2026-0063 Senior Director, People & Culture

Job Type & Duration:  Full-time, Perm
Shift Information:  Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week
Affiliation:  SLT
Number of Positions Open:  1
Posting Period:  August 6, 2026 - August 19, 2026
POSITION DESCRIPTION  The Senior Director, People & Culture reports to the Vice President, People, Strategy & Transformation and serves as the senior operational leader for ESA's People & Culture portfolio. The role is responsible for translating People & Culture strategy into operational priorities and coordinating the delivery of workforce, talent, labour relations, total rewards, employee experience, and organizational development initiatives that support ESA’s strategic and operational objectives.
The Senior Director provides leadership across the People & Culture portfolio, supports the integration and delivery of people-related initiatives, and ensures the organization has the workforce capabilities, programs, and services required to support business performance and organizational change.
ROLE DESCRIPTION   Provides operational leadership across ESA’s People & Culture portfolio, coordinating priorities, resources, performance, and cross-functional delivery through the Talent & Organizational Development, Rewards & Employee Experience, and Labour Relations functions.
Provides leadership, coaching, and direction to the People & Culture leadership team, promoting accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and service excellence.
Leads the development and implementation of People & Culture plans and initiatives in support of the strategies established by the Vice President.
Oversees the People & Culture operating budget, ensuring effective stewardship of resources and alignment with organizational priorities.
Oversees the development, implementation, and regular review of People & Culture policies, frameworks, standards, and governance practices to ensure consistency, compliance, and organizational effectiveness.
Transforms strategic workforce priorities into operational plans, programs, and deliverables across the portfolio.
Monitors progress against People & Culture objectives and recommends adjustments as required.
Supports the implementation of workforce, talent, leadership, succession, culture, and employee experience strategies across ESA.
Provides integrated operational oversight across P&C functional areas, ensuring workforce, labour relations, talent, organizational development, rewards, employee experience, and health and safety activities are coordinated and aligned with approved priorities.
Champions inclusive leadership practices and supports initiatives that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging across ESA. Provides oversight of labour relations risks, trends, and escalations. Working closely with the Director, Labour Relations to ensure collective agreement obligations, union-management processes, and employee relations matters are effectively managed.
Monitors workforce risks, emerging issues, compliance requirements, and portfolio performance, and develops appropriate mitigation strategies while ensuring People & Culture programs, policies, and practices comply with legislative, regulatory, and collective agreement obligations.
Escalates significant workforce, labour relations, organizational, and compliance matters to the Vice President as appropriate.
Supports executive reporting, workforce analytics, audits, and governance activities
Supports and operationalizes workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, and organizational design initiatives in alignment with strategic direction established by the Vice President.
Leads the people-related components of organizational change initiatives, including workforce readiness, employee engagement, communications alignment, and implementation support.
Partners with leaders across ESA to ensure people considerations are appropriately incorporated into business initiatives and decisions.
Ensures the People & Culture team has the capabilities, capacity, and support required to meet organizational needs.
Builds trusted relationships with Executive Leadership Team members and senior leaders to provide operational…