Why work for the Town of Canmore? For starters, you can take great pride in our collaborative organization, its positive work culture and our amazing group of talented people who genuinely care about our community and accomplish outstanding work each and every day for its citizens. As a municipal government organization, the Town of Canmore exists to serve the community and visitors to Canmore. The organization is committed to supporting a triple bottom line sustainable future for all by promoting wellness and active living, being leaders in environmental stewardship, and ensuring the effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
Position Overview:
The Manager of People & Culture leads a team in delivering core human resources (HR) functions (disability management, employee and labour relations, employee records, HR information and health & safety management systems, learning and development, leaves and accommodations, onboarding, payroll, performance management, reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion, recruitment, recognition, total rewards), while driving evidence-based people and culture strategies for the Town of Canmore.
Reporting to the General Manager (GM) of Corporate Services, the Manager of People & Culture provides strategic leadership for the Town’s workforce functions, ensuring the capability, capacity, and culture required to deliver high quality services.
As a trusted advisor to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and senior leaders, the Manager aligns people, culture, and workforce strategies with organizational priorities, values, and legislative requirements.
Core Accountabilities:
Human Resources (HR) Core Functions
- Provides strategic leadership to the People & Culture team ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery of core HR functions
- Fosters operational agility across processes, technologies, and operations to meet changing organizational needs
- Ensures HR practices, decisions, and documentation comply with applicable legislation, policies, and collective agreements
- Provides expert guidance on complex employee relations matters, including investigations, grievances, and progressive discipline, ensuring fair, consistent, and defensible processes, with escalation for high-risk, precedent-setting, or organization-wide issues in accordance with corporate governance expectations
- Manages the People & Culture budget and oversees vendor and consultant relationships to deliver value and results
Strategic Leadership
- With guidance from ELT, establishes and stewards an integrated People & Culture strategy aligned with organizational priorities, legislative requirements, and long-term needs
- Provides corporate-level oversight and strategic advice to the CAO and ELT on workforce risks, and opportunities, supported by evidence-based analysis and scenario planning, aligned with corporate priorities and risk direction
- Leads and develops the People & Culture team to deliver high quality, client-focused services, and strategic outcomes
- Provides recommendations, reports, and strategic materials to Administration and Council
- Maintains effective working relationships with unions, external partners, and regulatory bodies to support organizational outcomes and compliance
Culture and Employee Experience
- Fosters a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement with a strong emphasis on providing high quality services at scale
- Champions a values-based culture by partnering with ELT to strengthen behaviours, practices, and systems that reinforce the Town’s desired culture
- Using data from employee engagement surveys and other organizational feedback sources, designs and implements initiatives to strengthen employee experience, wellbeing, and psychological safety
- Leads organization leadership development and performance management frameworks that build accountability, capability, and continuous improvement
- Integrates equity, inclusion, and belonging considerations into workforce planning, people policies, and leadership practices
Talent
- Leads a multi-year workforce and succession planning approach, including critical role identification, talent pipelines, and capacity planning to ensure continuity of leadership and operations
- Oversees inclusive recruitment and selection strategies that strengthen the Town’s ability to attract and retain a skilled and diverse workforce
- Oversees learning and development programs that build technical capability, career pathways, and organizational bench strength
- Strengthens internal talent mobility and knowledge transfer to support retention and organizational resilience
- Supports organizational design initiatives to ensure structure, roles, and capabilities are aligned to current and future service needs
Total Rewards
- Leads the Town’s total rewards strategy, balancing attraction and retention needs with stewardship of public resources
- Ensures pay and benefit programs are internally equitable, externally competitive, and responsive to Canmore’s labour-market and cost-of-living realities
- Provides oversight for job evaluation, classification, and reclassification processes to ensure roles are appropriately valued and consistently applied
- Leads compensation benchmarking, including external market review and participation in annual municipal surveys, translating findings into recommendations
People Analytics
- Leverages, expands, and improves people-based data
- Oversees HR systems, reporting, and analytics by establishing organizational direction, standards, and priorities in partnership with Information Technology
- Provides leaders with evidence-based insights on workforce trends by monitoring and analyzing key metrics (e.g., turnover, recruitment outcomes, labour market movement, and benefit cost drivers) to inform strategic adjustments
