Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations

Ready to Make an impact?

Sobeys is committed to walking a path of Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

At Sobeys, we are committed to building a more inclusive, respectful, and equitable future – one rooted in Reconciliation. We’re proud to invite applications for the national role of Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations. This is a pivotal opportunity to lead the development and implementation of Sobeys' Reconciliation actions and drive meaningful change across our business.

Reporting to the Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), you will guide and influence strategy in the areas of Indigenous talent attraction and retention, cultural competency, community engagement, and Indigenous supplier development. As a key member of our DE&I team, you’ll also play a vital role in our ongoing efforts to create an anti-racist culture – impacting how we hire, train, engage with leadership, teammates, shape our policies, and foster external partnerships.

Position Complexities:

This position requires an individual who is detail-oriented, a creative thinker with considerable facilitation and planning skills. It requires a strong foundation of lived experience and work experience reflecting an understanding of the diverse experiences of Indigenous Peoples in this country. This includes the history, contributions, the systemic, colonial and racist challenges from the past to present day, understanding of Treaties and unceded territories alike, and how that knowledge can guide our work and appreciation for the cultures and worldviews of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. 

This role is open to applicants who are First Nations, Inuit, Métis.

Here’s where you’ll be focusing:

• Lead internal working group to define and champion a holistic approach for a path of Reconciliation. This includes guiding Sobeys’ journey through the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations (PAIR) program.
• Provide leadership, and senior-level advice, guidance, and broad expertise related to establishing meaningful Indigenization and Decolonization.
• Recommend programming for education, awareness and support for all Sobeys teammates including leadership to build knowledge, cultural confidence and commitment to Reconciliation. Ability to facilitate some of this learning would be an asset. This would include the development of protocols and briefings towards a myriad of frameworks for meaningful partnerships.
• Identify partnership opportunities with Indigenous suppliers and organizations.
• Collaborate with Community Investment team to establish partnership opportunities with Indigenous communities and organizations.
• Collaborate and guide Talent Acquisition teams and Human Resources to develop recruitment and retention solutions and programs for Indigenous talent. This could include career development and advancement programs, identification of barriers, engagement opportunities and recruitment plan to increase representation.
• Collaborate with internal and external Communications teams to ensure accurate and culturally aware messaging.
• Develop a diverse range of engagement and support strategies to strengthen and expand our community relationships. 

What you have to offer:

Must-haves:

• A bachelor’s degree / diploma and/or at least 8 years relevant professional experience in Indigenous Relations
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity, anti-racism and contributing to an inclusive workplace environment
• Experience in the development and delivery of processes, tools and programs
• Experience in facilitation and delivering training
• Proven communication skills in area of Indigenous Relations, as well as a deep understanding of Diversity Equity & Inclusion and anti-racism
• Proven capacity for independent work
• Demonstrated proficiency in MS Word, MS Teams, Excel, Zoom, SharePoint and Outlook 

Nice-to-have:

• Project management experience including supporting other teammates
• Bilingual (French and English) is an asset as the candidate will be expected to work with peers in other provinces in the development and implementation of tools and processes across Canada, as well as provide support to Sobeys employees across Canada
• Experience with community engagement and community development approaches specific to Indigenous populations
• Experience in retail is an asset

The interview process may consist of a practical skills component.

Note that this specific role is a hybrid one, requiring a mix of in-person and remote work.

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