Provincial Toponymist

**Department**:Service Nova Scotia

**Location**:AMHERST

**Type of Employment**:Permanent

**Union Status**:NSGEU - NSPG

**Closing Date**:11-Apr-24 (Applications are accepted until 11:59 PM Atlantic Time)

**Information Session**:
Please join us for a virtual information session for an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the two vacant GIS Officer 4 positions - Geomatics Project Administrator and Provincial Toponymist.

This session will be held on Wednesday, April 3rd, at 12:00pm AST and will be hosted by Colin MacDonald, Director, Geographic Information Service and Laura Roy, Manager, GIS Operations.

Microsoft Teams meeting

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Meeting ID: 281 060 107 170
Passcode: ALepck

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**About Us**:
At Service Nova Scotia, we impact every citizen, business, and municipality in Nova Scotia. Our mandate is to design and deliver programs and services to meet the needs of our clients and the public good through a culture of excellence. Service Nova Scotia’s vision is to be recognized leader in service and public protection that delivers trusted, accessible, modern programs, and contributes to Nova Scotia as a safe and desirable place to live, work and do business. To learn more about our department, please click here.

GeoNOVA is the provincial mapping program, providing geomatics solutions for departments and agencies across provincial government. GeoNOVA’s vision is to ensure geographic information supports the Government of Nova Scotia in achieving excellence in decision making and service delivery.

Located in Amherst, NS the Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre was established in the 1990s as a centre of excellence in the geomatics sciences. Join our leading-edge team of geomatics professionals as the Geomatics Program Administrator responsible for geographic naming in Nova Scotia.

Find more about GeoNOVA here.

**About Our Opportunity**:
Under the direction of the Manager of Geographic Data at the NSGC in Amherst, the Provincial Toponomist leads the development, implementation and monitoring of policies and procedures associated with the collection, maintenance, quality control and exchange of the Nova Scotia Geographic Names DataBase (NSGNDB).

Duties include researching the origins and local usage of geographic names, verifying the accuracy and appropriateness of proposed geographic names with a focus on community engagement and cultural sensitivity. The proponent coordinates public engagement activities and ensures adherence to the principles and procedures for Geographical Naming established by the Geographic Names Board of Canada.

**Primary Accountabilities**:

- Works with Nova Scotian applicants to prepare and review recommendations for adding or changing official geographic names. This may include assistance in gathering the necessary supporting documentation such as letters of support, historical references, and maps.
- Coordinate and facilitate public engagement activities, including in-person and virtual sessions, paper and online surveys, name suggestion and selection activities.
- Engage with local-residents, geographic communities, social communities, interest groups with connection to the land and its use, Mi’kmaq, and African Nova Scotian peoples to gather input.
- Works collaboratively with provincial and federal departments, First Nations, municipalities, contractors, academia, community groups and public clients.
- Contribute to provincial and national workshops and conferences.
- Actively participate in intergovernmental working groups and steering committees.
- Interact with colleagues at senior levels of government and the private sector, make recommendations to management to improve Geographic Naming engagement, policy, processes, and procedures.
- Provide expert advice and collaborate with management, team members and other consultants to create and develop, implement, maintain and support dependable, efficient, and high-quality GIS workflows, solutions, and products.
- Evaluate and implement new technology and tools to support business requirements.
- Develop, explain, and present findings, reports, recommendations, and summaries of results both verbally and in writing, in a clear and concise style that is appropriate to the audience.

**Qualifications and Experience**:
The incumbent must hold a bachelor’s degree in a relevant geomatics field, plus 7 years related experience OR graduation from an approved technical school in the field of geomatics plus a minimum of 10 years related experience OR an equivalent combination of training and experience.
- Advanced training and experience in geomatics, geographic data GIS principles and database design.
- Strong research skills, including conducting archival research, analyzing historical documents and historical mapping referen