- Integrates workforce analytics into strategic planning, budget development, and service delivery decision-making
Organizational Wellness, Health & Safety
- Provides strategic oversight to ensure health and safety programs are compliant and effective
- Ensures effective oversight of the health and safety management system
- Promotes employee wellness initiatives that strengthen mental health, resilience, engagement, and sustained performance
- Understands and carries out responsibilities outlined for Senior Leaders, Supervisors and Workers in the Health and Safety Corporate Directive
- Demonstrates commitment to a healthy and safe workplace for employees, visitors, other workers, and stakeholders
- Participates in safety inspections, audits, and incident analyses to ensure compliance with the Town’s Health and Safety Management System
Key Competencies
- Strategic leadership: Builds and stewards a multi-year People & Culture strategy aligned to corporate priorities and measurable outcomes
- Executive advisory & influence: Trusted counsel to ELT; frames risk, options, and recommendations clearly
- Labour & employee relations expertise: Sound judgment on complex matters; effective in non-union and union contexts (IAFF/CUPE)
- People leadership: Creates honest, trusting, and successful working relationships with others; coaches and develops team members; sets clear expectations and accountability; models inclusive leadership
- Culture & engagement leadership: Champions values-based culture, inclusion, psychological safety, and leadership effectiveness; uses engagement data to drive action
- REDI leadership: Advances Reconciliation, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) across HR programs and practices, including policy development, talent processes, workplace culture initiatives, and compliance with applicable legislation and organizational commitments
- Operational excellence & governance: Establishes consistent HR practices, standards, and service delivery; ensures compliance and quality documentation
- Business acumen & stewardship: Manages budgets, vendors, and resources responsibly in a public-sector context
- Data-driven decision-making: Uses workforce analytics and trends to inform planning, prioritization, and continuous improvement
- Change leadership: Leads change with structured planning, stakeholder engagement, and clear communication
- Health, safety & wellness governance: Demonstrates due diligence and promotes a healthy and safe workplace through risk-based oversight
Education, Experience & Certifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Labour Relations, Organizational Development, or a related discipline
- CPHR designation (Chartered Professional in Human Resources) in good standing
- A minimum of 10 years of progressive HR experience across core HR functions, including employee relations, total rewards, learning and development, workforce planning, HR systems/records, and leaves/accommodations
- Demonstrated experience providing strategic, evidence-based advice to senior leaders on workforce risk, organizational culture, and people strategies
- Proven ability to lead and develop a high-performing HR team, including establishing priorities, service standards, and accountability measures
- Strong working knowledge of applicable employment legislation (Alberta Employment Standards Code, OHS Act, Regulation & Code, WCB Act, Human Rights Act, Labour Relations Code, POPA, ATIA, federal payroll legislation) to deliver compliant HR governance and risk-informed advice
- Experience operating in a primarily non-union environment, with demonstrated ability to support and advise unionized groups (collective agreement interpretation/application, grievance processes, and complex employee relations)
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including preparing executive-level briefings, reports, recommendations, and presentations
Preferred / Assets
- Graduate education (e.g., MBA, MPA, Master’s in HR/Industrial Relations/Organizational Development) or equivalent advanced training
- Public sector and/or municipal experience, including preparing materials for senior leadership and Council
- Formal training in workplace investigations and conflict resolution (e.g., investigations certificate, mediation training)
- Change management certification or demonstrated experience leading organizational change (e.g., HRIS modernization, culture initiatives)
- Compensation/classification expertise (job evaluation, market benchmarking, total rewards strategy, governance for reclassifications)
- Health & Safety leadership training and experience providing governance for a corporate H&S management system (due diligence, audits/inspections, incident analysis)
- Demonstrated capability in people analytics, workforce dashboards, and HR data governance to support evidence-based decision-making
Salary & Benefits:
- Pay Range- $143,907.40 - $151,915.40 annually. Compensation will be calculated based on the successful candidate’s related work experience and education
- This is a full -time permanent position
- Competitive benefits package, & health spending account
- Generous RRSP matching plan
- Personal development & learning opportunities
- Positive work culture
- Work-Life Balance
Closing Date for Applications: This posting will remain open until filled.
How to Apply: To apply, please combine your cover letter and resume into a single document (PDF or Word) . To help us learn more about you, in your cover letter please clearly detail the following:
- Why do you want to be Manager of People & Culture for the Town of Canmore? Why Canmore?
- What interpersonal and leadership skills do you have that would make you a great addition to our team?
