Recruitment posting
Alberta Pensions Services Corporation
Competition #: 683
Ministry : Treasury Board and Finance
Opening Date : 2019/10/31
closing Date : 2019/11/14
Role : Director
The President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance is seeking applications from individuals interested in serving as a Director on the Alberta Pensions Services Corporation (APS) Board.
APS is one of Canada’s largest public sector pension plan administrators, established under the Business Corporations Act, serving nine pension plans including seven registered pension plans and two retirement compensation arrangements with a total of approximately 500 participating employers and over 375,000 members and pensioners. APS is accountable to its sole shareholder, the Government of Alberta.
APS has contractual agreements with its clients to provide pension administration services for their pension plans. These clients include LAPP Corporation, PSPP Corporation, and SFPP Corporation, which together account for 95% of the pension plan members. The other remaining plans continue with the President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance as Trustee.
Board and Committee Structure
The APS Board of Directors is composed of seven Directors, one of whom is designated as Chair.
Board members are appointed by the shareholder resolution, for up to a three-year term with the possibility of reappointment.
The Board is responsible for the governance of APS and for providing management and operational oversight, subject to constraints by or under applicable legislation or constituting documents.
Specifically, the Board:
- Is accountable to the Minister for the performance of APS;
- Approves and monitors the APS strategic plan, business plan, budget and performance results;
- Establishes and administers a code of conduct and ethics to govern the conduct of the board and APS employees, and assures itself on a regular basis that APS has an ongoing, appropriate, and effective process for ensuring adherence to the code;
- Oversees compliance with all relevant policies, procedures, and standards by which APS operates and assures itself that APS operates at all times in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
- Assesses any significant risks to which APS is exposed and assures itself on a regular basis that APS has ongoing, appropriate and effective risk management processes and policies;
- Monitors the financial performance of APS; oversees the effectiveness of internal controls and reporting systems and obtains advice from the Office of the Auditor General, and assures itself that the financial results are reported on a timely and regular basis and in accordance with any legislated requirements and generally accepted accounting principles;
- Makes recommendations to the Minister regarding the appointment and compensation of the CEO;
- Establishes the CEO’s responsibilities and monitors and evaluates the CEO’s performance;
- Establishes and annually reviews the CEO succession plan, and assures itself, on a regular basis, that the CEO maintains an updated succession plan for key APS staff positions;
- Develops appropriate governance policies and processes to assist APS in fulfilling its mandate, including the frequency and structure of meetings;
- Establishes such committees as it considers necessary to carry out its duties, and ensures that a written mandate for each committee is approved and reviewed annually;
- When appropriate, ensures that all material developments and significant emergent issues related to APS and the delivery of its mandate are disclosed to the Minister in a timely manner;
- Provides an orientation process, training and ongoing development opportunities for Board Directors;
- Ensures that the Board, through a process led by the Chair, conducts an annual evaluation and review of the performance of the Board, its Committees, and individual members including the Chair and Directors;
- Reviews and approves accountability documents; and
- Notifies the Minister of a vacancy for the position of CEO.
As Directors on the APS Board, individuals must be persons of integrity, respected by their peers, with an outstanding, successful and proven track record in their respective profession. Qualified candidates should possess expert knowledge and experience in one or more competencies, including but not limited to defined benefit pension services, human resources, financial reporting and audit, risk management oversight, legal and regulatory, information technology, executive level management, and governance.
The successful candidate will have a strong understanding of business issues and financial matters, experience providing leadership and oversight of complex strategic planning processes, excellent decision-making skills, well-developed communication skills, and a client satisfaction focus. Prior experience as a board member of a relevant, substantial corporate entity, functioning under a structured governance model, is a valuable asset. Desirable attributes include experience in government relations, facilitation and negotiation.
For the current recruitment, the APS Board is seeking a Director with extensive executive leadership experience in a client-focused organization ideally with a solid background in defined benefit pensions and formal training or certification in pension services, human resources and/or information technology.
No employee of APS may serve as a Director of the APS board.
Background checks will be completed on the final candidates and may include reference checks, security clearance, and academic credential verification.
The Government of Alberta is committed to offering qualified Albertans the opportunity to be considered as public members on Alberta’s public agencies, boards and commissions. To help ensure that Albertans are well-represented on boards, we invite applicants from all backgrounds who embody a range of knowledge, skills and expertise to apply.
Directors of the board will receive an annual retainer fee ($5,000) plus fees for each board meeting attended. Remuneration for meetings is set at twice the rate specified in Schedule 1, Part A of the Committee Remuneration Order (OC 466/2007), and is as follows:
- meeting up to four hours: $328 ($438 for chair);
- meeting four to eight hours: $580 ($766 for chair); and
- meeting more than eight hours: $854 ($1,202 for chair).
In addition, allowances are provided for travel time and preparatory time.
Any Board Director who is a Government of Alberta employee is not eligible for remuneration.
All board directors are eligible for reimbursement of expenses in accordance with the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance policy directive on Travel, Meal and Hospitality Expenses.
Directors are appointed for up to a three-year term with the possibility of reappointment.
The demands of this position require a flexible schedule to accommodate approximately five meetings a year. Meetings are generally held in Edmonton. Residence in Alberta is preferred.
In addition to your cover letter and resume, we require a biography. Click HERE to download the biography
form.
Once the forms are completed, save them to your PC. When you click on submit application, you will be prompted to upload additional documents. Drag and drop or upload your completed biography form and others requested into the ‘Drop files below or click to upload’ section.
Executive Search, Alberta Public Service Commission
Phone: 780-408-8460
Email: psc.executivesearchservices@gov.ab.ca
Carefully read the Recruitment Posting and the Position Profile to ensure this is an appropriate opportunity for you. Applicants are advised to provide information that clearly and concisely demonstrates how their qualifications meet the advertised requirements.
Online applications are preferred. To apply, click on the 'apply' button, create or sign into your account in the ePAAS system; upload your resume, view the listing under Current Opportunities and click on 'submit application'. The uploaded resume will be automatically attached.
Provide a short 4 line biography using the Biography template found under additional documents section. Your biography should include your name, current work experience, board/committee experience and relevant education. Please note that biographies may be edited for length and clarity.
Once your biography and other required form(s) are completed, save it to your PC. When you hit 'submit application', you will be prompted to upload additional documents. Drag and drop (or upload) your completed cover letter, biography and other form(s) into the 'Drop files below or click to upload' section before clicking the 'apply' button.
If you are unable to apply online, please submit a cover letter and resume, quoting the recruitment posting competition number, to the contact provided on the posting. We thank all applicants for their interest. All applications will be reviewed to assess which candidates' qualifications most closely match the agency's requirements. Only those selected for interviews will be contacted to advance to the next step in the appointment process. You can check the status of each competition on-line at https://www.alberta.ca/public-agencies.cfm.
Qualified applicants may be selected to fill other vacancies. Applicants will be required to identify any real or perceived conflicts of interest and may be required to undergo additional security screening. Please Note: Successful applicants will have the following information about them made publicly available on the Public Agency Secretariat Website: name, biography, public agency, and position title.