Regional Manager, Apprenticeship Services

Skilled Trades Ontario (STO) is a provincial Crown agency responsible for modernizing training and certification and promoting the skilled trades as a rewarding and essential career pathway. Communications and stakeholder engagement are central to STO’s mandate, ensuring clear public understanding, strong industry partnerships, and trust across Ontario.

Skilled Trades Ontario is seeking a collaborative and service-oriented leader to serve as its Regional Manager, Apprenticeship Services.

Regional Manager, Apprenticeship Services

Reporting to the Director, Regional Operations, the Regional Manager will oversee regional apprenticeship services and lead a team of Apprenticeship Advisors responsible for supporting apprentices, employers, sponsors, journeypersons, training providers, and other stakeholders across the apprenticeship journey.

This is an important leadership role focused on strengthening apprenticeship participation, supporting apprentice progression and completion, improving the employer and apprentice experience, and ensuring consistent, responsive, and effective service delivery. The successful candidate will bring strong people leadership, stakeholder engagement, operational management, and issue-resolution skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across schools, community organizations, employers, training providers, and industry partners.

The role will also contribute to regional outreach and program awareness efforts, helping promote apprenticeship opportunities and skilled trades careers across Ontario.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead regional efforts to promote STO apprenticeship programs and skilled trades pathways to potential apprentices, employers, sponsors, schools, community organizations, and other stakeholders
• Manage and support a regional team of Apprenticeship Advisors responsible for outreach, engagement, direct support, and issue resolution
• Build and maintain effective relationships with regional employers, training providers, apprentices, educational institutions, community partners, and industry stakeholders
• Support the administration and delivery of apprenticeship services, including registration, training agreements, certification processes, and apprentice progression
• Monitor regional service delivery metrics, including registration, completion, exam, and service outcomes, and provide reporting and recommendations to leadership
• Manage escalated regional issues related to apprenticeship services, training agreements, certification matters, examinations, or other service delivery concerns
• Identify trends, service gaps, and opportunities for improvement in STO’s apprenticeship service delivery model
• Oversee regional examination administration and delivery services, including scheduling, invigilation coordination, exam security, results handling, accessibility, and compliance with applicable policies and standards

About You

You are an experienced people leader with strong stakeholder engagement, service delivery, and operational management experience. You are comfortable working in a public-facing environment and can balance regional responsiveness with consistency, accountability, and sound judgment.

You bring:

• Proven leadership and team management experience including a collaborative leadership style, with the ability to provide structure, coaching, accountability, and support to a regional team
• Experience in stakeholder relations, community engagement, partnership development, workforce development, education, employment services, skilled trades, apprenticeship services, or a related area
• Experience building and maintaining effective stakeholder relationships to support program awareness, service delivery, issue resolution, and successful outcomes.
• Strong communication, relationship-building, facilitation, and problem-solving skills
• Experience using data, reporting, and performance measures to assess program or service effectiveness
• Ability to engage effectively with diverse communities and underrepresented groups
• Knowledge of apprenticeship programs, skilled trades careers, certification processes, or related workforce development systems is an asset
• A Certified Trades Professional designation or skilled trades background is considered an asset

Candidates will typically bring post‑secondary education in education, public relations, strategic communications,