Vice President Community Relations

Northlands College; La Ronge; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Northlands College seeks an Associate Vice President, Community Relations & Post-Secondary Liaison for an 18-month term, reporting to the President & CEO. Based in northern Saskatchewan (La Ronge, Creighton or Buffalo Narrows), the role leads community relations, university programming, and pathway development to advance northern educational opportunities.

The successful candidate will influence strategic planning, build partnerships, and oversee budget and priorities aligned with northern

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in Education, Indigenous Studies, Public Administration, Leadership, or related discipline; Master’s degree asset.
• Minimum seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience in post-secondary education, Indigenous organizations, government, or related sector.
• Experience building and sustaining relationships with Indigenous communities, northern organizations, government partners, and post-secondary institutions.
• Knowledge of post-secondary education systems, learner pathways, and Saskatchewan’s Regional College environment.
• Knowledge of Indigenous engagement principles, reconciliation, and relationship-based planning and decision-making.
• Excellent communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, stakeholder engagement, analytical, budgeting, planning, reporting, and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Participate as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and contribute to organizational planning, strategic direction, executive-level decision-making, and long-term institutional priorities.
• Provide leadership for community relations, university programming, educational pathways, post-secondary development, business development, government relations, partnership initiatives, and regional engagement.
• Build and sustain meaningful relationships with Indigenous governments, northern communities, universities, colleges, industry, government ministries, employers, and community organizations.
• Advance post-secondary liaison work to support learner pathways, program alignment, transfer opportunities, collaborative delivery models, and improved access to education in northern Saskatchewan.
• Lead assigned strategic initiatives and special projects on behalf of the President & CEO, including community-based educational needs assessments, partnership development, externally funded initiatives, and programming renewal work.
• Develop and manage assigned budgets, monitor expenditures, assess financial implications, and recommend resource allocation aligned with strategic and operational priorities.
• Identify and support external funding opportunities, grants, sponsorships, and partnership investments that strengthen educational access, program sustainability, and organizational capacity.
• Exercise sound independent judgement on matters affecting organizational reputation, institutional priorities, partnerships, funding opportunities, stakeholder relationships, service delivery, and operational risk.
• Provide leadership, oversight, supervision, coaching, performance feedback, and accountability for assigned projects, initiatives, and staff resources.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Budgeting

Planning

Negotiation

Communication

Problem solving

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor degree in Education, Indigenous Studies, Public Administration, Leadership, or related discipline

Master’s degree (asset)

Job description

Northlands College is seeking a strategic, relationship-driven executive leader to serve as Associate Vice President, Community Relations & Post-Secondary Liaison for 18 months beginning September 2026. This out-of-scope position is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and plays a key role in advancing the College’s relationships with northern Saskatchewan communities, Indigenous governments, industry, educational institutions, and government partners.

Reporting to the President & CEO, the Associate Vice President ensures that community priorities, labour market needs, northern perspectives, and post-secondary partnership opportunities inform the College’s strategic direction, long-term programming decisions, and service delivery models. This is a significant leadership role for an individual who can build trust, influence outcomes, and advance education pathways that respond to the needs of northern learners and communities.

Location: This position will be based out of one of Northlands College’s three campuses in northern Saskatchewan: La Ronge/Air Ronge, Creighton, or Buffalo Narrows.

The Opportunity

The successful candidate will provide executive leadership for community relations, university programming, post-secondary pathway development, business development, government relations, partnership initiatives, and assigned strategic projects. A key focus of the role will be advancing relationship-based educational needs assessment work with northern communities and post-secondary partners, including work being developed jointly by Northlands College and the University of Saskatchewan.

The Associate Vice President will also support the development of a strategic plan to direct the $2.6 million allocated to University Programming in a way that reflects northern priorities, strengthens educational pathways, supports partnership commitments, and contributes to the long-term reshaping of programming at Northlands College.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and contribute to organizational planning, strategic direction, executive-level decision-making, and long-term institutional priorities.
• Provide leadership for community relations, university programming, educational pathways, post-secondary development, business development, government relations, partnership initiatives, and regional engagement.
• Build and sustain meaningful relationships with Indigenous governments, northern communities, universities, colleges, industry, government ministries, employers, and community organizations.
• Advance post-secondary liaison work to support learner pathways, program alignment, transfer opportunities, collaborative delivery models, and improved access to education in northern Saskatchewan.
• Lead assigned strategic initiatives and special projects on behalf of the President & CEO, including community-based educational needs assessments, partnership development, externally funded initiatives, and programming renewal work.
• Develop and manage assigned budgets, monitor expenditures, assess financial implications, and recommend resource allocation aligned with strategic and operational priorities.
• Identify and support external funding opportunities, grants, sponsorships, and partnership investments that strengthen educational access, program sustainability, and organizational capacity.
• Exercise sound independent judgement on matters affecting organizational reputation, institutional priorities, partnerships, funding opportunities, stakeholder relationships, service delivery, and operational risk.
• Provide leadership, oversight, supervision, coaching, performance feedback, and accountability for assigned projects, initiatives, and staff resources.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a respected, collaborative, and politically astute leader with a strong understanding of northern Saskatchewan’s social, economic, educational, and cultural landscape. They will bring demonstrated experience in strategic planning, community engagement, partnership development, policy development, and program planning, along with the ability to work effectively across Indigenous, government, industry, community, and post-secondary sectors.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in Education, Indigenous Studies, Public Administration, Leadership, or a related discipline; a master’s degree would be considered an asset.
• Minimum seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience in post-secondary education, Indigenous organizations, government, community development, or a related sector.
• Demonstrated experience building and sustaining relationships with Indigenous communities, northern organizations, government partners, and post-secondary institutions.
• Strong knowledge of post-secondary education systems, learner pathways, and Saskatchewan’s Regional College environment.
• Knowledge of Indigenous engagement principles, reconciliation, and relationship-based approaches to planning and decision-making.
• Excellent communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, stakeholder engagement, analytical, budget, planning, reporting, and problem-solving skills.
• High degree of professionalism, confidentiality, political acuity, and independent judgement.

Additional Requirements

• Must be a resident of northern Saskatchewan.
• Flexibility to work evenings and weekends when required.
• Ability to travel extensively throughout northern Saskatchewan, including overnight stays and travel on gravel roads.
• Satisfactory Criminal Record Check is a condition of employment.
• Ability to speak Cree and/or Dene is considered an asset.
• Ability to represent Northlands College professionally at local, regional, provincial, and national events and meetings.

Why Join Northlands College?

This is an opportunity to help shape the future of post-secondary education in northern Saskatchewan. The Associate Vice President will play a central role in strengthening partnerships, advancing educational access, supporting northern learners, and ensuring community voices and Indigenous perspectives inform the College’s long-term academic and strategic direction.

Territory Acknowledgement

We acknowledge Northlands College operates on Treaties 5, 6, 8 & 10 Territories and the Homeland of the Metis. We pay respect to the First Nation and Metis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Northlands College is dedicated to fostering environments where we live, learn, and work that embody equity, diversity, and inclusion. To advance these values, we seek individuals who demonstrate the ability to engage respectfully and productively with diverse perspectives and navigate power dynamics constructively. We strongly encourage applications from those who identify with groups that have historically faced barriers to equity and full participation.