SENIOR MANAGER STRATEGIC PLANNING & INITIATIVES (Intergovernmental & Agency Relations)

Job ID: 65215

Job Category: Operations & Maintenance

Division & Section: City Manager's Office, Intergovernmental & Agency Relations

Work Location: City Hall, 100 Queen St. W, Toronto, ON

Job Type & Duration: Full-time, Temporary Vacancy, 12 months

Salary Range: $144,591-$196,565

Hiring Zone: $157,710-$170,991

Shift Information: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week

Affiliation: Non-Union

Number of Positions Open: 1

Posting Period: 12-Jun-2026 to 26-Jun-2026

Recognized as one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for 2026, the City of Toronto promotes professional development and is committed to providing opportunities to lead, learn and grow. We value integrity, reliability, and fairness, and we embrace the diversity of the people we work with and serve. 

The City Manager’s Office provides strategic leadership to Toronto’s municipal administration, ensuring effective governance, accountability, continuous improvement and strong partnerships across sectors. Its work enables the City to deliver services that support a prosperous, inclusive, and well-managed Toronto.

Why join the City Manager’s Office

• Impact: Contribute to decisions and partnerships that shape the City’s future
• Collaboration: Work across divisions and governments on complex, high-priority initiatives
• Leadership: Build and lead a team in a dynamic and evolving environment
• Public service: Help deliver programs and services that improve the lives of residents

Shape how the City advances its priorities through strong partnerships and strategic coordination

In this role, you will lead a high-performing team responsible for advancing the City’s priorities through effective intergovernmental relations, agency oversight, and strategic initiatives. Your leadership will help strengthen partnerships across governments, agencies, and internal divisions while driving coordinated, results-focused delivery.

If you are motivated by complex, high-impact work and thrive in dynamic, fast-paced, politically sensitive environments, this role offers an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the City’s success.

The Impact You’ll Make

In the City Manager’s Office, the pace is steady and the issues are rarely simple. Intergovernmental priorities shift, agency matters evolve, and decisions at Council require coordination, clarity, and informed response. As Senior Manager, Strategic Planning & Initiatives (Intergovernmental & Agency Relations), you are at the centre of that work, providing direction, steady oversight, and coordination across intergovernmental and agency-related initiatives.

You will lead a multidisciplinary team, bringing focus to competing priorities while supporting staff development and reinforcing a culture built on collaboration, accountability, and high performance. Your leadership ensures the team is aligned, responsive, and equipped to deliver in a fast-moving environment.

In close partnership with senior leadership, political staff and elected officials, you provide strategic advice on intergovernmental relations, agency governance, and emerging policy issues. You translate complex policy, legislative, and political developments into clear, actionable guidance that informs decisions.

Your work is grounded in relationships. You build and maintain strong connections across municipal, provincial, and federal governments, as well as with City agencies, boards, and corporations. In negotiations, intergovernmental forums, and high-level discussions, you represent the City, articulating and advancing key priorities with clarity and consistency.

You guide complex initiatives from inception through implementation, ensuring alignment with corporate priorities. At the same time, you provide oversight to agency and corporation governance frameworks, including mandates, board structures, and accountability requirements.

With a continuous view of the external environment, you monitor and analyze policy, legislative, and political developments, helping shape the City’s strategic response. Through cross-functional collaboration, you support coordinated, effective service delivery across the organization.

Key Qualifications

• Post-secondary education in public administration, policy, business, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Extensive experience analyzing and navigating complex policy, legislative, and political environments, with the ability to assess impacts and inform strategic direction
• Experience providing strategic advice to senior leadership, political staff and elected officials on intergovernmental relations, agency governance, and emerging policy issues, supported by the ability to prepare clear, concise briefing materials, reports, and presentations for senior audiences
• Extensive experience managing complex, high-profile issues and initiatives, with the demonstrated ability to influence, negotiate, and achieve consensus among diverse governments, agencies, and stakeholders
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to proactively build and maintain strong working relationships across governments, City divisions, and agencies, boards, and corporations
• Extensive experience leading and delivering complex, multi-stakeholder, cross-functional initiatives from planning through implementation within a large public sector or similarly complex organization
• Extensive people leadership experience, including coaching, developing, and supporting professional staff, with demonstrated ability to build high-performing teams and foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and respectful, inclusive workplaces
• Highly developed judgment and critical thinking skills, with the ability to navigate sensitive, high-profile issues in a complex public sector environment
• Strong knowledge of intergovernmental processes and structures in Canada, with a solid understanding of how municipal, provincial, and federal governments interact and align on shared priorities
• Experience overseeing or supporting governance frameworks related to agencies, boards, and corporations, including mandates, board structures, and accountability requirements
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities and deliver results in fast-paced environments with shifting demands and tight timelines
• Familiarity with relevant legislation and policies (e.g., City of Toronto Act, MFIPPA, AODA, OHSA) and an understanding of their application within a municipal context

Why You Will Love Working at The City:

1. We recognize the need for flexibility and offer a hybrid working environment that will provide you with an appropriate work-life balance required to thrive in today’s fast paced world.
2. A strong benefits package which includes competitive salaries, vacation, and other unique offerings.
3. We offer an excellent defined benefit pension plan bringing added value to our overall compensation package through OMERS.
4. We support ongoing learning and development and offer educational opportunities with tuition subsidies.
5. Opportunities to join and take an active role with City’s Communities of Inclusions comprised of employees who share a common identity, lived experience and/or set of interest and support each other’s professional development, sense of belonging and promote a culture of inclusion.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The City is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to creating a workplace culture of inclusiveness that reflects the diverse residents that we serve. Learn more about the City’s commitment to employment equity.

Accommodation

The City of Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We are committed to providing barrier-free and accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Should you require Code-protected accommodation through any stage of the recruitment process, please make them known when contacted and we will work with you to meet your needs. Disability-related accommodation during the application process is available upon request. Learn more about the City’s Hiring Policies and Accommodation Process.