Priority Issues Coordinator

Role Responsibilities

Do you thrive on chaos? Neither do we. But if you get a quiet thrill from making complex, fast-moving work feel organized and efficient, this role is for you.

Reporting to the Executive Director of L&E, the Priority Issues Coordinator sits at the centre of a busy corporate services branch that has high standards of service excellence. The role does more than administer processes. The position is responsible for connecting the dots across priorities and ensuring leadership has a clear line of sight to act strategically and effectively. 

What You Will Do: 
•    Identify emerging issues, sensitivities, and cross‑cutting impacts, and highlight what requires executive awareness or action.
•    Coordinate responses to time‑sensitive requests by quickly bringing together relevant context and implications.
•    Track timelines, issues, dependencies, and pressures across multiple initiatives, and bring them together into a coherent picture.
•    Prepare clear, concise briefings and summaries that give the Executive Director a reliable line of sight across training, recognition and event initiatives.
•    Work with managers and directors to clarify information, align materials, and support resolution of issues.
•    Facilitate discussions to support shared understanding of issues and alignment on next steps.

To be successful in this role, you need to:
•    Think in systems: You can see how multiple initiatives connect and anticipate how changes or issues in one area may affect others.
•    Communicate with impact: You are able to distill complex, evolving information into clear, concise messages that hit the right tone for the right audience.
•    Apply sound judgment: You can assess what matters, differentiate what can be resolved at the working level, and know when and how to elevate issues.
•    Manage competing priorities: You stay organized and focused while working across multiple initiatives with tight timelines and shifting direction.
•    Build strong relationships: You work effectively through consultation and influence, even when you don’t have direct authority.
•    Stay calm under pressure: You can respond to urgent requests and changing priorities without losing sight of key issues or quality controls.

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

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviours 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: Prioritizes and manages competing priorities.
Drive for Results: Achieves results on priorities despite ambiguity in process, evolving challenges, and tight timelines.  
Build Collaborative Environments: Works in a proactive, collaborative and integrated fashion to support ongoing initiatives.
Systems Thinking: Integrates different types of policies and client priorities to identify the correct solution to each problem.

Qualifications

Your cover letter and resume will be used to assess your qualifications, including your written communication skills and your attention to detail.

Ensure your cover letter meets all of the following criteria:
•    Includes a professional salutation;
•    Identifies the relevant job opportunity (i.e. Priority Issues Coordinator);
•    Is concise, without spelling/grammatical errors;
•    Clearly identifies the number of years of experience you have working in a public sector organization (e.g. federal/provincial/municipal government, school board, hospital, etc.); and
•    Provides a clear and concise example of a time you took initiative to improve a process so that you and your team could operate more effectively.

Ensure your resume meets all of the following criteria:
•    Includes the starting and ending month & year of each role;
•    Is concise, without spelling/grammatical errors; 
•    Has a clear, consistent layout that demonstrates your attention to detail; and 
•    Provides information about each role using clear and concise bullet points.

Applications without a cover letter and resume that meet all of the above criteria will not be considered.

Note: Prior to selecting candidates for interviews, applicants may be requested to submit a short written assignment.

Minimum recruitment standard: University graduation in Public Administration, Business Administration, Public Policy or a related field and 2 years of progressively responsible related experience.

Equivalency: Related education or experience is considered on the basis of:
•    1 year of education for 1 year of experience; or
•    1 year of experience for 1 year of education

Other requirements (i.e. “must haves” to be considered for the role):
•    Experience preparing clear, well‑structured written materials such as briefing notes, situation reports, or options papers in a public sector or similar environment.
•    Experience coordinating work with defined timelines, including managing competing priorities and adjusting work in response to changing direction.
•    Awareness of the Alberta Public Service’s departments and decision-making structures.

Assets (i.e. “nice to haves”):
•    Experience analyzing and developing policies and/or strategies in the Alberta Public Service.
•    Experience working with stakeholders to gather input, understand different perspectives, and support alignment on shared priorities.

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.

Notes

To be considered for this competition, your application must include a well-written cover letter and resume. Carefully review the Qualifications section to see the specific requirements for the cover letter and resume that are unique to this role. If your application does not include a cover letter and resume that clearly meet these requirements, your application will not be considered. 

Location and Hours of Work:
Our office is located in downtown Edmonton, with on-site attendance required to meet the operational needs of the role. 

Business hours are Monday to Friday, 8:15 am to 4:30 pm. Hours of work are 7.25 hours per day / 36.25 hours per week. Modified work hours may be available on a case-by-case basis, subject to government policy and operational viability. 

Final candidates will be required to undergo a security screening. 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.

More information about 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
•    Leadership and mentorship programs