City of New Westminster -- Director, Energy and Climate Action

Director, Energy and Climate Action

City of New Westminster

Location : New Westminster, BC

New Westminster, population 85,000, celebrated its 160th anniversary in 2019, and is Canada's oldest incorporated City west of the Great Lakes.

This tight-knit, friendly, and engaged community is known for many things : its historic and heritage sites, it’s beautiful waterfront, festivals, shopping opportunities and diverse neighbourhoods, and its progressive approach to a number of pressing issues, climate change included.

Located along the Lower Fraser River, on the homelands of the Halkomelem speaking people, the City of New Westminster ( New Westminster ) is at the centre of Metro Vancouver.

It has long been a crossroads of people, pathways, and ideas, where innovation and culture are interwoven and celebrated, making it a great place to live, work, and visit.

New Westminster strives to be a liveable, walkable, prosperous city, providing the best facilities, services, and programs for their citizens, delivered in a customer focused and accessible manner.

By focusing on the community’s key issues, housing and infrastructure, safer streets and transit, environment, innovation and community belonging, New Westminster’s place within the larger region and world, has never been so appealing or relevant.

The municipality has a reputation for its strong sense of community, and its can-do , progressive attitude. As a small to mid-sized city, the City of New Westminster has always managed to do more than the size of its tax base might suggest.

From owning its own utility to its ambitious climate action goals, to its future-focused development program, the municipality has been committed to advancing the City’s vision towards being a vibrant, compassionate, resilient city where everyone can thrive.

Since declaring a climate emergency in 2019, the City of New Westminster has committed to taking bold action with the goal of moving New Westminster towards a zero-carbon future by 2050.

The City has taken significant steps to prioritize climate action as a driving motivation for strategic planning and budgeting.

In this policy context, the City is restructuring its core departments, establishing a new Energy and Climate Action Department, which integrates the City’s electrical department and climate action team.

This more holistic approach to all things energy and climate action provides a unique opportunity for the community itself, and for the inaugural leader who will lead the charge on this work.

With a mandate to drive innovation and implement components of Council’s strategic plan related to climate and environment, the Director, Energy and Climate Action reports directly to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and provides overall leadership, strategy, and direction for this newly established department.

In this new role, the Director plans, coordinates, and directs corporate strategy and policy for programs and services relating to energy, climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience, climate equity, and the electrical utility operations, including fiscal decision making, energy innovation, climate action strategy implementation and inclusion of climate equity, and addressing the growing energy needs of the City.

Managing an established climate action fund, and by building out the small, capable team, this Director has a chance to significantly impact how the City optimally meets evolving energy demands.

As the ideal candidate, you are comfortable as a builder and a trail blazer. You bring experience in a leadership and administrative capacity from within a generally analogous context such as from within a municipality or other public sector body, a public utility, or from within a related consulting capacity.

A capable and versatile leader who cares deeply about climate action, you bring sound decision making skills, and an ability to bring people along to a vision thanks to your strong communication skills and political acuity.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to pave the way as leader of an important and impactful division, and to work to enhance an already highly attractive community, and to further advance its impact and reputation as a leader in the sector.

The Director will enjoy a hybrid work environment.

This position is located in New Westminster, British Columbia. The salary for this position ranges from $201,478 to $222,141 plus benefits.

To explore this opportunity further, please click Apply.

We recognise and respect that New Westminster is on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the Halkomelem speaking peoples.

We acknowledge that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land. As a City, we are learning and building relationships with the people whose lands we are on.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism are core values for the City of New Westminster. The City encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including women, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of our organization.