Director, Health Equity Indigenous Populations

At Ontario Health, we are committed to developing a strong organizational culture that connects and inspires all team members across the province. Our vision is that together, we will be a leader in health and wellness for all. Our mission is to connect the health system to drive improved and equitable health outcomes, experiences and value. How we work together is reflected through our five values: integrity, inspiration, tenacity, humility and care.

• Fully paid medical, dental and vision coverage from your first day

• a health care spending account

• a premium defined benefit pension plan

• three personal days and two float days annually

• three weeks' vacation to start (for individual contributors), increasing to four weeks after two years

• career development opportunities

• a collaborative values-based team culture

• a wellness program

• a hybrid working model

• participation in Communities of Inclusion

Want to make a difference in your career? Consider this opportunity.

The Director, Health Equity - Indigenous Populations, reports to the Vice President Health Equity and Priority Populations, will provide direct leadership and supervision to the Indigenous Health Equity Team to develop the structures, processes, and organizational culture to collaboratively advance Indigenous health equity across the Ontario Health Northern Region. The Director, will develop and maintain strong relationships with internal departments within Ontario Health North, and partners within divisions of Ontario Health to optimize Indigenous health planning and engagement with Northern Indigenous people and communities.

The Director is responsible for implementing the Indigenous Health Equity Action Plan, including an evaluation plan in order to develop and implement a long-term Indigenous Health Equity Strategy Plan that will continue to assist with and sustain transformational activities within Indigenous health planning and engagement, predominantly aligned with the entire Northern Region. The Director will also be accountable to provide reports to executives and partners that demonstrate the impact of Indigenous health equity planning and programs, and ensure programs are operating efficiently and are in alignment with achieving the goals under the Ontario North Regional Business Plan.

Here is what you will be doing:

• Lead the advancement of a foundational approach to develop resources to support staff in working through an Indigenous health equity lens and support for an organizational culture that embodies the philosophies of equity, inclusion, diversity and anti-racism.

• Lead the creation of a regional Indigenous Health Equity Advisory Committee.

• Advise on ensuring an Indigenous health equity lens is included in the work of approved and developing Ontario Health Teams.

• Guide through collaboration with staff to help reduce barriers to accessing services while improving overall health system navigation for Indigenous people living in the Ontario Regions.

• Provide advice and input from the planning and performance perspective for the development of Indigenous community health plans for stakeholders, planning, and the senior leadership team.

• Identity current state gaps and create opportunities for community involvement for strategies with health equity best practices applied.

• Monitor and report on regional activities to ensure achievement of regional performance objectives (e.g. Annual Business Planning and Reporting).

• Maintain a strong awareness and understanding of broader and regional health system environment and develop strategies to support local health planning.

• Keep up to date records on community engagement outcomes and monitors best practices in community engagement, inclusion and communication methodologies.

• Identify emerging issues in the Indigenous community that require a communications response including liaison with provincial and federal partners, other stakeholders as required, and support the management of a response to high risk issues.

• Act as the expert to organizational planners, integration and performance staff to identify and provide advice on Indigenous community engagement objectives and the selection and use of appropriate methodologies.

• Provide technical planning expertise in the analysis of data and information that assists in determining local health-care system plans and priorities related to the Indigenous population.

• Participate in and contribute to provincial and regional planning activities where required.

• Lead the coordination and delivery of Indigenous community engagement events including planning and logistics.

• Provide facilitation at Indigenous community events to lead group discussions on complex health issues.

• Maintain an updated inventory of the Indigenous communities' key leaders, Health Directors, profile of the community and programs and services provided at the community level.

• Establish and maintain an updated centralized resource on Indigenous community groups for internal planning use.

• Support project plans, and assists with setting priorities, provide support in identifying required budget allocations for Indigenous health planning and community engagement.

• Maintains an awareness of current issues in the health care system to drive innovation and conduct tests of changes, particularly related to the integrated care planning strategic priorities and key result areas with a particular emphasis on OHT issues related to the implementation of change initiatives

• Leads key provincial, cross-regional and regional initiatives across region with cross-functional teams.

• Directs the day to day work of the program, setting priorities, dealing with senior management on requests, ensuring quality of work in consultation with the VP, Health System Strategy, Planning, Design and Implementation.

• Responsible for development and approval of project implementation plans.

• Identifies, assesses, and manages risks affecting project deliverables.

• Lead regular team meetings to set goals and monitor department performance.

• Develop, support and evaluate the performance of the team members, assign work and projects, monitor and adjust workloads as required.

Here is what you will need to be successful:

Education and Experience

• Master's degree in health or business administration or equivalent education/experience

• 7 years' work experience in the public or private sector in a health care sector

• Minimum 5 years' experience leading/managing teams (direct or indirect), utilizing relationship building and management skills

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent knowledge of community resources (e.g., services and programs), the roles of health care professionals and of direct care/care coordination models used in community health care organizations.

• Experience working with government and non-governmental funded organizations and understanding of OH regional mandate and their role within the broader health system.

• Understanding of organizations, health policy and decision-making to guide corporate-wide transformation.

• Strategic thinking and analysis knowledge and experience to conceive, produce, implement, and monitor strategic policies and long-term plans and to anticipate and capitalize on emerging trends, requirements, and opportunities.

• Knowledge of current research methodology/policy development tools and techniques, particularly as they pertain to analyzing and assessing system-wide funding, integrated care, health human resources and delivery models.

• Ability to apply knowledge of government decision making process to influence policy development and impact policy and delivery outcomes.

• Ability to conceptualize and grasp a broad range of complicated issues and concerns; problem solving skill to identify, evaluate and resolve/manage complex policy issues, problems, and processes.

• Excellent abilities to analyze and interpret complex information to deliver a solution that meets business needs including prioritization.

• Exceptional experience in effective strategic planning, budgeting, research, resource allocation, analytics, and policy processes.

• Extensive experience in building and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships.

• Demonstrated ability to facilitate meetings and mediate among stakeholder groups and individuals to solicit understanding and support.

• Demonstrated knowledge of change management principles.

• Experience with project management methodologies such as those promoted by Project Management Institute (PMI) to manage multiple and concurrent projects.

• Proficient use of computer software and equipment such as Microsoft Windows, MS office, MS Teams.

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Location: Northern Ontario (currently hybrid; subject to change). All applicants must be a resident of Ontario to be considered for roles at Ontario Health.

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