Chief Administrative Officer

Institute of Public Administration of Canada; Calgary; On-site; CAD 200,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Calgary is seeking a visionary Chief Administrative Officer to lead one of Canada’s largest municipalities. Reporting to City Council, the CAO will shape strategy and ensure execution across a multi-disciplinary organization with a multi‑billion budget and diverse services.

This is a high‑impact role focused on accountability, innovation and transformational change. The successful candidate will bring public sector leadership, strong political acumen, and a proven record of driving

Job description

The City of Calgary is one of Canada's largest, most dynamic and fastest-growing municipalities, serving more than 1.7 million residents and shaping the future of one of North America's most economically significant urban centres. Guided by a vision of making Calgary "a great place to make a living, a great place to make a life," through its 17,000 staff, the organization delivers an extensive portfolio of essential municipal services while stewarding critical infrastructure, advancing economic prosperity, and fostering resilient, inclusive communities. Known for its entrepreneurial culture, the City continues to strengthen its role as a destination for investment, talent, and opportunity while embracing it’s purpose to make life better every day.

Reporting directly to City Council, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) serves as the organization's most senior public servant and chief executive, leading one of Canada's most complex municipal administrations. The CAO provides strategic leadership to the Executive Leadership Team, ensuring Council's vision is translated into effective execution while overseeing enterprise-wide operations and financial stewardship of its approximately $5B operating and $3.8B capital annual budgets. Working closely with Council, employees and the city's 10 unions, Indigenous Nations, regional partners, other orders of government, businesses, and the community, the CAO will champion innovation, organizational excellence and collaboration while ensuring Calgary continues to deliver exceptional services to a rapidly growing and evolving city.

The preferred candidate will be a trusted voice and bring a distinguished record of C-suite leadership within a large, complex, multi-disciplinary organization, with responsibility for enterprise-wide operations, strategic execution, and organizational performance. Experience working in publicly accountable environments, ideally municipal government or similar public sector/crown corporations, is preferred. A diversity of experience including exposure to the private sector is seen as beneficial. An authentic, values-driven leader, the successful candidate will possess exceptional political acuity, enterprise thinking and financial stewardship, complemented by a demonstrated ability to lead transformational change while fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Equally comfortable providing non-partisan advice to elected officials as engaging employees, community partners and the public, the ideal candidate will be trusted by Council and respected by senior leadership and inspire confidence by maintaining a focus on Council's priorities.

A connected, community-oriented place to build a life, nestled between the mountains and the Prairies, Calgary is consistently ranked among the best cities to live in the world. As CAO, this is a rare opportunity to shape the future of one of Canada's great cities as Calgary continues to experience remarkable population growth, economic diversification, and increasing international recognition. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy by guiding a high-performing organization through its next chapter of growth while improving the quality of life for generations of Calgarians.

We thank all applicants for their interest in this position. Please note that we will only be in contact with those individuals moving forward with our client.