Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges

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Job Requisition ID:

Time Type:

Full time

Employee Group:

Staff

Job Category:

Academic Delivery Support

Employment Type:

Temporary

Department:

Associate Vice-President, Academic Programs - Centre for Teaching Excellence, Indigenous Knowledges and Anti-racist Pedagogies

Hiring Range:

Posting Information:

This position is being offered as an Internal secondment or external contract with an end date of August 31, 2027.

The internal deadline for this posting is December 18, 2025 at 11:59pm.

Job Description:

Primary Purpose

The Centre for Teaching Excellence aims to foster teaching excellence, innovation, and inquiry by supporting instructor development, promoting a community around teaching, and nurturing a culture of teaching and learning at Waterloo. The primary purpose of the Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges, is to support faculty, graduate student teaching assistants, and postdoctoral fellows seeking to Indigenize and decolonize academic programs, courses, and pedagogy. Reporting to the SED, Indigenous Knowledges, the position will work closely with CTE's programming teams and curriculum team as well as interacting with staff from the Indigenous Initiatives and Equity Offices.

In the University of Waterloo's Strategic Plan , it states, "We particularly recognize Indigenous students, faculty, staff and alumni. We are committed to learning about the rich history and culture of Indigenous people of this land and an institutional response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls for action." In line with the University's Strategic Plan, and the Indigenization Strategy, the Project Manager, Indigenous Initiatives strives to address the underrepresentation of Indigenous people and to increase specialized support for Indigenous faculty members. To enhance the effectiveness of this activity, the ideal candidate will meet the articulated qualifications below and will be an Indigenous person (First Nations Status or Non- Status, Métis, or Inuk (Inuit). Lived experience in an Indigenous community or communities is required. The University is committed to implementing the Calls to Action framed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. The selection process for this position will follow the provisions for a special program as described by the Ontario Human Rights Code to address the underrepresentation of individuals from equity-deserving groups. Improving the representation, participation, and engagement of equity–deserving groups within our community is a key objective of Waterloo's Strategic Plan As such, this position is open only to qualified individuals who self-identify as First Nations, Metis, or Inuit with lived experience of Indigenous world views, cultures and values and strong ties to First Nations, Metis and/or Inuk (Inuit) communities. We are asking each interested applicant to include a statement indicating if they identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit in their cover letter. Supporting documentation for membership/citizenship in an Indigenous community will be required and possibly additional information about community connection, family, and relationship to working with Indigenous communities/knowledges may be required, if an applicant is invited for an interview.

Key Accountabilities

Consultation and Teaching Development

• Plans, delivers, and evaluates faculty and some teaching assistant programming in support of Indigenous ways of knowing

• Supports instructors seeking design consultations to enhance individual courses, assessments, and/or teaching and supervision approaches by building on Indigenization and decolonization frameworks

• Supports instructors seeking to understand protocols for assignments, visits, or guests in particular courses

• Sits on or consults with University committees related to Indigenization and decolonization

• Collaborates with Indigenous Initiatives and any Faculty-based Lecturers in this area

• Contributes to CTE staff member professional development and to other relevant programming offered by CTE as needed

Curriculum and Quality Enhancement

• Provides consultations and programming in area of specialization to teams seeking to transform curriculum via redesign or new program development

• Designs and facilitates curriculum exploration and/or program review for Indigenization at the Department or Faculty level for both undergraduate and graduate programs

• Develops resources related to aspects of curriculum design and development, including culturally-relevant assessment of student learning

• Consults on embedding experiential learning approaches within programs

Relationships with Community

• Connects with student- and faculty-facing counterparts in Waterloo's Faculties and at the Affiliated and Federated Institutions (AFIWs)

• Builds and maintains relationships with local Indigenous communities on behalf of CTE and the University of Waterloo

• Networks with Indigenous educational developer community more broadly

Scholarly and Academic Contributions

• Networks with educational development specialists at other institutions

• Makes scholarly contributions to the higher education field

• Represents the University of Waterloo at regional, national, and international professional meetings and conferences

• Seeks opportunities to teach where appropriate

Required Qualifications

Education

• Completion of a Master's degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent education and experience in Indigenous-specific frameworks, together with knowledge of educational development and scholarship in higher education; PhD an asset

Experience

• Relevant lived experience in Indigenous contexts is key

• Experience teaching in higher education in any discipline is an asset

• Background in educational development, consultation, and curriculum design

• Experience with long-term individual, departmental, and/or institution-wide change management initiatives

• The successful candidate will be First Nations, Metis, or Inuk (Inuit) Inuit with lived experience of Indigenous world views, cultures and values and strong ties to First Nations, Metis and/or Inuk (Inuit) communities.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Knowledge of Indigenous approaches to education, Indigenous world views, decolonization theories and practices, the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, and the importance of relationality/ community

• Understanding of local Indigenous cultural contexts

• Sensitivity to discipline-specific contexts and the challenges of change management in academia

• Proven expertise in meeting and workshop facilitation and individual consultations

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively, confidentially, and autonomously

• Quantitative and/or qualitative research skills together with knowledge of Indigenous methods and methodologies

• Excellent oral and written communication skills

• Proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite, familiarity with learning management systems, ePortfolio tools like PebblePad

Equity Statement

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion. As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at or , ext