Vice President, People and Culture

We acknowledge that we are on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People and that we are governed by the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1725. The Mi’kmaq People have cared for the land for thousands of years and continue to do so. With this acknowledgment, we remember the history, and honour the presence and resilience of Indigenous people here today.

Located in beautiful Charlottetown, the University of Prince Edward Island enjoys a prominent position as the Province’s only university and as a centre for intellectual, social, cultural, and economic activity. Established in 1969, UPEI’s ten Faculties and two Schools, which includes the Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies, offer a wide range of programs and degrees to more than 5,465 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students from around the world. UPEI employs approximately 1000 staff and faculty members along with 500 casual and student employees. The University has recently established a Faculty of Medicine to house a regional campus of Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine which will accept its first students in the fall of 2025. With this Faculty’s establishment, UPEI joins a small and exclusive cohort of only four other universities in Canada who offer both a veterinary school and medical school. With an operating budget of over $183m, UPEI is home to six Canada Research Chairs and nine 3M National Teaching Fellows. UPEI is one of Atlantic Canada’s finest universities, and a significant economic and cultural contributor to the region. With an ever-increasing number of graduate students and enrolment diversity, UPEI is a dynamic, growing University. The UPEI community is energized by this growth – both in people and programs – and is excited about the future.

The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) seeks an inaugural Vice-President, People and Culture (VPPC).

Reporting to the President, and serving as an important member of the University’s Senior Executive Team of four Vice-Presidents, the VPPC provides leadership towards championing progressive people and culture strategies in alignment with the University’s mission and values, ensuring that UPEI is an employer of choice and a place where all members of the University community thrive, including staff, faculty, and students. Leading a new, dynamic, well-resourced portfolio that includes Human Resources, EDI and Human Rights, Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office, and the development of a Leadership Training Office at UPEI, the incoming Vice-President will lead four direct reports and will collaborate with all members of the University community to promote trust and well-being, advance equity and diversity, and foster a healthy, fair, inclusive, safe, and productive culture grounded in HR and EDI best practices and focused on exemplary HR service delivery in an academic setting.

The ideal candidate will have an advanced degree in a relevant field and several years of progressive leadership experience in human resources or a relevant area, ideally earned within a unionized post-secondary environment or in an organization of comparable complexity. This will include experience in labour relations, employee engagement and wellness, workplace relations, training and development, and recruitment and retention. The new VPPC will also bring an understanding of administering organizational equity, inclusion, human rights, and sexual violence prevention and response initiatives ideally in a campus community. The ability to build strong relationships of trust with stakeholders across campus and effective leadership of the evolving People and Culture team will be essential. The VPPC will bring a strategic mindset, deep commitment to human rights and procedural fairness, a leadership style that honors belonging, respect and responsiveness, and a passion for advancing UPEI’s institutional goals, fostering a University community where people want to be.

Consideration of applications will begin in October 2024 with the new VPPC to take office in April 2025. For more information, to apply, or to submit a nomination, please contact Andrea Patrick or Nick Ketley at upeivppc@odgersberndtson.com or via our website https://careers.odgersberndtson.com/en-ca/job/29870/. The base salary range for this position is from $221,906 to 238,969.

UPEI is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation and believes in providing a positive learning and working environment where every person feels empowered to contribute. UPEI is committed to the principle of equity in employment and encourages applications from underrepresented groups including women, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity, and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities. If you require accommodation in any part of the process, please direct your inquiries, in confidence, to UPEI’s HR Officer at hrofficer@upei.ca. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

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