Senior Policy Analyst

Role Responsibilities

Be Part of Shaping Alberta’s Education System – Join Our Team as a Senior Policy Analyst!

Are you passionate about shaping education policy and making a real impact? We’re looking for a public policy expert to provide comprehensive analysis and advice that supports evidence-based decisions across Alberta’s education system.

Reporting to the Director, School Accreditation Monitoring & Print Services, you will:

•    Lead the development and implementation of education-related policies, legislation, and regulations.
•    Analyze issues, consult with stakeholders, and develop options that align with ministry and Government of Alberta priorities.
•    Represent the System Support and Student Records Sector on cross-divisional and inter-ministry working groups, ensuring strategic alignment and collaboration.

Your work will influence key areas such as early childhood services, school accreditation, program unit funding, severe disabilities funding, ssections of the Guide to Education, Funding Manual and website content and more.

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.

• Systems Thinking: Ability to advance recommendations for key policy documents such as the Guide to Education, Funding Manual, and charter or collegiate school application requirements. The work focuses on addressing gaps in these interconnected documents to ensure consistency and support effective school accreditation and monitoring across the education system.
  
  
• Creative Problem Solving: Participates in the accreditation team’s post-review of applications and in meetings with private schools and Early Childhood Services (ECS). This work is approached with a mindset of identifying themes and root causes, with the goal of advancing improvements to processes, procedures, and other related practices.
  
  
• Agility: Ability to anticipate and understand changing environments, evolving scopes, and shifting requirements. The Senior Policy Analyst adapts project plans, milestones, and deliverables as needed to ensure identified outcomes are achieved, even in dynamic and complex contexts.
  
  
• Drive for Results: Ability to understand peak cycles of work activities and take proactive steps to plan, coordinate, and ensure deliverables are high quality, on time, and complete (e.g., advancing accreditation policy recommendations for decision-making).
  
  
•  Build Collaborative Environments: Ability to coordinate functional areas to share experiences and challenges, fostering collaboration and information exchange as approaches and changes are considered. This includes making connections across multiple areas where impacts may not be fully understood, ensuring alignment and informed decision-making before changes are implemented.

Qualifications

Completion of a university degree in a related field such as Political Science, Public Policy, Public Administration, or Education.

Plus, minimum of 4 years of progressively responsible experience, preferably in a government setting, with demonstrated expertise in two or more areas of public policy development and coordination, including:

• Issue identification
• Research and analysis
• Options development
• Consultation and stakeholder engagement
• Decision-making
•  Implementation
• Evaluation and performance measurement

An equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered on a one-for-one basis.

Qualifications that may help you succeed in this role include:

• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams or working groups.
• Demonstrated experience in stakeholder engagement and consultation processes.
• Knowledge of education policy, legislation, and regulatory frameworks (e.g., Guide to Education, Funding Manual).
• Strong written communication skills, including preparing briefing notes and policy documents.
• Proficiency in project planning and coordination tools (e.g., MS Project, SharePoint, or similar). 
  
  

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

This competition is for a permanent position based in Edmonton, offering a work schedule of Monday to Friday, totaling 36.25 hours per week.

Working location is 44 Capital Boulevard, 10044-108 St. NW, Edmonton.

A cover letter is required with your application and may be used to assess your communication abilities as part of the screening process.

In your cover letter, please provide information that clearly and concisely demonstrates how your qualifications meet the advertised requirements for this position and the behavioral competencies (Agility, Build Collaborative Environments, Develop Networks, Systems Thinking) required for the role.

In your resume, please include dates (including months and years) associated with all education and work experience. Also, please indicate whether your work experience is casual, part-time or full-time. For example: January 15, 2006 - June 25, 2009: Assistant (PT three 8 hrs. shifts/week).

The final candidates for this position will be asked to undergo an academic check, references, provide a suitable security screening and may be asked to complete a written exercise and/or assessment.

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

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.
•    Leadership and mentorship programs.