Senior Policy Analyst – Policy Modernization & Governance

Job Description

Policy Analyst

Client: Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Location: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador – OCIO Headquarters, 40 Higgins Line

Work Arrangement: Hybrid – combination of onsite and remote work, as directed

Contract Duration: October 26, 2026 – March 31, 2027, with potential extension

Work Schedule: 35 hours per week, 100% allocation

Position Overview

The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, is seeking an experienced Policy Analyst to support a major Policy Modernization Initiative within the Corporate and Strategic Services Branch. The successful candidate will advance existing policy modernization activities from their current stage through policy research, analysis, development, stakeholder consultation, governance review, approval, implementation planning, and project closeout.

Foundational work, including governance frameworks, policy templates, draft policies, dashboards, and project tracking tools, has already been completed. The Policy Analyst will build on these established resources to finalize outstanding policy instruments, strengthen governance documentation, coordinate stakeholder reviews, and support executive decision-making and implementation.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience in government policy analysis and development, policy and governance documentation, executive briefing materials, stakeholder engagement, change management, and project controls. The candidate must be capable of producing clear, evidence-based, practical, and implementation-ready policy documents that meet government governance and approval requirements.

Key Responsibilities

1. Policy Inventory, Prioritization and Work Planning

• Review the existing policy modernization framework, policy inventory, governance model, templates, draft policy instruments, dashboards, decision logs, and project plans.
  
• Assess the status, scope, dependencies, priorities, and approval pathways for outstanding policies, standards, procedures, guidelines, and supporting governance documents.
  
• Develop and maintain a detailed work plan with deliverables, milestones, dependencies, consultation requirements, and decisions needed to complete the assignment by March 31, 2027.
  
• Identify gaps, duplication, inconsistencies, outdated requirements, and opportunities to consolidate, revise, or retire existing policy instruments.
  
• Monitor progress against milestones and proactively identify risks to timely completion.
  

2. Policy Research, Analysis and Development

• Conduct legislative, regulatory, jurisdictional, policy, and leading-practice research to inform policy development and modernization.
  
• Analyze existing policies, governance arrangements, operational practices, and applicable requirements to identify improvement opportunities.
  
• Assess policy implications relating to governance, privacy, information security, information management, legal requirements, financial impacts, human resources, operational feasibility, and service delivery, as applicable.
  
• Develop, refine, and modernize government policies, standards, procedures, guidelines, governance frameworks, roles and responsibilities, definitions, compliance requirements, exception processes, and supporting tools.
  
• Develop evidence-based policy options, assess alternatives, identify risks and impacts, and formulate clear recommendations.
  
• Ensure policy documents are internally consistent, practical to implement, aligned with approved OCIO policy frameworks and templates, and appropriate for their intended audiences.
  
• Maintain traceability between research findings, stakeholder feedback, policy analysis, decisions, revisions, and final policy wording.
  

3. Documentation, Governance and Quality Assurance

• Develop, review, revise, and finalize policy and governance documentation in accordance with established government standards and approval processes.
  
• Apply policy templates, document control procedures, version management, decision logs, approval records, document registers, and designated document repositories.
  
• Coordinate policy quality assurance reviews and ensure documents incorporate stakeholder feedback and approved revisions.
  
• Maintain accurate records of research, consultation, decisions, approvals, outstanding issues, and document changes.
  
• Prepare publication-ready policy documents and ensure completed materials meet established quality, consistency, and governance requirements.
  
• Support the maintenance and improvement of policy governance frameworks, approval workflows, and associated documentation.
  

4. Executive Briefings and Approval Submissions

• Prepare executive briefing notes, decision notes, presentations, approval packages, Treasury Board submission materials, and other senior-level decision documents as required.
  
• Develop clear policy rationales, options analyses, recommendations, supporting evidence, implementation considerations, cost implications, risks, and anticipated impacts.
  
• Present policy analysis, recommendations, risks, and implementation considerations to senior leadership and governance committees, as required.
  
• Coordinate review cycles, consolidate feedback, incorporate approved changes, and track outstanding approvals and decisions.
  
• Ensure executive and approval materials are accurate, concise, evidence-based, and aligned with government decision-making requirements.
  

5. Stakeholder Engagement and Consultation

• Plan and facilitate stakeholder interviews, workshops, working sessions, policy consultations, working groups, and document reviews.
  
• Collaborate with OCIO subject matter experts, policy owners, operational teams, technical teams, and other internal and external stakeholders.
  
• Prepare consultation plans, agendas, discussion materials, review documents, and feedback templates.
  
