Municipal Resources Advisor

Role Responsibilities

Reporting to the Manager, Municipal Advisory, the Municipal Resource Advisor is a member of an advisory team which has key day to day “first contact” with the public, municipal administrators and councillors, other department and municipal associations.  
 
The Municipal Resource Advisor strengthens the capacity and sustainability of Alberta municipalities, enhances municipal operational effectiveness and aids in building the level of understanding and confidence that Albertans have with the local government by providing advice and information to appointed and elected municipal officials and the public.
 
Responsibilities include:

Strengthen the capacity and sustainability of municipalities by enhancing local governance and administration knowledge, and elector understanding of local governance. 
Responding to telephone and written inquiries and complaints regarding the practice of municipal government.
Visiting municipalities to provide governance expertise and information to councils and to new municipal administrators.
Interpreting and explaining provincial legislation, regulations and procedural requirements for municipal officials and other stakeholders, especially with regard to governance and administrative procedures, processes and including local government elections.

Oversee the production, development and delivery of ministry publications, with a specific focus on Municipal Resource Handbook materials, and information bulletins.
Design, develop and coordinate the preparation and distribution of updates to the Municipal Resource Handbook materials, information bulletins, internet materials and interpretation bulletins as reference materials for municipal councils and administrations.
Monitor the effectiveness of existing resources and propose changes that will improve the resources by analyzing information, conducting research in other jurisdictions, and continually seeking out best practices.

Enhance local government transparency and accountability to their citizens and the province by responding to departmental, municipal and public concerns. 
Process requests for time extensions to required provisions of the Municipal Government Act.
Serve as the “Chief Administrative Officer" in carrying out the required legislated responsibilities to determine petition sufficiency if the Minister receives a petition under the Municipal Government Act.
Assisting with municipal preliminary reviews or other similar assessments of council and administrative practices, analyse the findings to prepare a report and recommendations to address the municipal issues, or develop recommendations for the Minister to undertake regulatory actions such as an inspection under Section 571 or viability review under Section 130 of the Municipal Government Act.

Role Responsibilities Con't

Ensure municipalities are governed and managed in accordance with legislation through current and relevant training and workshop materials. 
Working collaboratively with the advisory teams throughout the branch or division in the development of the standard governance related workshop and training materials which would include the Roles and Responsibilities, Property Tax Recovery, Meeting Procedures, etc.
Delivering training within the local government context for municipal councils, individual councillors and/or administrators on legislation, effective management, information and practices, and upon request where appropriate, develop presentation materials and deliver customized training.
Providing advice, support and assistance as required for local authority election training.

Be responsive to the ministry, elected officials and public by providing accurate and timely responses to ministerial assignments.
Researching and verify facts and information associated with assignments.
Composing responses, considering the author's style and position and ensuring consistency, clarity, conciseness and accuracy of messages.
Ensuring Ministry positions and relevant sector program area policies and procedures are accurately reflected in responses and materials.
Organizing and tracking assignments to completion.

Support ministry initiatives, programs and services by actively participating in departmental activities related to enhancing service provision to ensure alignment of the department's strategic vision. 
Working collaboratively with other Department staff in the delivery of programs and services 
Leading and/or participating in special project development, design and delivery
Participating in the evaluation and development of Best Practices in the delivery of Department programs and services.
Participating in Department committees and initiatives

Please click on this LINK to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies:
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

Agility – Proactively seeks out new opportunities for improvements, takes initiative and is resourceful in coordinating the resources needed, adapts to unforeseen circumstances, and displays a positive attitude toward the work and teammates.

Creative Problem Solving – Actively engaging the community and resources at hand to address issues. 

Systems Thinking – Integrating broader context into planning. The advisor provides quality information, advice and training on a broad range of municipal  issues to internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification.

Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

University graduation in a related field plus 4 years progressively responsible municipal experience; or equivalent as described below

Equivalency: Directly related education or experience considered based on:
1 year of education for 1 year of experience; or
1 year of experience for 1 year of education

Assets 
Certification in local government from the University of Alberta Extension program or equivalent; or the National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration is an asset.

Notes

This position may be used to fill future vacancies across the Government of Alberta, at equal or lower classification and salary.

Hours of Work: Monday to Friday, 36.25 hours per week.

Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Applicants are advised to provide information that clearly and concisely demonstrates how their qualifications meet the advertised requirements, including education, experience and relevant examples of required competencies.

Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Links and information on what the GoA has to offer to prospective employees.
Working for the Alberta Public Service – https://www.alberta.ca/advantages- working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx
Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) – https://www.pspp.ca
Alberta Public Service Benefit Information – https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits
Professional learning and development – https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive
Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca
Positive workplace culture and work-life balance
Opportunity to participate in flexible work arrangements such as working from home up to two days per week and modified work schedule agreement
Leadership and mentorship programs