Senior Equity Evaluation Advisor

About Us

The Office of Equity and Anti-Racism (OEA) works across government with partners and communities and public service employees, to help lead and support government’s equity and anti-racism work. In July 2024, our mandate was expanded to include both an internal and external focus.  
 

• For public service employees—we work to promote and advance equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility and to create a culturally responsive workplace; and  

• For all Nova Scotians—we work to identify and address systemic racism, barriers, and inequities in government policy, legislation, programs and services. 
   

We are an energetic team with a positive attitude and determination to make a difference by applying an all of government approach. Our team strives to be representative of the communities we serve and we strongly value diversity. 
 

If you are interested in making a difference and wish to join a strong team who strive to achieve change, we are interested in hearing from you! 

About Our Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced Program Evaluator to support equity evaluation work undertaken by OEA, as well as developing resources for government departments and providing advice to inform their own evaluation work. This role is also crucial to evaluating and reporting on government’s progress to meeting commitments identified in the Dismantling Racism and Hate Act and the Equity and Anti-Racism Strategy.  
 

OEA is one of the few offices of its kind across Canada. The mandate is broad as it is tasked with combating racism and resolving inherent biases and institutional processes that result in inequities and racism. The Advisor will be the primary lead in developing new and innovative approaches and methodologies for strategy and system evaluation to support this mandate. In doing so, the Advisor will also lead the development of an evaluation culture both within OEA and across government, both broadly and focused in the area of equity and anti-racism.   

Primary Accountabilities

The Advisor plays a critical role in facilitating OEA's evidence-informed decision-making and leading evaluation and research initiatives that inform policy level options and recommendations with ultimate impacts for change across government in equity and anti-racism initiatives including: 

• Strategy priorities, directions 
• Provincial investment and/or de-investment 
• Equity system standards 
• Provincial policy, standards and regulations 

The Senior Equity Evaluation Advisor is responsible for the design and execution of a variety of assigned complex equity assessments, evaluations, and audits related to the Office's priorities. This position will also provide equity evaluation expertise and support to assist departments across government with equity and anti-racism initiatives. This work will require collaboration and partnerships between various departments, offices, and communities. They will establish best practice evaluation mechanisms to assess and report on progress, impacts and issues at the strategy and system levels. 

Qualifications and Experience

To be considered for this opportunity, you have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study, such as public administration or social sciences and several years of progressive experience. Preference will be given to applicants who are Credentialed Evaluators with the Canadian Evaluation Society. Experience working with underrepresented and underserved communities is required. An equivalent combination of training and experience may be considered. 

 
As the successful candidate, you are a motivated and resourceful individual who is effective at building and maintaining relationships and partnering with partners internal and external to OEA. You have experience developing and implementing evaluation frameworks and your expertise will ensure that they are equitable and address current and emerging social trends. You have experiencing supporting and leading multiple initiatives and projects simultaneously.  

Your ability to make sound and thoughtful decisions is critical to this role. You also apply strategic thinking in your work, with a focus on continuous improvement. You value the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion. You consider the diverse needs of individuals in your decision making while collaborating with partners and colleagues. 

As the successful candidate, you will have experience with analytical thinking; client orientation; adaptability & flexibility; effective interactive communication and outcome focus. You understand equity terms such as but not limited to equity, racism, discrimination, sexism. You are fully proficient in a Microsoft Office environment, including word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation tools.

Desired Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities:

• Applies analytic techniques in the evaluation of project objectives and implementation for the tasks including the feasibility, pilot and evaluation studies  
• Prepares comprehensive written reports, presentations and charts based on research, collection and analysis of data  
• Prepares evaluation reports of evidence-based findings, lessons learned, challenges and action items to support decision-making and planning  
• Oversees the development of technical assistance resources to support evaluation efforts  
• Designs study data collection instruments, including questionnaires, focus group moderator guides and semi-structured interview guides  
• Creates evaluation and analytical plans  
• Executes feasibility, pilot and evaluation studies, including identifying approaches, methodologies and timelines
   

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

Assets:

Experience working with the following communities will be considered an asset: 

• Mi’kmaw and Persons of Indigenous descent; 
• African Nova Scotians and Persons of African descent;  
• Persons of Colour; 
• Newcomers (immigrants and refugees);  
• 2SLGBTQIA+--2 Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Biromantic, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic and others whose identities are not reflected;  
• Persons with disabilities (physical and mental); and 
• Persons who are neurodivergent. 

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.

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
• A dynamic, client-focused office environment where service excellence and teamwork are our focus.