• Gather, document, analyze, and validate stakeholder input to ensure policy requirements are practical, complete, and operationally feasible.
  
• Reconcile conflicting stakeholder perspectives, competing requirements, and dependencies; identify and escalate unresolved policy conflicts, significant risks, and matters requiring executive direction.
  
• Consider legal, privacy, security, technology, operational, financial, and governance implications when validating proposed policy content.
  
• Maintain documented consultation records, comment dispositions, decision histories, and approval trails.
  

6. Policy Implementation, Communications and Change Management

• Develop implementation, communication, transition, and change management plans for approved policy instruments.
  
• Identify stakeholder groups, communication channels, key messages, implementation sequencing, accountabilities, training and awareness needs, and completion measures.
  
• Prepare implementation support materials, including frequently asked questions (FAQs), guidance documents, checklists, templates, process maps, compliance tools, and presentations.
  
• Assess change impacts, stakeholder readiness, implementation dependencies, compliance considerations, and adoption risks.
  
• Support policy review, revision, approval, communication, and adoption activities to ensure new or modernized policies can be implemented effectively.
  
• Coordinate implementation activities with policy owners, subject matter experts, operational teams, and leadership.
  

7. Project Controls, Reporting and Closeout

• Maintain and update project dashboards, work plans, schedules, action logs, issue and risk logs, decision logs, document registers, and deliverable trackers.
  
• Prepare regular status reports identifying completed work, upcoming milestones, outstanding approvals, dependencies, decisions required, risks, and corrective actions.
  
• Monitor progress against the March 31, 2027, completion target and communicate potential schedule or delivery issues to leadership.
  
• Maintain organized project records, research materials, consultation documentation, and approved policy instruments within designated repositories.
  
• Prepare a final status report, handover package, and knowledge transfer materials.
  
• Conduct a knowledge transfer session with the designated OCIO team before the end of the assignment.
  

Requirements

Mandatory Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Completion of a three-year or longer post-secondary program in Public Administration, Political Science, Business, Communications, Information Management, Information Technology, or a related field.
  
• Candidates must identify the institution, credential, field of study, and year of completion.
  
• The educational background must be relevant to policy analysis, governance, public administration, information management, or the requirements of the assignment.
  

Policy Analysis and Work Experience

• Minimum five (5) years of directly relevant professional experience in policy analysis, policy development, governance, or a related field.
  
• Demonstrated experience conducting policy research, analyzing issues, developing policy options, preparing recommendations, drafting policy documents, consulting stakeholders, coordinating approvals, and supporting implementation.
  
• Experience preparing and finalizing policy instruments within government, public-sector, regulated, or comparable governance environments.
  
• At least two recent examples from the last three years demonstrating successful experience as a Policy Analyst or in an equivalent role.
  
• Ability to provide project-specific details, including organization, project or initiative, dates, role, allocation, scope, deliverables, stakeholders, governance environment, outcomes, and individual contributions.
  
• Ability to identify a client or project contact who can verify previous work, where permitted.
  

Policy Documentation and Governance

• Demonstrated experience developing, reviewing, modernizing, or implementing policies, standards, directives, procedures, guidelines, legislative frameworks, or governance documentation.
  
• Experience conducting jurisdictional reviews, legislative and regulatory research, evidence assessment, gap analysis, options analysis, and recommendation development.
  
• Experience using policy templates, version control, document registers, decision logs, approval records, and document repositories.
  
• Ability to ensure policy documents are clear, consistent, evidence-based, actionable, and aligned with organizational governance requirements.
  

Executive Briefings and Approval Materials

• Demonstrated experience preparing executive briefings, briefing notes, decision notes, presentations, approval packages, Treasury Board submissions, or comparable senior-level decision materials.
  
• Ability to develop policy rationales, options, recommendations, cost or impact assessments, risk analyses, implementation considerations, and supporting evidence.
  
• Experience coordinating executive reviews, incorporating feedback, and tracking approvals and decisions.
  

Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

• Demonstrated experience collaborating with subject matter experts, policy owners, operational teams, technical specialists, and senior stakeholders to research, analyze, draft, validate, and finalize policy content.
  
• Experience planning or facilitating workshops, interviews, consultations, working groups, document reviews, and executive review sessions.
  
• Ability to consolidate stakeholder comments, resolve conflicting input, document comment dispositions, manage revisions, and escalate unresolved issues.
  
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to tailor materials for technical, operational, policy, and executive audiences.
  

Implementation, Change Management and Project Controls

• Demonstrated experience developing policy implementation plans, communication plans, transition plans, training or awareness materials, and compliance support tools.
  
