Dean, School of Skilled Trades

Background

Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP), one of Canada’s newest polytechnic institutions, is looking for a leader who inspires creativity and drives a community spirit.

We offer a wide variety of credit and non-credit career certificates and diplomas, apprenticeship trades, university transfer studies, as well as, both our own degrees and collaborative degree opportunities for on-campus degree completion.

The Academic Division Structure

NWP's Academic Division is structured with four Polytechnic Schools (Applied Science and Technology, Business, Health and Skilled Trades) and three Offices (Dean of Students, Registrar, and Applied Research and Innovation).

The School of Skilled Trades (Grande Prairie)

The Dean of Skilled Trades (Grande Prairie) leads skilled trades departments located on our Grande Prairie campus. As the fourth largest Skilled Trades school in Alberta, the School of Skilled Trades (Grande Prairie) offers skilled trades in the following programs : Electrician, Industrial Mechanic (Millwright), Instrumentation and Control Technician, and Parts Technician.

The Role

The Dean of Skilled Trades is a senior leader in the Academic Division at NWP reporting to the Provost and Vice-President Academic and participating as a senior leader within the polytechnic.

The Dean contributes to the strategic leadership of the polytechnic as a whole and directly leads the departments and programs within the School of Skilled Trades.

The Dean of Skilled Trades key duties are listed below.

Strategic Planning and Leadership

The Dean :

• Works closely with the Provost and Vice-President Academic, to contribute to the development and implementation of the institution’s strategic plan and vision.
• Leads strategic planning across the School of Skilled Trades.
• Provides leadership and support to academic programs and departments, including guidance in relation to academic policies, procedures, and regulations.
• In consultation with the Provost, oversees the organization and delivery of academic programming within their school.
• Coordinates and promotes academic proposals, changes, reviews, and other academic matters with other deans, institutions, and stakeholders.
• Leads new program development.
• Contributes to polytechnic policy development.
• Contributes to the overall planning and direction of the polytechnic.
• Supports and communicates polytechnic and divisional direction and vision.
• Provides leadership to specified committees, projects, and initiatives.

Development and Support

Subject to applicable polytechnic procedures, policies, and collective agreements, the Dean :

• Recommends approval of recruitment and workload assignments for faculty and staff to the Provost.
• Conducts regular performance evaluations of faculty and staff.
• Makes continuing employment decisions for faculty and staff.
• Supervises, coaches, and mentors chairs and managers in their development as academic and support service leaders.
• Provides leadership and guidance to the chairs in their academic roles.
• Supports and facilitates the development, adaptation, and implementation of innovative and effective approaches to teaching and learning to ensure excellent current academic programming.

Internal and External Liaison

The Dean leads the school in ensuring effective communication, collaboration, and liaison with internal and external parties. The Dean :

• Promotes and guides effective communication between departments and polytechnic administration.
• Attends faculty and department meetings, and acts as chair when appropriate.
• Models attitudes and behaviours consistent with the polytechnic vision, mission, and values.
• Acts as, or designates, the contact person for consultation with relevant regulatory and professional associations as appropriate.
• Acts as the contact person for consultation with relevant Government of Alberta representatives.
• Acts as liaison with other post-secondary institutions, as well as the polytechnic representative on provincial postsecondary committees and applicable community organizations.
• Participates in community events and be an advocate for the polytechnic.
• Provides external reports or other pertinent information as required, in cooperation with External Relations.

Fiscal Responsibility

In cooperation with the Administration Division, the Dean has budget development and oversight responsibilities for their school.

Specifically, the Dean :

• Develops and monitors annual budgets for academic programming in a manner that is both fiscally responsible and consistent with the stated academic objectives of the NWP’s strategic directions.
• Manages and monitors school budgets.
• Allocates and provides oversight of department budgets.

Additional Responsibilities

From time to time the overall priorities and needs of the polytechnic may shift or new responsibilities for the Dean may emerge.

Accordingly, the Dean is responsible for :

• Other duties as assigned by the Provost and Vice-President Academic.
• Other duties specific to the area of responsibility as they arise.

What We Offer

NWP offers lifelong learning opportunities through professional development / wellness programs, a competitive salary and compensation package and a student-centered culture that is vital to our community.

Join our team, grow with us, and connect your skills and abilities to our vision, mission and values.

Job Requirements

The successful candidate will have the education and experience noted below.

• A Journeyman Red Seal Certificate or an appropriate Master's degree is required.
• Post Secondary Academic education is preferred.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in a leadership position or academic appointments may be considered.
• Knowledge of the Alberta post-secondary system and the ability to work with others in the system to find opportunities for NWP students in Alberta, across Canada and around the globe.
• An entrepreneurial spirit to find opportunities to ensure our students have the confidence to turn risk into opportunity throughout their time at NWP.
• Strong financial knowledge and experience managing a large operational budget.
• Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to build strong relationships across the organization.
• High level of integrity, professionalism, and accountability.
30+ days ago