horizons employees are required to work from home. When an eventual return to the workplace will be possible, there may be, at the manager’s discretion or based on operational requirements, a continued option or requirement to work from a different ESDC location or from an employee’s residence located in Canada. Therefore, individuals who believe they meet the listed essential qualifications of the position, regardless of where they live or work, are encouraged to apply.

* Designated workplace: location of work or business address where the employee would work if a telework, hoteling or remote working arrangement was not in place.

An assignment, secondment, or acting appointment requires approval of your supervisor.
Indeterminate or term employees at the same group and level or equivalent may be considered for deployment.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans first and then to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, 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.