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Title: Director, Policy and Research
Department: Strategy, and Policy Research
Reporting to: Senior Director, Policy and Research
Compensation: CAD102K - CAD131K
Employment: Full Time
Location: Remote - Canada (The team is primarily based in Ontario; candidates located in Ontario are encouraged to apply)
Who We Are:
World Education Services (WES) is a non-profit social enterprise that supports the educational, economic, and social inclusion of immigrants, refugees, and international students. For 50 years, WES has set the standard for international academic credential evaluation, supporting millions of people as they seek to achieve their academic and professional goals. Through decades of experience as a leader in global education, WES has developed a wide range of tools to pursue social impact at scale. From evaluating academic credentials to shaping policy, designing programs, and providing philanthropic funding, we partner with a diverse set of organizations, leaders, and networks to uplift individuals and drive systems change. Together with its partners, WES enables people to learn, work, and thrive in new places. For more information about WES, please visit our website at www.WES.org.
About the Opportunity:
The Director, Policy and Research provides strategic leadership in advancing WES Canada's policy, research, and advocacy agenda. Working closely with the Senior Director, Strategy and Policy Research, the Director leads major policy initiatives, develops evidence-based policy positions, manages strategic research, and cultivates high-impact partnerships that strengthen WES's influence across Canada's immigration and workforce development.
The Director leads complex cross-functional initiatives that advance WES Canada's strategic priorities. This role combines senior policy leadership with hands-on technical research capability, including the design and execution of applied economic research on immigration, economics, and labour market outcomes.
The Director provides leadership to policy staff, consultants, and project teams while fostering collaboration across WES departments to strengthen organizational impact and thought leadership. The role is responsible for translating emerging policy trends and research into organizational strategy, supporting executive decision making, and representing WES externally with governments, business associations, sector partners, and other stakeholders.
What You'll Do:
Policy Leadership and Strategic Influence (35%)
Apply rigorous economic and quantitative analysis, including econometric evidence on immigration and labour market outcomes to strengthen the empirical foundation of WES policy positions.
Lead the development of policy positions, strategic analysis, consultation submissions, and advocacy strategies aligned with WES Canada's priorities.
Identify emerging immigration, labour market, education, and workforce policy trends and assess strategic implications for WES.
Lead complex policy research projects that support evidence-informed organizational decision making.
Provide strategic advice to senior leadership regarding policy risks, opportunities, and emerging issues.
Develop policy frameworks and recommendations that strengthen WES's influence with governments and sector partners.
Represent WES in external policy forums, advisory committees, and stakeholder consultations.
Lead the preparation of executive briefing materials, policy papers, presentations, and strategic reports.
Research, Thought Leadership and Strategic Partnerships (30%)
Design and lead applied economic research on immigration and workforce integration, including econometric and quantitative studies related to immigration policy or economic issues, credential recognition, and labour market outcomes.
Direct strategic research initiatives that support WES Canada's public policy, advocacy, and systems change objectives.
Build and steward the team’s technical research capacity, including research design, quantitative methods, data acquisition, analytical tooling, and quality assurance standards for all empirical economic-focused work.
Build and maintain senior relationships with governments, business associations, post-secondary institutions, regulatory bodies, employers, and sector organizations.
Identify opportunities for collaborative research, policy development, and strategic partnerships that advance WES priorities.
Lead the development and dissemination of thought leadership publications, policy briefs, and research reports.
Provide strategic oversight of external research partnerships and ensure research quality and alignment with organizational priorities.
Represent WES as a recognized subject matter expert through speaking engagements, conferences, and stakeholder meetings.
Strategy, Governance and Organizational Leadership (20%)
Lead strategic planning initiatives that support implementation of WES Canada's strategic priorities as it relates to policy, research, and the advocacy agenda.
Direct cross-functional projects involving multiple departments and external stakeholders.
Lead strategic environmental scanning and scenario planning activities to inform executive decision making.
Support organizational governance through development of board materials, executive briefings, dashboards, and performance reporting.
Lead strategic planning and implementation of major policy, research and advocacy related initiatives within the Managing Director Office.
Develop systems and processes that strengthen knowledge management, organizational learning, and policy coordination.
Leadership and People Management (15%)
Lead, coach, and develop policy and research staff, consultants, and project teams.
Establish work plans, priorities, and performance expectations for direct reports.
Foster a collaborative, innovative, and high-performing team culture.
Support workforce planning, recruitment, and professional development within the Policy and Research function.
Promote effective collaboration across WES departments to achieve shared organizational objectives.
Your Experience:
Required
A bachelor's degree in economics, Public Policy, Political Science, Social Sciences, or another related discipline, or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience.
Minimum eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in economic research or public policy within the social impact, public, or non-profit sectors.
Demonstrated technical research capacity, including experience designing and executing applied economic research on immigration and labour markets, from research design and data strategy through analysis, peer review, and publication.
Strong econometric and quantitative skills, including regression analysis, causal inference methods, and labour market outcome analysis, with working proficiency in statistical software such as Stata, R, or Python.
Minimum five (5) years of management or leadership experience leading teams, consultants, or complex cross-functional initiatives.
Demonstrated expertise in Canadian labour market policy, workforce development, credential recognition, immigration or related public policy fields.
Experience managing external research partnerships and commissioned research.
Experience working with Canadian labour market and immigration data, such as the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB), Census, and Labour Force Survey, including Statistics Canada Research Data Centre or administrative microdata environments.
Extensive experience leading policy development, consultation submissions, research projects, and strategic advocacy initiatives.
Proven ability to influence policy through research, stakeholder engagement, and strategic partnerships.
Experience building and maintaining relationships with senior government officials, business leaders, funders, and sector organizations.
Excellent relationship-building skills and executive presence: ability to build stron