Manager, Solutions & Support

About Us

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is leading the transformation of the early years and public education system in Nova Scotia. We are doing this by designing an innovative curriculum, facilitating excellence in teaching and learning, ensuring an inclusive education experience, and working closely with our partners in education. This department is a perfect fit for those that want to be part of the future of early learning and child care and public education in the province by supporting children, students and families with a strong foundation for success in a progressive and responsive policy environment.

We’re looking for an exceptional leader who shares our vision of transforming the early learning and child care system in the province – one that focuses on creating quality programs that are inclusive, affordable, and accessible.

About Our Opportunity

As Manager, Business Solutions and Support, you will be accountable for the development and execution of a business solutions and IT systems strategy for the Early Learning and Child Care branch. In this exciting role, you will work in a highly collaborative team environment which will require close coordination with others to achieve success. You will utilize human centered design principles and an agile management approach, and foster a culture of innovation and continuous quality improvement. 

The Manager supports the vision, roadmap, and deliverables for the branch's business solutions and IT systems strategy. The Manager will work with a team of analysts, subject matter experts, and other partners to ensure business needs are met with current and future IT solutions. They will provide insight into the development, execution and monitoring of the roadmap, and ensure solutions deliver on the capabilities needed. 

As an individual contributor, this role exercises considerable judgement and initiative to solve complex problems and works closely with internal and external partners, including vendors. The ideal candidate will support the transition from legacy applications while leading new technology initiatives aimed at modernizing our ways of working. 

Primary Accountabilities

As Manager, Business Solutions and Support, you will be responsible for:

• Working closely with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Department of Cyber Security and Digital Solutions (CSDS) to support the development and implementation of the division’s business solutions and IT strategy and roadmap.

• Lead the branch's continuous improvement efforts that are aligned with the IT strategy and roadmap.

• Bringing your high-quality technical knowledge to the Early Learning and Child Care team to help drive the transformation that enables digital public services and a high-quality, efficient working environment.

• Leading user-centered product development, enhancements, and management approaches to ensure alignment with the division’s priorities, ensuring flexible system designs that have the ability to adapt as a system of child care is developed in Nova Scotia.

• Developing and implementing strategies for effective identification of business and user needs and the translation of said needs to technical resources during a time of significant transformational change.

• Working with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to identify process improvements and facilitate business process redesign to visualize new and improved ways of working.
• Leading project status updates, developing change management strategies, and supporting ongoing communication/engagement planning with internal and external partners.
• Establishing and maintaining relationships with partners across the organization to communicate status, align priorities, and ensure operational support is in place.

• Negotiating, scheduling, coordinating, and facilitating IT solution releases with technical partners; managing risks; and resolving issues related to system functionality, release plans, and implementation.

• Working closely with technical partners and the business to prioritize bug fixes, enhancements, and new products to align with EECD strategic direction. 

Qualifications and Experience

To be considered for this opportunity, you have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field with at least 5 years of related experience, including work on large information technology initiatives. An equivalent combination of training and experience will be considered. 

To be successful in this role, you will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Proven track record in a leadership role in a project-based environment designing and implementing business solutions and IT systems.
• Experience identifying and formulating business and system requirements and the ability to communicate complex business needs to technical resources.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary and diverse project teams towards a shared goal and outcomes.
• A high degree of problem-solving skills to introduce, promote, and implement new ideas and resolve conflicts and concerns as they arise.
• Strong research, analytical, negotiating, and facilitation skills, with the ability to develop and achieve goals and objectives.
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion and will actively promote and encourage the importance of teams, people, partnerships, diversity, and culture
• Ability to foster a culture of service excellence and a commitment to idea generation, innovation and continuous quality improvement with respect to operational processes within the division and branch
• Extensive experience in project and portfolio management, program research and development, procurement and budgetary processes, and risk management/mitigation principles and practices.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills (verbal and written) and the ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with internal and external partners.
• Ability to resolve issues, identify trends, and use data to inform decision making. 
• Excellent time management and organizational skills. 

We will assess the above qualifications and competencies using one or more of the following tools: oral presentations, interview(s), and reference checks.

Equivalency

Applicants relying on education and experience equivalencies must demonstrate such equivalencies in their application.

Benefits

Based on the employment status and union agreement, the Government of Nova Scotia offers its employees a wide range of benefits such as a Defined Benefit Pension Plan, Health, Dental, Life Insurance, General illness, Short and Long Term Disability, Vacation and Employee and Family Assistance Programs.  For information on all our Benefit program offerings, click here: Benefits for government employees.

Working Conditions

• Have a valid Nova Scotia driver’s license.
• Work in a comfortable office setting.
• Periodic travel to other locations within the province may be required.
• Your normal work week is 35 hours/week, 7 hours/day. 

Additional Information

Please note this is a term opportunity with an anticipated end date of March 31, 2028; however, the status of the opportunity (Term/Temporary) is dependent on the start date of the successful candidate, and the overall duration in accordance with the collective agreement). 

What We Offer

• Career Development where you have access to career guidance, tools, resources, and ongoing training for every stage of your career
• Engaging workplace: our Employees feel valued, respected, connected, and tuned in, we have forward-thinking policies and strategies
• Countless career paths
• Department specific flexible working schedules