Economist

Economist

The Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) is a leading partner and driving force for community economic development and employability across Quebec with a growing national presence. A volunteer driven organization, CEDEC sparks economic innovation in building forward-looking, prosperous, and confident communities and businesses through shared expertise, knowledge, and partnerships. CEDEC provides a variety of tools to promote small-and medium-sized business growth and entrepreneurship. CEDEC brings together expertise and fosters collaboration across public, private, and civil society. At this important juncture, CEDEC is looking for an economist to fill the position of Senior Director, Analytics and Strategic Integration.

Position Overview

This is a full-time position reporting to CEDEC’s Vice-President, Operations. The Senior Director, Analytics and Strategic Integration will work in collaboration with the leadership team to shape and build a Body of Knowledge (BOK) that supports the organization’s innovation agenda. As a strategic and policy-driven thinker, the Senior Director will design, lead, and coordinate a multifaceted research program that aligns with federal, provincial, or private funding priorities and provides opportunities to enhance economic activity. The Senior Director will represent CEDEC with key stakeholders, including policymakers, policy influencers, researchers, academic institutions, think tanks, etc. and build on CEDEC’s existing business intelligence and analytics tools to create informative briefs, reports, studies, presentations that support economic development activities.   The Senior Director will also work with the Operations team to support best practices in quantitative and qualitative research, data analysis, surveying/polling, marketing research across the multiple disciplines, sectors, and experiences that CEDEC serves. While developing a robust research agenda, the new Senior Director will identify revenue generating opportunities to provide research that supports economic development opportunities.

Position Responsibilities

• Be a thought leader in identifying opportunities to enhance economic activity that benefits communities through public, private and civil society
• Represent CEDEC with select stakeholders.
• Be a key informant and contributor to the success of CEDEC’s Management Team.
• Design, lead, and coordinate the development of CEDEC’s Body of Knowledge (BOK):
  • Bring together knowledge, evidence, and know-how from multiple disciplines, sectors and experiences to support the theoretical development of CEDEC’s economic development model and its practical application in day-to-day operations.
  • Conduct and ensure the quality of all forms of relevant quantitative and qualitative research, data analyses, surveying/polling, marketing research, etc.
  • In collaboration with the Senior Director Coordinated Service Delivery, ensure that field intelligence and insights from on-the-ground activities and experiences are captured and used to inform the development of CEDEC’s Body of Knowledge.
  • Grow, integrate, and consolidate CEDEC’s Body of Knowledge about economic development through the creation of briefs, reports, studies, presentations, etc.
  • Build and improve CEDEC’s existing business intelligence and analytics tools.
• Develop and manage relationships and partnerships with a broad network of researchers, academic institutions, international and national organizations, think tanks, experts, etc.
  • Plan and conduct conversations with policymakers and policy influencers to share evidence and insights from completed projects, and to develop new research initiatives.
  • Proactively develop stakeholder relationships aimed at securing funding to support ongoing research and innovation.
• Lead CEDEC’s innovation agenda:
  • Build and nurture CEDEC’s knowledge ecosystem of multidisciplinary and multi-sector partners.
  • Promote innovation by combining research findings with lessons learned (insights) from on-the ground practice and experiences.
  • Support a culture of best practices in knowledge application, and evidence-informed decision-making / facilitate the use of evidence for decision-making.
• Organize, direct, and supervise the staff and suppliers of the Analytics and Strategic Integration group.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

As the ideal candidate, you will bring the following knowledge, skills, and experience to the position:

• A doctoral degree in economics or a related field (a master’s degree may be considered with equivalent professional experience)
• Progressive leadership skills and experience managing projects and people.
• Superior research and statistical analysis competencies.
• Proficiency in statistical applications such as Stata, R, or MATLAB.
• Ability to deliver impactful reports and presentations.
• Ability to transform data into insights that can inform decisions and policy.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively.
• Connections to an established network of national and international researchers, think tanks and organizations working in the area of applied economic research.
• A high level of diplomacy, tact, and judgement.
• Experience working with external stakeholders such as government officials, business leaders, vendors, and the public.
• Ability to communicate in both French and English.

Application Instructions

Applications containing a cover letter and resumé are encouraged immediately and should be submitted via email to [email protected] by May 24, 2023. Please add Senior Director, Analytics and Strategic Integration Application to the subject line of the email. We thank all those that have applied, however only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.

CEDEC is an equal opportunity employer in accordance with the Accessible Canada Act, 2019 and all applicable provincial accessibility standards. Upon request, accommodation will be provided for applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment, selection and/or assessment process.