Vice President, People & Culture

Job Description
Calgary Economic Development (CED) is an opportunity-maker, helping to spark and fuel Calgary’s growth. Our mandate is to position Calgary for long-term economic success through the expansion, retention, and attraction of companies, capital, and talent. We offer a wealth of information to help everyone succeed and tirelessly promote Calgary, in Canada and around the world. We are passionate about our role in shaping and sharing Calgary’s story, a place of blue sky thinking and unexpected opportunities.

Job Summary
As a member of the executive team, the Vice President, People & Culture (VP, P&C) leads the organization's people strategy, culture, talent, and organizational development initiatives.

This role ensures alignment with Calgary Economic Development's mission, values, and strategic priorities while fostering an inclusive, high-performing workplace.

Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Transformation

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO and executive team across all aspects of company strategy, performance, and growth.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives that extend beyond Human Resources e.g., transformation programs, innovative efforts, and key business pivots.
• Contribute to board-level discussions and governance as an executive with organizational-wide perspective and leadership.
• Design and lead cultural transformation efforts aligned with business goals, values, and future leadership requirements.
• Build scalable systems that enable operational excellence, psychological safety, and adaptive leadership across the enterprise.
• Champion the organization’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging (EDIAB), Truth and Reconciliation, and anti-racism initiatives.

Talent Strategy & Leadership Development

• Oversee leadership assessment and development programs across all levels.
• Develop internal and external succession pipelines in coordination with the CEO and Board.
• Align people strategy to business strategy, especially during expansion, restructuring, or integration.
• Oversee the full employee lifecycle including attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development, performance management, succession planning, and retention.
• Guide staff development, and leadership pipeline programs.

Employee Relations & Compliance Excellence

• Oversee total rewards, workforce planning and employee relations.
• Oversee the design and administration of competitive and equitable compensation, benefits, and rewards programs.
• Promote employee health, safety, and holistic wellbeing, including mental health supports.
• Oversee resolution of disputes and management of risk related to people practices.
• Ensure compliance with all labor laws, health & safety regulations, and governance standards.
• Provide regular reporting to the executive team and Board on people and culture metrics

People Leadership

• Lead a team of staff and ensure that team members understand role expectations
• Appraise individual and team performance; continually assessing for quality and output levels and determining future resourcing needs
• Engage with the team members to ensure adequate training is provided and tools / resources are supporting workflow and quality output.

Let’s Talk About You
You're a strategic and people-focused leader with extensive experience shaping organizational culture, leading high-performing teams, and driving business success through people strategies.

You bring deep expertise in talent management, organizational development, change leadership, and employee relations, along with a strong commitment to fostering inclusive, equitable, and engaging workplaces where people and organizations can thrive.

Education
Undergraduate degree in Human Resources or Business Administration.
A Masters degree would be considered an asset.

Experience
At least 15 years working within HR, with at least 5 years in a senior management position.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Able to pivot quickly to changing priorities/tasks/deadlines and looks for creative or alternative ways to enable workflow.
• Progressive senior leadership experience in Human Resources.
• Proven success designing and implementing people strategies in dynamic environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in DEI, change management, and organizational development.
• Knowledge of relevant employment laws and regulations within Canada and Alberta.
• High emotional intelligence and trust-building

• Strategic influence and board-level communication

• Navigates ambiguity and leads through complexity

• Enterprise thinking and cross-functional leadership

• Financial and operational literacy

• Talent stewardship and succession planning

What's In It For You
CED offers more than a competitive base salary to our employees. We have a comprehensive benefit plan that includes 100% employer paid benefit premiums, RRSP’s, a health care spending account, and a generous vacation and flex time policy. We are committed to our employee’s mental health and offer resilience training with Headversity, free counselling with an EAP program, in addition to paramedical coverage through our medical benefits plan.

CED encourages and supports life-long learning and professional development. Employees are encouraged to access up to $2500 per year of funded professional development training opportunities. If you are looking for purpose driven work and are interested in joining us on our mission to diversify Calgary’s economy, we invite you to apply.

EDI Commitment Statement
Calgary Economic Development celebrates diversity and is committed to advancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Through EDI, we create a path to success for all our employees, where they have equal opportunity for advancement, have the voice to contribute to our collective growth and development and work in an inclusive environment.

We strongly believe in accessibility in the work we do and welcome requests to make the hiring process as accessible as possible. Accommodations are available for candidates on request during all aspects of the selection process. Please advise at any point and we will do our best to work with you to meet your needs.

Calgary Economic Development adheres to the Alberta Human Rights Code.

We encourage applications from Indigenous peoples and persons of all races, ethnic origins, religions, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities and expressions. Please be aware that Calgary Economic Development is committed to having a safe work environment.

To Apply
Interested candidates should submit their cover letter and resume in confidence to:
calgaryeconomic.bamboohr.com/careers by 3:00pm, October 27, 2026.

Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.