Job Description

Alberta Innovates (AI) is seeking a Director, Sustainable Agriculture that will be responsible for planning, developing, and implementing program strategies and initiatives, providing leadership and advice, building stakeholder relationships, and ensuring activities are compliant with corporate policies, industry practices and standards and applicable regulatory/ legislative requirements.

Are you our next Director, Sustainable Agriculture? You would be a good fit for this position if you: Has a deep understanding of the agriculture industry, including the challenges and opportunities related to sustainable agriculture. Strong leadership and management skills. Has the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders. Has the skills to develop and implement sustainable agricultural practices.

We are game changers.
Alberta Innovates is a provincially funded corporation with a mandate to deliver 21st-century solutions for the most compelling challenges facing Albertans. We do this by building on our province\xe2\x80\x99s research and technology development strengths in the core sectors of health, environment, energy, food and fibre, and platforms such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and omics. We are working with our partners to diversify Alberta\xe2\x80\x99s economy, improve our environmental performance and enhance the well-being of Albertans through research and innovation.

Our subsidiary, InnoTech Alberta, offers a diversified range of scientific engineering and technological research and testing capabilities, and the facilities to support technology scale-up. Our multidisciplinary team has the depth of experience to work across all sectors, from energy to health to food and fibre. InnoTech Alberta offers you access to research talent, technical expertise, and unique facilities that can help accelerate technology development that serves both the private and public sector.

Intrigued? Here\xe2\x80\x99s some more information about the position:
This role leads the Chronic Wasting Disease funding program, as well as the AFI team\xe2\x80\x99s participation in the APIB program, and the Ecosystem Development Partnership Program. It\xe2\x80\x99s anticipated to deliver similar results going forward. The successful incumbent will be accountable for (but not limited to) the following:

Lead the development, evaluation, and implementation of Sustainable Agriculture initiatives and projects, identifying new/enhanced program opportunities, analyzing industry intelligence and best practices, identifying trends, and emerging issues, preparing business cases, and securing required funding, sponsorships and partnership commitments.
Champion program research initiatives and program development strategies, exploring research opportunities for development with agriculture, forestry, and life sciences sector representatives, engaging stakeholders, supporting grant/funding application processes and agreements, leading investment attraction initiatives, monitoring and reporting on program performance, and influencing agendas and implementation tactics.
Manage Sustainable Agriculture projects and initiatives, implementing request for proposals/applications, proposal screening and selection processes, determining and managing project deliverables, timelines, and resources, facilitating stakeholder meetings, monitoring progress and results and providing status updates and reports.
Provide guidance, subject matter expertise, and counsel to leadership/senior managers on Sustainable Agriculture management activities and issues, interpreting policies and protocols, ensuring processes/requirements are understood, providing insights and recommendations, and identifying opportunities for improving processes and influencing policy decision-making.
Manage Sustainable Agriculture program/projects budgets and reporting activities, authorizing expenditures within budget and approved limits, explaining variances, and ensuring the timely submission of required internal and external reports and financial/regulatory documents.
Develops relationships with internal stakeholders, peers and colleagues, to understand priorities, collaborate on innovation development initiatives, and facilitate the management of project/initiative deliverables.
Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with external stakeholders, industry colleagues, government representatives and business partners, maintaining currency on industry best practices, emerging trends and shifts in regulatory requirements, leading/participating in conferences and seminars and on committees/working groups, and promoting Prion Programs initiatives and priorities.
Manages staff and contractor activities, establishing team goals and objectives, assigning and directing work, monitoring productivity, work quality and workloads, ensuring adherence to policies and practice standards, managing recruitment and performance review activities, and ensuring the availability of skill development, coaching and training opportunities.

Qualifications and skills we are looking for:
Advanced Degree in Agriculture, Biological Sciences, Life Sciences, or related field.
Minimum 8 years research and project management experience within agriculture and food industry.
3-5 years of managerial experience.
Experience in working with senior technical and management professionals from government, industry, environmental agencies, and other stakeholders preferred.
Ability to develop and maintain stakeholder relationships.
Strong research and project management skills.
Planning and priority management skills.
Exceptional verbal, written, listening and interpersonal skills to convey concepts and information.
Knowledge broker, with the ability to facilitate collaboration and engage new partners, as appropriate, to advance research.
Financial management and business case development skills.
People management and coaching skills.
Respect for and appreciate diversity.

Why Alberta Innovates?
We offer our employees opportunities to work on projects that will expand their skill sets while witnessing the visible impacts of their efforts. We value the development of our employees and create opportunities for working in capacities that allow new skills to be learned. We know that the wellness of our team is the most important part of our business, so we offer a strong benefits package and generous vacation and paid time off programs to promote work-life balance.

The final candidate will be required to undergo a security clearance. All interviewees must be able to meet the requirement specified in the Physical Demand Analysis. This document will be supplied during the interview process to the successful candidate. This competition will remain open until a successful candidate is found.

ALBERTA INNOVATES IS COMMITTED TO THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUITY IN EMPLOYMENT AND ENCOURAGES APPLICATIONS FROM ALL QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS. WE WISH TO THANK ALL APPLICANTS FOR THEIR INTEREST. HOWEVER, ONLY THOSE INVITED FOR AN INTERVIEW WILL BE CONTACTED.