Senior Program Officer, Certification - Competition closed

Posting Date: 2010-06-10

The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) is a federal Crown corporation with the mandate to promote efficient and effective standardization in Canada. Located in Ottawa, the Standards Council has a 15-member governing Council and a staff of approximately 85. The organization reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry and oversees Canada's National Standards System.

The Standards Council of Canada carries out a variety of functions intended to ensure the effective and coordinated operation of standardization in Canada. It also represents Canada's interests on standards-related matters in foreign and international forums.

Summary of duties

Reporting to the Manager, Certification Body Accreditation, the Senior Program Officer, Certification administers the accreditation process of national and multinational certification bodies that operate various management systems and /or product certification programs. The successful candidate will oversee the management of both the process and the professional personnel involved in the assessment, surveillance audits and reassessments of Certification Bodies (CBs) and Inspection Bodies (IBs) to ensure that they meet established accreditation, sector scheme and regulatory requirements from a broad range of regulatory entities and industry sector scheme owners. The SPO is responsible for co-ordinating audit schedules, planning audits, determining audit team make-up, preparing audit teams, overseeing team activities, conducting documents reviews, CB & IB onsite audits, including witness audits and completing audit reports.

Develops the scope, objectives, methodologies and milestones for each project; develops project plans and assesses the pertinence and quality of evidence gathered; ensures adherence to applicable professional standards; assesses the soundness of methodologies; evaluates the relevance of findings and recommendations; formulates strategies for effectively communicating the findings; and negotiates the acceptance of and secures commitment to action to findings and the recommendations. The incumbent is responsible for leading research, implementing best practices and recommending audit policies, procedures and processes in support of the SCC’s Management Systems Program. Other areas of responsibility includes addressing complaints, complex issues and concerns arising from the application of certification services by accredited CBs/IBs. This also requires understanding how the technical requirements of standards are applied and determining what and when specific technical assistance is needed to address certification disputes which may be of a technical nature.

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in science, business administration or engineering or a related field
• Certification as a Lead Assessor coupled with certification as an Internal Auditor
• Several years of work experience in a certification body environment
• Experience in conducting or leading external and internal audits
• Bilingualism

Asset Qualifications

Experience leading audit teams.
Experience writing reports.

Knowledge

Knowledge of the Standards Council of Canada’s Act, mandate, structure, plans and priorities.
Knowledge of the theories and principles of accreditation, conformity assessment, management systems, auditing, and training.
Knowledge of related engineering and manufacturing processes.
Knowledge of the impact of certification, auditor certification and training on industrial production, domestic and international trade and public health and safety.
Knowledge of the Canadian Medical Devices Conformity Assessment System.
Knowledge of policies at all levels of government in relation to voluntary and mandatory standardization and associated certification, testing, standards development, auditing, training.
Knowledge of project management principles, practices, techniques and emerging issues and trends.

Skills

Oral and written communication skills.

Abilities

Team Leadership
Decision-making 
Analytical thinking
Analyze and synthesize program-related criterion and information 
Self-Management, self-reliant
Dealing with difficult situations through negotiation and facilitation
Management of multiple projects
Effective presentations
Problem solving; resourcefulness
Ability to carry out research, collect and assemble information from various sources

Personal Qualities

Leadership
Effective interpersonal skills
Tact, diplomacy and discretion
Initiative and judgment
Accuracy and attention to detail
Teamwork
Collaboration
Reliability
Flexibility
Honesty and integrity

The SCC is an equal opportunity employer offering competitive compensation and benefits packages.

Qualified candidates are invited to apply to this competition by submitting their résumé to the attention of the Manager, Human Resources, The Standards Council of Canada at: [email protected].

We thank all candidates for their interest; only those applicants whose qualifications are most relevant will be considered and contacted.