• Experience maintaining project dashboards, work plans, schedules, status reports, deliverable trackers, decision logs, and risk and issue logs.
  
• Ability to monitor milestones, dependencies, outstanding approvals, implementation risks, and deliverable completion.
  
• Experience preparing project closeout documentation, handover packages, and knowledge transfer materials.
  

Key Deliverables

• Reviewed policy inventory and prioritized modernization work plan.
  
• Completed draft and final policy instruments, including assigned standards, procedures, guidelines, and governance documents.
  
• Policy research, jurisdictional review, gap analysis, options analysis, and documented recommendations.
  
• Consultation plans, stakeholder feedback records, issue analyses, and decision logs.
  
• Executive briefings, approval packages, and Treasury Board submission support, where required.
  
• Policy communications, implementation and change management plans, and supporting guidance materials.
  
• Updated project dashboards, schedules, action logs, risk and issue logs, decision logs, and document registers.
  
• Final status report, complete handover package, organized project records, and knowledge transfer session.
  

Performance Expectations

• Deliver high-quality, accurate, evidence-based policy documents that meet OCIO templates and governance requirements.
  
• Incorporate documented review comments and obtain required approvals or formally transition materials for approval.
  
• Maintain complete and traceable consultation, decision, revision, and approval records.
  
• Provide transparent progress reporting and proactively escalate risks, dependencies, and decisions requiring leadership attention.
  
• Complete all assigned deliverables and knowledge transfer activities within the engagement period.
  

Work Location and Availability

• The role is based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a combination of onsite and remote work as directed by OCIO.
  
• The resource must be available for a 100% allocation of 35 hours per week.
  
• The anticipated start date is October 26, 2026, with the assignment scheduled to end March 31, 2027, subject to potential extension.
  
• The resource must provide a two-week notice period in the event of early termination, as specified in the requisition.
  

Submission Requirements

Interested candidates must provide:

1. An updated resume demonstrating the required education, minimum five years of directly relevant experience, and the mandatory policy analysis, governance, documentation, executive support, stakeholder engagement, and implementation capabilities.
   
2. A completed OCIO Policy Analyst Qualification Matrix with specific, evidence-based examples for every qualification.
   
3. At least two relevant Policy Analyst or equivalent assignments from the last three years.
   
4. Project descriptions identifying the organization, project purpose and scope, dates, candidate’s role, duration of involvement, percentage allocation, responsibilities, deliverables, stakeholders, outcomes, and verifiable project contacts where permitted.
   
5. Detailed examples of policy documents developed or modernized, executive or approval materials prepared, consultation activities undertaken, and implementation or project controls maintained.
   

Requirements
Minimum five (5) years of directly relevant professional experience in policy analysis, policy development, governance, or a related field. Demonstrated experience conducting policy research, analyzing issues, developing policy options, preparing recommendations, drafting policy documents, consulting stakeholders, coordinating approvals, and supporting implementation. Experience preparing and finalizing policy instruments within government, public-sector, regulated, or comparable governance environments. At least two recent examples from the last three years demonstrating successful experience as a Policy Analyst or in an equivalent role. Ability to provide project-specific details, including organization, project or initiative, dates, role, allocation, scope, deliverables, stakeholders, governance environment, outcomes, and individual contributions. Ability to identify a client or project contact who can verify previous work, where permitted. Policy Documentation and Governance Demonstrated experience developing, reviewing, modernizing, or implementing policies, standards, directives, procedures, guidelines, legislative frameworks, or governance documentation. Experience conducting jurisdictional reviews, legislative and regulatory research, evidence assessment, gap analysis, options analysis, and recommendation development. Experience using policy templates, version control, document registers, decision logs, approval records, and document repositories. Ability to ensure policy documents are clear, consistent, evidence-based, actionable, and aligned with organizational governance requirements. Executive Briefings and Approval Materials Demonstrated experience preparing executive briefings, briefing notes, decision notes, presentations, approval packages, Treasury Board submissions, or comparable senior-level decision materials. Ability to develop policy rationales, options, recommendations, cost or impact assessments, risk analyses, implementation considerations, and supporting evidence. Experience coordinating executive reviews, incorporating feedback, and tracking approvals and decisions. Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration Demonstrated experience collaborating with subject matter experts, policy owners, operational teams, technical specialists, and senior stakeholders to research, analyze, draft, validate, and finalize policy content. Experience planning or facilitating workshops, interviews, consultations, working groups, document reviews, and executive review sessions. Ability to consolidate stakeholder comments, resolve conflicting input, document comment dispositions, manage revisions, and escalate unresolved issues. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to tailor materials for technical, operational, policy, and executive audiences.