Director, Government Relations

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Posting Reason:

Replacement of a regular position

Job Type:

Employee

Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments):

N/A

Job Family:

Communications and Advisory Services

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service - Department:

Office of Communications and Public Affairs

Campus:

Main Campus

Union Affiliation:

N/A

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):

2026/03/03

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD):

2026/03/30

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

Non-Union Grade NM4

Salary Range:

$142,833.00 - $178,542.00

Position Purpose

Reporting to the Chief Communication and Public Affairs Officer, The Director’s primary responsibility is to forge and enhance strategic relations with governments, to our mutual benefit, with a focus on the University’s privileged relationship with the Government of Canada, in order to advance government understanding of and support for the University’s mission, vision, and strategic goals. The Director also ensures the monitoring of the University’s performance in these circles, through surveys and polls, with a view to bringing change to the results, as required. Further, to provide intelligence and strategic advice to the President and the CA on the University’s dealings with governments, and to implement a course of action in the University’s government relations activities as mandated by the Chief Communications Officer and the Administrative Council.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

• Serve as confidential government relations advisor to the President, Vice-Presidents and Board of Governors and provide strategic advice on the implementation of the University’s strategic government relations activities. This includes high level government relations expertise relating to emerging and time-sensitive interactions with government.

• Establish and cultivate a strong working relationship with key government decision-makers to advocate the University’s agenda and facilitate the two-way flow of timely, relevant information; develop and lead advocacy programs and enhance strategic relationships. Measure and assess return on the investment to guide future decisions.

• Investigate potential for the university to access government grants and funding opportunities for research, operational and capital investments; coordinate and prepare appropriate proposals and documents necessary to secure such funding.

• Monitor, analyse and assess government policies and activities pertaining to higher education that may have an impact on the University in order to capitalize on opportunities and to provide the University with an awareness and understanding of emerging government policy issues and trends. Maintain a running brief on various government and inter institutional files at the University and advance them strategically, consistent with the academic plan of the University.

• Develop and implement a sophisticated and robust government relations plan, based on an analysis of sector issues, government policies and University priorities in order to build profile and reputation for the University of Ottawa, to achieve progress on key issues and to increase community engagement. Monitor and adjust plan based on trends, policies and events.

• Prepare and present policy options, briefing materials, proposals, reports and other materials for the development of strong advocacy programs at the University. Prepare briefing notes for the President and senior administrators in advance of meetings with elected representatives and government officials; prepare University influential position statements regarding legislative and regulatory initiatives for appropriate University officials and spokespersons.

• Identify opportunities for the University to participate in and influence the development of public policy, government initiatives and programs in areas central to the University’s mandate. Proactively anticipate the needs of government and act in a responsive way to find solutions within the University community to create or enhance the relationship ie. identify or develop programs at the University that could meet the needs of government, provide opportunities for government to communicate with their audiences at University venues. Ensure the University becomes the partner of first choice for the Government of Canada in areas of common interest, for example that the University is seen as a service provider for training and research for public agencies.

• Provide strategic counsel to senior management with respect to community relations and fostering a constructive, mutually beneficial relationship with residents and the representative associations of neighbourhoods adjacent to the university, to develop and maintain the positive student reputation.

• Liaise with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada on national legislation and policy issues related to the University's mandate and the Council of Ontario Universities on provincial matters.

What you will bring: 

• A minimum of 10 years’ experience in government and/or government relations.

• Master’s degree in public policy studies, or in a related field, or equivalent experience.

• Bilingualism – French and English (spoken and written).

• A detailed knowledge of the internal operations at all levels of government in particular the operations of granting agencies and central agencies as well as line departments at the ministerial, senior official and junior official level.

• An established network of political and senior level government contacts as well as the capacity to grow this network as changes occur in government to support the key priorities of the university.

• Demonstrated and extensive experience networking and building internal and external partnerships to support the strategic priorities of executive and senior management.

• Excellent oral and written communications skills, including knowledge of media relations, management experience including project management skills.

• Ability to manage highly confidential and sensitive information and to deal with high profile individuals on critical issues.

• Demonstrated experience in the development and implementation of strategic plans across multi-disciplinary teams.

• Experience managing human and financial resources.

• A detailed knowledge of software including Microsoft office, e-mail, and contact management.

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa: 

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.