Digital Talent Specialist

Sign up for digital job alerts

Join us

Join the Ontario Digital Service (ODS) and help build the teams that are delivering the future of government services.

People are at the heart of the ODS mission to ensure government works for everyone. As a member of the ODS Talent Team, you will play an important role in the attraction, engagement and retention of the ODS' greatest asset, our people.

We're a small team working in an agile environment. We're looking for someone to help build the teams that deliver the digital products and services we use every day like ontario.ca, the Ontario Data Catalogue, and so much more.

The ODS Talent Team is unique in government, and focuses on three important streams of work:

1. Bringing digital talent into government, increasing digital capacity inside the public service, and creating the strategy to build and retain the talent pipeline;
2. Supporting that talent by being responsible for the end-to-end employee experience; and,
3. Reimaging the approach to talent and people processes.

What can I expect to do in this role?

The Digital Talent Specialist's role's priority will be to develop and implement a strategy to make the ODS an employer of choice for technology and digital professionals. Currently, we are particularly focused on recruiting for DevOps, Front-End Development, and Data Engineering—all important areas of work that are in heavy demand across the industry.

In this role, you will:

• Create and implement a strategy to attract and retain tech talent and establish the ODS as a digital employer of choice. This will include a wide range of tactics including technical recruitment approaches and modern tech sourcing techniques. The strategy will also work to provide a compelling and engaging candidate experience.
• Provide advice and recommendations to ODS leadership and other partners on leading digital talent and technical recruitment and retention practices. We want to make sure we're keeping pace with industry trends, always raising the bar, and challenging ourselves to try new things in all aspects of our work.
• Support the development of a career growth pathway for our core disciplines: experience design, product management, technology, content design, data and analytics, and digital policy.
• Help develop and implement an ODS and enterprise digital talent strategy. This will allow you to dive deep into strategic work and examine the full scope of people processes to attract, onboard, develop, engage, and retain high-performing employees.

We're always looking for great talent and we're looking for the right person to help us do it all. We know that the best Talent experts come from a variety of backgrounds and have diverse skill sets. If you're always looking to learn new things, are a proactive, strategic thinker and comfortable with self-direction, then we encourage you to apply!

How do I qualify?

Technical recruitment and people operations

• You understand the challenges of and have experience recruiting for technical roles in a competitive environment. You have a working knowledge of technical language, an understanding of essential technical skills, and a comfort with sourcing techniques–all to build a high-quality pool of candidates for the technical roles we're looking to fill.
• You have a basic understanding of human resources and people management principles, best practices, and procedures. This includes a willingness to explore relevant acts, standards, regulations, and contracts which will help us in the areas of recruitment, retention, training and development, and organizational development.

Consultation, relationship management, and communication

• You build strong relationships and have a service-oriented mindset.
• You are able to use your knowledge and expertise to advise partners, influence change, and address issues and concerns from various clients and stakeholders.
• You have an understanding of user-centered design principles and its importance in creating policies, products, and processes. You know how important it is to respond to user needs through continuous, iterative improvement.
• You have strong verbal and written communication skills, and are comfortable preparing reports and delivering presentations about your work to diverse audiences, including senior leaders.

Strategic planning and project management

• You have experience managing complex projects, and can lead concurrent projects from concept to implementation to evaluation.
• You have the strategic planning skills to lead transformation and change initiatives.

Concepts and analysis

• You have experience as a conceptual thinker with strong research skills, and can understand and analyze complicated issues to come up with innovative responses, options, and solutions–particularly in light of applicable legislation, directives, policies, and guidelines.

If this sounds like you, or if you relate to any of the above skills and expertise, we want to hear from you! We're looking for a person with the right mix of knowledge, experience, and willingness to learn–someone who is committed to the work we do for Ontarians and wants to be part of a team making a difference.

Additional information

The Ontario Digital Service is very serious about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We apply that lens to every piece of our work. Traditional schooling is only one of many paths to knowledge and experience. If you're interested and feel you're a good fit for the role, apply. We encourage applications from people with disabilities, Indigenous, Black, and racialized people, people from diverse ethnic and cultural origins, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.

The Ontario Digital Service is a remote-friendly organization and encourages productivity and work-life balance. While this position is headquartered at 595 Bay Street in Toronto, if interested in this position we encourage you to apply as flexible work arrangements may be considered.

We try to recruit as fast as we can, but hiring the right candidate takes time. Currently, the average recruitment can take up to 4 months. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

For more information about the ODS, please check out the links below:

• About Us
• Jobs at the ODS
• Digital Service Standard
• COVID-19: Digital Rapid Response
• Sign Up For Job Posting Alerts

OPS commitment to diversity, inclusion, accessibility and anti-racism

We are committed to build a workforce that reflects the communities we serve and to promote a diverse, anti-racist, inclusive, accessible, merit-based, respectful and equitable workplace. We invite all interested individuals to apply and encourage applications from people with disabilities, Indigenous, Black, and racialized individuals, as well as people from a diversity of ethnic and cultural origins, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.

Visit the OPS Anti-Racism Policy and the OPS Diversity and Inclusion Blueprint to learn more about the OPS commitment to advancing racial equity, diversity and inclusion.

The OPS offers employment accommodation across the recruitment process and all aspects of employment consistent with the requirements of Ontario's Human Rights Code. Refer to the application instructions below if you require a disability-related accommodation.

Job details

• Job title: Digital Talent Specialist
• Job ID: 184777
• Organization: Ministry of Finance
• Area of government: Ontario Digital Service
• Location: Toronto
• Salary: $74,877.00 - $110,338.00 per year
• Job term: 2 Temporary - up to 12 months with possibility for extension
• Hours of work: 36.25/week (Schedule 6)
• Compensation group: Management Compensation Plan
• Job code: I0902A - Human Resources 42

Apply online   View job description

How to apply

• You must apply online
• Your cover letter and resume combined should not exceed five (5) pages. For tips and tools on how to write a concise cover letter and resume, review the writing a cover letter and resume: tips, tools and resources
• Customize your cover letter and resume to the qualifications listed on the job ad. Using concrete examples, you must show how you demonstrated the requirements for this job. We rely on the information you provide to us.
• Read the job description to make sure you understand this job.
• Please do not include shortened URLs, because your application may not reach us (e.g. https://goo.gl/8lvNl6)
• Ontario Public Service employees are required to quote their WIN employee ID number when applying
• If you require a disability related accommodation in order to participate in the recruitment process, please Contact Us to provide your contact information. Recruitment Services staff will contact you within 48 hours.

We’re accepting submissions until Monday, September 19, 2022 11:59 pm EDT.
Late applications will not be accepted.

All external applicants (including former employees of the Ontario Public Service) applying to a competition in a ministry or Commission public body must disclose (either in the cover letter or resume) previous employment with the Ontario Public Service. Disclosure must include positions held, dates of employment and any active restrictions as applicable from being rehired by the Ontario Public Service. Active restrictions can include time and/or ministry-specific restrictions currently in force, and may preclude a former employee from being offered a position with the Ontario Public Service for a specific time period (e.g. one year), or from being offered a position with a specific ministry (either for a pre-determined time period or indefinitely). The circumstances around an employee's exit will be considered prior to an offer of employment.

We thank you for your interest. Only those selected for further screening or an interview will be contacted.

Job advertisements for positions that have been designated bilingual will be provided in both English and French. Positions that are not designated bilingual are not translated and are displayed in English only.