City of Prince Rupert's search for next City Manager/CAO now officially underway

With a job posting now available for review on the City of Prince Rupert website, the quest to find a replacement for the retiring Dr. Robert Long is now underway. 

Toward their search the city is providing for a fairly extensive overview as to what they are looking for from prospective applicants; as well as the vast range of duties associated with the city's top staff position.

The work ahead for the City towards securing a new City Manager/CAO was first mentioned last week, when Mayor Lee Brain posted the advisory of Dr. Long's planned retirement, which is effective as of the end of the year.

The Help Wanted posting starts out as a travelogue, selling the merits of a life on the North Coast and then shifts towards the key requirements for employment with the City, along with the focus that the city has put on the position.

Potential candidates will have a minimum five years of experience as a City Manager/CAO or equivalent management position working directly with elected officials, diverse stakeholders, and the public. In addition to hands-on experience candidates should have a commensurate training and education background.

The successful applicant will be joining a seasoned management team and an energetic Council who have jointly accomplished a lot in the last 5-10 years. A number of significant infrastructure issues have been tackled, a new OCP and strategic plan are in place and financially the City has weathered the “Great Recession.” 

Do not worry, there are many challenges ahead that will test your skills including an ambitious revitalization initiative, achieving financial sustainability, continuing to enhance citizen engagement, building relationships with neighbouring First Nations and other stakeholders.

The position also feature five significant ambitions for the position that the City has identified:

1. Understand the political context of Council, and is comfortable helping Council navigate the inevitable political issues while maintaining the professional detachment required of a City Manager/CAO. 

2. Be committed to corporate excellence leading all City staff by example and with a sense of the positive professional legacy they wish to create. 

3. Maintain and enhance the important relationships with community and business stakeholders as well as with local First Nations. Additionally, they will understand and can support our working relationships with Federal and Provincial partners. 

 4. Have the strategic focus necessary to ensure the successful implementation of the City’s OCP and Strategic Plan while possessing the pragmatism to support staff and Council to respond to emergent conditions. 

5. Be a curious, committed learner, open to constructive criticism, and able to encourage others to follow their example. 

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In addition to a posting on the City of Prince Rupert careers page, the position has also been posted to the province wide municipal careers listings with the Civic Info BC website.

The city is also making use of an executive search group to assist in their work to find the right candidate for the position, with management consultants The Shoop Group based out of Victoria  handling any inquires that those with an interest in the job may have.

The City of Prince Rupert is one of a number of British Columbia organizations that the management consultants are providing services for at the moment, or have provided services for in the past.

Of note from the small world files, The Shoop Group principle Michael Shoop is an alumnus of the Antioch University Leadership in Change program from the Midwest US based University, as well he is a  former adjunct professor with the University from 2008-14.

As we noted last week, Dr. Long completed his Phd through the Antioch Leadership and Change program in the fall of 2020, making use of his experiences and the dynamic between Mayor and CAO as the focus for his dissertation.

The deadline for submissions for the City Manager/CAO position is August 20th.

You can review some of the past Job opportunities with the City from our archive page here.

A wider overview of past Council Discussion themes can be reviewed here.