Municipal Health Impacts Advisor

**Division**:
Chronic Disease & Injury Prevention

**About Us**:
Serving a diverse urban and rural population of more than 475,000, Niagara Region is focused on building a strong and prosperous Niagara. Working collaboratively with 12 local area municipalities and numerous community partners, the Region delivers a range of high quality programs and services to support and advance the well-being of individuals, families and communities within its boundaries. Nestled between the great lakes of Erie and Ontario, the Niagara peninsula features some of Canada’s most fertile agricultural land, the majesty of Niagara Falls and communities that are rich in both history and recreational and cultural opportunities. Niagara boasts dynamic modern cities, Canada’s most developed wine industry, a temperate climate, extraordinary theatre, and some of Ontario’s most breathtaking countryside. An international destination with easy access to its binational U.S. neighbour New York State, Niagara attracts over 14 million visitors annually, as well as a steady stream of new residents and businesses.

Please note that the Niagara Region requires that all newly hired employees are to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of being hired and provide proof of full vaccination, or provide proof of a bona fide medical or Human Rights Code exemption on a form issued from and approved by Niagara Region.

**Job Summary**:Salary Pending Review

Reporting to the Manager (Chronic Disease & Injury Prevention), the Municipal Health Impacts Advisor is responsible for advising Niagara Region and local area municipal business units in consideration and optimization of the health impacts of budgeting, program, and policy decisions, particularly as required by Regional Bylaw 2019-79. The position also monitors and reports on the success of incorporating health impacts into decision-making, and recommends improvements. This role will impact health and health equity of Niagara residents through coordinating the optimization of regional and local municipal budget, program, and policy decisions.

**Education**:

- Post-secondary degree in public health or a related discipline
- Master’s level training in a relevant discipline, such as public health, health, public administration, policy, planning or equivalent is preferred
**Knowledge**:

- Three years of recent, relevant experience, including quantitative and/or qualitative research, and leading and managing projects
- Knowledge of municipal government and budgeting practices
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Advanced knowledge of office productivity software with experience using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Outlook
- Knowledge of project management techniques/tools/software
- Skill in managing partnerships and engaging stakeholders using consultation principles and techniques is preferred
- Experience conducting standardized assessments like Evidence-Informed Public Health, Health Equity Impact Assessments, Environmental Assessments and/or Health Impact Assessments (HIA).

**Responsibilities**:**_
Coordinates Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) completed within municipal government (60%)_**:

- Leads overall project management of Niagara Region’s HIAs for budgeting, including leading and facilitating meetings, internal and external communication, developing work plans and organizing stakeholder engagement to support the internal and externally-linked governance structures, assessing risks, and managing a budget.
- Provides consultation to business unit managers in completing the screening of projects for HIA requirements with business unit managers across departments, integrating with other prioritization and planning processes where feasible
- Provides consultation to business unit managers in completing assessments of health impacts through systematic research, community engagement, utilizing primary and secondary data collection methods as necessary
- Advises on recommendations based on collated data to mitigate negative health impacts and/or amplify positive health impacts
- Provides consultation to business unit managers with evaluation and monitoring of the implementation of the HIA recommendations
- Provides training, coaching, and process improvement advice to build capacity amongst departments/divisions for the HIA process to become integrated into regular project planning
- Maintains the internal and external webpages as needed
**_
Advances Niagara Region’s Health Equity-Informed Planning (HEIP) Initiative (20%)_**:

- Communicates with Corporate Leadership and Regional Council through regular reports, updates, and presentations as needed
- Applies continuous quality improvement principles to the HIA process to ensure the process reflects community and corporate needs
- Identifies measures to assess the effectiveness and success of the implementation of the HEIP initiative.
- Develops and maintains an updated master project plan