Director, Mental Health and Addictions (Operations)

Click here to apply as an internal applicant.

Company : IWK Health

Req ID: 201503
Department/Program: Mental Health And Addictions
Location: Halifax
Type of Employment: Permanent Hourly FT (100% FTE) x 1 position(s)
Start Date:
Union Status: Management, Management/Non Union Bargaining Unit
Compensation: $63.158 - $78.9478 /hour
Closing Date: April 28, 2025 (Applications are accepted until 23:59 Atlantic Time)

IWK Health is a respected academic health sciences centre located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing tertiary and primary care for two million children, youth, adults and families each year across the Atlantic region. We have a team of approximately 4000 employees, physicians, volunteers and learners at sites across Nova Scotia. People build careers with IWK Health with our focus on training and mentorship opportunities. We recognize each other’s talent and celebrate our successes. We collaborate in modern facilities or virtually from home, align our work to our values, and enjoy access to enhanced benefits and wellness programs. We are proud to support our patients, families and communities and are grateful for the generous donor support we receive.

Promoting an anti-racist environment, and calling out discrimination as we work and provide care, is important to us. We are located in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. Working in Mi’kma’ki and providing care to those across Atlantic Canada is a shared privilege with the original inhabitants who have lived here for many thousands of years prior to colonization. There are 13 First Nation communities across Nova Scotia, and more than 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities who also have a long, deep, and complex history dating back over 400 years. We have the highest percentage of people with disabilities in the country. Nova Scotia has the highest proportions of transgender and non-binary people than any other province or territory in the country. We are active in our work to eliminate discrimination, but have more work to do to build that trust, acknowledge our biases and reduce the barriers our diverse communities face. We want IWK Health to be a safe and supportive space of equity and belonging in the care we provide and the employment we offer. We welcome all interested persons who self-identify as Indigenous, Black/African Nova Scotians, Persons of Colour, Immigrants/Newcomers, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply to support our goal for our workforce to be representative of the patients, families, and communities that we care for at all job levels.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an Director, Mental Health and Addictions (Operations) program, to provide oversight the program operations and to support the advancement of health care for children, youth and families across Nova Scotia and in the Maritimes. Your leadership will be guided by our values and strategic plan. You will lead the program and the organization on the journey toward becoming a high reliability health care organization. You will build on the IWK's culture of person and family-centered care, leadership, and inter professional practice excellence. The Director will work in a co-leadership capacity with the Associate Chief of Psychiatry to develop and execute strategic priorities in care, learning and research.

Reporting to the VP, Clinical Care and Chief Nurse Executive, the Director provides an environment for participative decision-making, fosters engagement and shared governance within inter-professional teams. The Director develops accessible approaches for physician co-leadership and provides program, organizational and system-level leadership. As an organizational leader, you will work collaboratively to foster a learning and quality practice environment that is culturally and psychologically safe, and where safety, inter professional practice and patient and family-centred care are the foundations for the delivery of quality care, both within the health centre and across IWK community-based programs and services.

The Director will lead health services innovation by creating conditions to provide quality, safe and cost-effective family/person centered care. With a focus on sustainable health care, the Director provides leadership in the evaluation and ongoing co-design of models of care to optimize family input, scopes of practice and care delivery. The Director contributes to continuous process improvement and LEAN initiatives in health care services, including those achieved through collaboration with partners in the provincial health system. The Director address professional practice issues that relate to more than one profession, and ensure that professionals practice within professional standards, codes of ethics, and relevant legislation.

Hours of Work

Monday - Friday, 75 hours bi-weekly. Participation in On-call coverage is required.

Your Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in a health profession required; Equivalent experience and or alternative education may be considered.
Masters degree in Business Administration, Health Profession, Health Administration, or related subject required.
License, or eligible for licensure, with the appropriate health association/regulatory body in Nova Scotia required. Equivalent experience and/or alternative education or leadership experience may be considered.
A minimum of five (5) years of general healthcare leadership is required.
Minimum of three (3) years of demonstrated health care management in child and youth mental health and addictions considered and asset.
Minimum of three (3) years of pediatric healthcare management experience considered an asset.
Have coached, developed and led high performance teams with a strong track record of continuous improvement and measurable outcomes.
Ability to design and implement transformational change through systems thinking and a continuous quality improvement framework.
Excellent financial and budgeting skills and the ability to synthesize multiple data sources are essential to this role.
Demonstrated success in building collaborative relationships and teams and leading complex health care operations.
Expertise in developing and maintaining strategic partnerships. Above all, you have achieved these results through collaboration and well-honed project management skills.
Must be a skilled communicator with strong interpersonal and written skills.
Experience and training in cultural competence
Strong critical thinking, judgement and decision-making skills are required.
The IWK Health Centre endorses and evaluates its leaders using the LEADS in a Caring Environment Framework. As a result, we are also seeking and assessing final candidates, and their ability to develop other leaders, in the five key capabilities: Lead Self; Engage Others; Achieve Results; Develop Coalitions; Systems Transformation

Thank you for your interest in IWK Health.

Please note that we only contact applicants selected for interview/testing. If we invite you to participate in an assessment process (such as an interview or testing) you have the right to request accommodation. Please discuss your needs when invited to the assessment process.

This is a Management/Non Union bargaining unit position. Preference is given to bargaining unit employees for unionized positions. Successful applicants changing unions, bargaining units or employment status, are advised to seek clarification regarding their seniority, benefits, and vacation entitlement and/or usage, prior to accepting the position.

An offer of employment is conditional upon the completion and satisfactory results of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials.

If you are an employee of IWK Health, please apply through the internal careers page to ensure you are flagged as an internal applicant.

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