Section Manager - Risk Services

About Red Deer
Red Deer sits at the heart of Central Alberta along the QEII corridor, perfectly positioned between Calgary and Edmonton. With more than 100,000 residents and a regional reach of over 300,000, it’s a growing hub for business, services, and opportunity.

Here, big-city amenities meet small-city ease. Enjoy abundant parks and trails, vibrant arts and culture, excellent recreation and education, and a strong sense of community.

With easy access to lakes, outdoor adventures, and the mountains, plus a thriving economy and high quality of life, Red Deer is an inviting place to live, work, and grow.

About The City of Red Deer Municipal Government
The City of Red Deer is a dynamic municipal organization with a $480M operating budget, a $60M capital program, and a workforce of nearly 1,700 employees. It is focused on growing with purpose by attracting talented, community-minded people who want to make a difference.

Guided by the vision “Our City, One Voice,” Red Deer is building a thriving, inclusive, and connected community, with priorities centered on a vibrant economy, community wellbeing, and strong engagement.

At its core, the City values its people, embracing diverse perspectives and fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and shared success.

Are you a strategic thinker who sees opportunity where others see risk?

The City of Red Deer is seeking a collaborative, forward-thinking leader to help shape how we manage risk, strengthen governance and enable confident decision-making across our organization. As Section Manager of Risk Services, you'll lead a diverse portfolio spanning enterprise risk management, procurement governance, insurance and business continuity. This is an opportunity to influence corporate practices, build organizational resilience and help modernize the systems and processes that support effective municipal service delivery.

The Opportunity:

The City of Red Deer is seeking an experienced and innovative leader to join our Corporate Performance and Supports Division as Section Manager of Risk Services.

Reporting to the Director, Corporate Risk Management, this position plays an important role in strengthening the City's approach to corporate risk, governance and organizational resilience. Leading a multidisciplinary team, the Section Manager provides strategic advice, develops effective policies and frameworks, and works collaboratively across departments to embed risk-informed thinking into organizational planning, operations and decision-making.

Top Key Responsibilities:

With responsibility for a diverse corporate portfolio, the successful candidate will provide leadership in four key areas:

• Enterprise Risk Management and Business Continuity: Advance the City's integrated risk management framework, strengthen internal controls, support organizational risk assessments and enhance business continuity planning to protect critical municipal services.
• Procurement Governance and Contract Management: Lead the ongoing modernization of procurement policies, practices and systems, promoting transparency, compliance, efficiency and effective contract management while safeguarding the City's interests.
• Insurance and Claims Management: Provide strategic oversight of the City's insurance portfolio and claims administration, identify emerging trends and exposures, and develop proactive approaches to managing and mitigating organizational risk.
• Leadership and Organizational Improvement: Lead and develop a high-performing team, foster collaborative relationships, and champion continuous improvement, innovation and practical solutions that strengthen organizational capacity.

As a trusted advisor and corporate partner, the Section Manager will work closely with senior leadership, Legal Services and departments across the City to balance risk, opportunity, accountability and operational effectiveness.

As our preferred candidate, you will have:

The ideal candidate brings strong business acumen, demonstrated expertise in procurement governance and contract management, sound judgment and the ability to navigate complex issues in a dynamic municipal environment. They are an effective communicator and relationship builder who can translate complex procurement, risk and governance considerations into practical advice, influence positive change and bring people together around shared outcomes.

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, public administration, law, finance, risk management or related discipline.
• Professional designation such as CRM, CIP, CPPB/CPPO, PMP, CPA or equivalent is a strong asset.
• 5 years of progressive leadership experience in risk management, procurement governance, insurance/claims, internal controls or related public-sector functions.
• Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary teams and complex organizational initiatives.
• Extensive knowledge of procurement governance, contract law principles, insurance, enterprise risk management and business continuity.
• Exceptional analytical, communication, negotiation, relationship-building and political acumen.

Competencies

In addition to the 9 Core Competencies (i.e., Ethical Conduct & Values, Service Focus, Problem Solving/Thinking, Planning & Organizing, Leadership, Development, Communication & Interaction, Adaptability & Change Management, Understanding the Municipal Political Environment) – the following are specific to this position:

• Strategic Leadership
• Enterprise Risk Management
• Procurement Governance
• Financial and Business Acumen
• Change Leadership
• Relationship Management
• Communication
• Analytical Thinking
• Continuous Improvement
  

This is an opportunity for a leader who is equally comfortable thinking strategically and delivering results, and who is motivated by building strong foundations that enable the organization to serve its community with confidence, integrity and accountability.

What we offer:

In addition to the competitive wages, we offer excellent benefit package, pension plans, spending accounts and professional development opportunities to support your career growth.

We are committed to a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable community. Our employees are the cornerstone of our organization and working with us will provide you with work-life balance, career growth and job stability.

The opportunity to work in an ever-growing environment and to work with a dedicated and passionate group of people.

Affiliation: Exempt
Status: Regular Full-time
Remuneration: $52.77 to $65.95 per hour ($103,297.28 to $129,097.13 per annum)
Hours of Work: 75 hours biweekly; Monday to Friday, some evening and weekend work may be required when needed.

The City of Red Deer does not permit the use of unauthorized internet resources or Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (for example, Copilot, ChatGPT or any other form of AI) during interviews or any supervised or timed assessments. Any violation may be investigated and result in serious consequences, including the rejection of your application.

We thank you for your application. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

We are a municipal government, eager to meet tomorrow's challenges. Our employees are the cornerstone of our organization. We are always seeking creative and skilled individuals with the ability and desire to lead in our dynamic workplace. Each of our employees brings diverse experiences and perspectives, as well as unique skills and talents to the job. Our diverse employee base ensures an environment where individual, team, and organizational successes are embraced and celebrated. We strive to ensure a supportive and respectful work environment for all. Employees are treated fairly and have equal opportunity within the organization to thrive and attain their highest potential. We welcome your application and look forward to discussing how The City of Red Deer can become your next career choice.