Sr. Manager, Legislative Services / Corporate Officer

THE ORGANIZATION: CITY OF MAPLE RIDGE

Established in the late 1800’s, the City of Maple Ridge is located north of the Fraser River between the Pitt River and Stave Falls in the shadow of the Golden Ears Mountain. Maple Ridge is connected to the south Fraser by the Golden Ears Bridge, putting the City within 45 minutes of downtown Vancouver, the US border, and several airports.

Established by European and Japanese settlers, Maple Ridge has doubled in size every 20 years since 1921 and is one of the fastest growing areas in Metro Vancouver. With a growing population of over 90,000, the City offers a blend of authentic rural activities and urban amenities alongside a unique culture and history that is intertwined with traditional BC industries.

Maple Ridge is a community of passion, choice, and opportunity, welcoming diversity and striving to provide a safe and secure environment for residents and visitors alike. The City boasts a balanced and stable economy, providing local, high-quality jobs and growth opportunities for residents while also balancing environmental protection initiatives with job creation and sound development. Smart development has revitalized the urban core, providing a new focus for community, cultural and economic activities. In fact, investments in the last decade to build the Golden Ears Bridge and the new Pitt River Bridge have helped fill a housing boom and new investment in business.

Maple Ridge proudly serves its constituents as business friendly, responsive, and dedicated civil servants, with 70% of all staff members living within the community. The organization is undergoing a cultural transformation to position it as the leading centre of excellence in the Metro Vancouver area, serving a region expected to grow to over 140,000 people in the next two decades.

To learn more, please visit the City of Maple Ridge’s website.

THE OPPORTUNITY: SR. MANAGER, LEGISLATIVE SERVICES / CORPORATE OFFICER

Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer (“CAO”), the Sr. Manager, Legislative Services / Corporate Officer (“Sr. Manager”) manages the Legislative Services team and oversees the Council, Board, and Committee meeting processes, exercising considerable independence of judgement and action.

The Sr. Manager is responsible for advising Mayor and Council on legislative procedures and conduct for the aforementioned meetings. Oversight of the meeting processes includes managing agenda, minutes, recordings, public notifications, and logistics. The Sr. Manager is a key senior role that fulfills the statutory duties of the Local Government Act & Community Charter.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversees the recruitment, selection, and onboarding of Legislative Services staff; leads, mentors, and develops staff; identifies succession planning and growth opportunities; manages staff performance; liaises with human resources on escalated personnel matters.
• Manages Council, Board, and Committee meeting administration, including agenda preparation, minutes, recordings, public notifications, logistics; disseminates decisions to appropriate departments.
• Ensures all Council reports contain the necessary information to facilitate Council’s decision-making; provides advice to report authors regarding format, processes, and standards.
• Attends Council and relevant Committee meetings to ensure adherence to procedural rules.
• Provides legislative / administrative research and advisory services to senior leadership.
• Prepares reports, bylaws, policies, and other legislative documents; provides interpretation of bylaws and Council, Board, and Committee resolutions.
• Oversees and manages the physical and electronic corporate records management program, including developing policies and procedures governing the collection, maintenance, use, indexing, retention, storage, and disposition of official municipal records.
• Collaborates with the CAO on planning, organizing, and delivering programs and services; supports operational business planning; prepares tactical plans to execute on operational business plan deliverables.
• Manages assigned projects from inception to execution; assigns project tasks to legislative staff.
• Administers oaths, affirmations, affidavits, and declaration to be taken under oath as requires; possess signing authority for City documents.
• Certifies copies of bylaws and other documents; keeps the corporate seal and affixes same to documents.
• Reviews departmental processes from an end-user lens; implements continuous improvements upon consultation with the CAO.

Direct Reports

• Leads a team of six professionals in the Legislative Services Department.
• Provides mentorship, coaching, development, and performance management to the team.

THE PERSON
The Sr. Manager should be a leader who is well experienced with the complexities of local government. Possessing a collaborative and values-based leadership style, they build engagement with both staff and Council by creating a team environment, leveraging the expertise that exists within the organization. The Sr. Manager should also be decisive, and possess sufficient business acumen and political savvy to assist Mayor and Council with complex decisions and guide staff through challenging initiatives.

Required Qualifications
A degree in business, law, political science, local government administration or public administration plus five years of progressively responsible municipal experience including supervisory experience, or an equivalent combination of directly related education, training, and experience.

Required Capabilities

• Knowledge of the Local Government Act and Community Charter, legislation, bylaws, and policies.
• Knowledge of parliamentary rules, procedures, and protocols; government functions and responsibilities.
• Knowledge of records management principles, practices, techniques, methods, and procedures.
• Ability to understand legislation, bylaws, policies, resolutions, agreements, and related material.
• Ability to draft legislation in accordance with accepted drafting principles and statutory interpretation.
• Advanced people management skills in a unionized environment; capable of sustaining a respectful and productive culture that inspires teamwork, creativity, enthusiasm, and positive results.
• Strong communication, political acumen and critical thinking skills with the ability to adapt to political priorities, and advise and influence senior leaders.
• Strong problem-solving skills supported by the ability to analyze, and interpret complex situations.
• Strong attention to detail skills with the ability to prepare, edit, and maintain legislative documentation.
• Strong skills in the use of relevant computer software applications including, Microsoft Office Suite.

Competencies and Personal Characteristics
Leadership – Achieves desired organizational results by encouraging and supporting the contribution of others; a proactive and positive team player who acts with a sense of urgency and leads by example; sets and communicates clear goals.
Accountable – Holds self and others accountable for responsibilities; focuses on results and measuring attainment of outcomes in a business focus.
Strategic – Develops/implements a plan in support of organizational strategic direction. Demonstrates an understanding of the link between job responsibilities and overall organizational goals and needs, and performs one’s job with the broader goals in mind.
Integrity and Honesty – Demonstrates a resolute commitment to and respect for the rules and core values of the organization, setting an example of professionalism and ethical propriety.
Creativity and Innovation – Develops new insights into situations; questions conventional approaches; encourages new ideas and innovations; designs and implements new, cutting edge programs/processes.
Effective Working Relationships – Treats colleagues, staff, and citizens with respect; resolves conflicts respectfully, in a timely manner; negotiates effectively; provides effective feedback to colleagues/employees.
Influential and Collaborative – Has an honest, open, consistent approach to working with others; possesses strong relationship and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and develop/maintain partnerships, obtaining stakeholder agreement.
Communication – Clearly presents written and verbal information and writes with clarity and purpose; communicates effectively in both positive as well as negative circumstances; listens well.
People Development – Fosters long-term learning and development of others through coaching, man-aging performance, and mentoring; has a genuine desire to develop others and help them succeed; formally recognizes deserving staff and colleagues.
Citizen / Resident Focused – Attends to the needs of colleagues and citizens, and other internal and external stakeholders of the organization; keeps the resident interests in the forefront.

COMPENSATION
A competitive compensation package will be provided including an attractive salary and excellent benefits. Further details will be discussed in a personal interview.

To apply, please visit our website.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Pearce Fraser or Tony Kirschner
LEADERS INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE SEARCH
#880—609 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V7Y 1G5
Phone: (604) 688-8422
Email: vancouver@leadersinternational.com