Director, Crown Forests and Lands Policy

Apply By:
Tuesday, February 17, :59 pm EST

Shaping sustainable crown forests and lands for Ontario's future.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is seeking an experienced, strategic, and forward­-thinking leader to join our executive team as Director, Crown Forests and Lands Policy. This is a unique opportunity to shape the long­-term sustainability of Ontario's Crown forests and Crown lands while driving policies that strengthen economic opportunities for communities and support responsible business growth across the province.

About the job

As Director, you will provide strategic leadership and direction for the planning, design, and development of legislation, regulations, policies, and programs that support the Ministry's mandate for the sustainable management of Ontario's Crown forests and Crown lands.

Your leadership will guide provincial approaches and frameworks in areas including:

• forest management planning
• economic development opportunities tied to forest and land resources
• forest renewal, forest health, and long­-term sustainability
• forest information, analytics, and data governance
• crown land planning, allocation, and stewardship

You will serve as the Ministry's authoritative expert on Crown forests and lands policy – providing strategic advice to senior executives, delivering solutions to complex policy challenges, and advancing long­-term, evidence-­based frameworks that help communities and businesses thrive.

What You Will Do

• lead a branch responsible for developing and implementing legislation, regulations, policies, and programs related to Crown forests and Crown land management
• provide strategic oversight for provincial forest and land sustainability frameworks, ensuring alignment with environmental priorities and economic opportunities for communities and industry
• guide innovation and modernization in policy and program design to address emerging issues such as climate change, forest health pressures, economic shifts, and land-­use demands
• deliver authoritative advice to the Deputy Minister, Assistant Deputy Ministers, and other senior executives on major policy proposals, risks, and opportunities
• build strong, collaborative relationships with Indigenous communities, industry partners, municipalities, federal counterparts, and other stakeholders
• champion the use of high-­quality data, analytics, and forest information systems to strengthen decision-­making and policy effectiveness
• lead, inspire, and motivate a high-­performing team, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, inclusion, and results-­driven performance

What you bring to the team

Mandatory Requirement

Registered Professional Forester (RPF) designation in good standing, or eligibility and commitment to obtain registration within a defined period.

Leadership

As a seasoned and strategic people leader, you bring a record of:

• inspiring and influencing teams to develop and implement high-impact policies, grounded in evidence and responsive to public needs
• championing equity, reconciliation, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility, with a deep commitment to fostering respectful, inclusive workplaces and advancing systemic change
• driving transformational change by leading the adoption of innovative practices and technologies that enable meaningful, forward-looking business solutions while managing risk thoughtfully to support sustainable results

Relationship Management & Political Acuity

You are a skilled communicator, negotiator, and consensus builder with a record of:

• strong relationship building skills and experience partnering with Indigenous communities, stakeholders, and intergovernmental partners
• fostering collaborative relationships across internal teams and external partners to ensure seamless integration of policy design and service delivery
• demonstrating political acuity in providing strategic, confidential advice to senior leaders, and navigating complex environments with discretion and insight
• building consensus and advancing shared priorities, working effectively with colleagues and stakeholders to advance shared priorities and manage complex issues

Job Knowledge

As an experienced policy leader, you bring:

• senior leadership experience in a public sector, natural resources, environmental, or policy intensive context
• demonstrated ability to lead the development of strategic policy, legislation, and regulatory frameworks
• expertise in forest management, land administration, environmental policy, or natural resource stewardship
• exceptional strategic thinking, communication, and decision-making abilities
• a commitment to public service excellence, sustainability, and collaborative leadership

Don't meet every qualification?

If you are excited about this position and meet most, but not all, of the listed qualifications, please still consider applying. We recognize that no one person might have every qualification in this job ad, and you just might be the right candidate

How we support diversity, inclusion and accessibility

We are building an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We encourage everyone interested in working with us to apply, including people with disabilities, Indigenous, Black and racialized individuals, as well as people from all ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.

Our hiring process is accessible, consistent with Ontario's
Human Rights Code
and the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005.
We are working to prevent and remove barriers in our hiring processes and can offer
accommodation
to address specific needs related to Code-protected grounds such as disability, family status and religion. For more information about accommodation during the hiring process please contact

. All information discussed related to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Learn more about the work the OPS is doing to create an inclusive, anti-racist, accessible and diverse workplace:

• diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
• accessibility
• Anti-Racism Policy

Note:

• The OPS uses multiple methods to assess candidates for executive positions; these may include resume screening, interviews, assignments, psychometric assessments, simulations and reference checks.