Position

The FoodAbility Specialist will be a part of the development team for a project called “Connecting Food and Beverage Manufacturers across Canada with People that have Disabilities”. This work will support persons with disabilities prepare for, find and maintain employment or become self-employed, thereby increasing their economic participation and independence. Assisting employers, through a range of hands-on supports, to diversify their workplaces and to create inclusive and accessible work environments for employees with disabilities and assist those who support persons with disabilities in employment and employers that hire them by assisting them to increase their disability-related skills and capacities. Also, to support career advancement of persons with disabilities who are employed full-time or part-time to gain greater knowledge, experience and essential skills to advance in their careers or have more job responsibilities.

The FoodAbility Specialist will assist FPSC with current LMI on persons with disabilities in the food processing and related sectors, recent policy information regarding employer accessibility obligations, a showcase for any success stories and best practices to inform recruitment and retention practices, information on labour market training opportunities/gaps for persons with disabilities inclusion to inform the future work of FPSC and interprovincial analysis to update the Crossroads report. This work will include:

• Development of a Workforce Profile – For identified occupations and sectors an analysis of labour market statistics to establish a benchmark for PWD labour market participation in the sector by reviewing government data sources. The data will also validate how acute a problem there may or may not be around assumptions of inequities for PWDs in the labour market. 
  • National/regional breakdown of PWDs by relevant NOCs and NAICS, where data allows.
  • Other available and relevant data on PWDs in the labour force in manufacturing, food manufacturing, all industries.
• Environmental Scan. An environmental scan will identify shifts in the regulatory context and policy changes and updates on disability and workplace inclusion in Canada and the provinces which will affect employers and workplaces. It will also look at government programs and organizations supporting PWDs that can be accessed by workers and employers. The scan will also highlight duty to accommodate for different types of disability.
• Literature Review. A review of online, open-source academic and grey literature will be done for Canada and foreign jurisdictions (OECD) on - worker disability and barriers facing workers, - workplace inclusion best practices, accessibility programmes for workers and employers, tools, supports, and success stories in recruitment and retention. - role of technology in disability inclusion. The literature review will be limited to studies and reports published within the last ten years.

Requirements

• Solid knowledge and understanding of disability in the workplace
• Solid understanding of NOC codes, NAICS, and NOS.
• Post-secondary education, or equivalent work experience
• Excellent writing, analytical, and research skills are essential
• Solid organizational skills, including multitasking, and time-management
• Experience in presentation development skills and facilitation skills for small to large groups
• Ability to understand subject material
• Experience in research and accessing data
• Strong secondary research skills
• Strong primary research skills for targeted interviews
• Experience in competency framework development, NOS development, career profiling and laddering, training curriculum development, training benchmarking
• Strong written and communication skills, ability to create original correspondences and materials
• Strong teamwork skills
• Intermediate experience with outlook, word, excel, and powerpoint.

Assets

• Bilingual (French & English)
• Master’s degree
• Knowledge of labour economics and labour market policies in Canada.
• Experience writing for external audiences.
• Experience in a similar role, all forms of work experience will be considered
• Background or experience in not-for-profit
• Background or experience in project management, communications, marketing, business, human resources or research
• Experience with project management software
• Experience with data visualization
• Experience in graphic design, using the Adobe Suite (PDF editor, InDesign, Photoshop, etc.)
• Experience working with statistics
• Experience in food service, groceries, food processing, food catering or general manufacturing
• Experience with Web Design or other online platforms and tools (Learning Management Systems, WordPress, social media, etc.)

Current Work Environment

FPSC is currently in a hybrid work model where staff are working remotely as well as in the office 

About Food Processing Skills Canada (FPSC)

FPSC is a national and not-for-profit council dedicated to the advancement of Canada’s food and beverage processing industry. FPSC is a recognized leader in LMI, both within and beyond the food and beverage processing sector. LMI is essential for Canadian food and beverage stakeholders in making informed business, workforce, and policy decisions.

FPSC is constantly seeking new and innovative approaches to make LMI more usable and accessible to all stakeholders. Our LMI research informs the other programs and activities that FPSC conduct. That work includes the development of skills and competency tools, training courses & educational tools, funding programs, government funded initiatives, networking events, and much more.

Located in a newly-renovated office space in Ottawa’s East end, our fun and dynamic team works hard to deliver top-notch programming and create exceptional products. Our fast-pace work environment, always has a wide variety of projects and activities on the go, providing ample opportunity to learn and grow in your position.  We look forward to welcoming you to our team!

We thank all applicants for their interest.  Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.