Job Specifications
Who We Are
Heart & Stroke is one of Canada’s most respected health charities, championing life-saving research, public awareness, and support for people affected by heart disease and stroke. With a mission that reaches communities across the country, the Foundation is committed to fostering a workplace where people feel respected, supported, and able to do their best work.
The opportunity
As we continue to strengthen its people practices and build on its caring and high-performance culture, we are seeking a skilled and collaborative Vice President, Talent and Diversity to help lead this work.
Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Talent, Governance and General Counsel, the Vice President plays a key role in implementing and operationalizing Heart & Stroke’s talent strategy. The VP oversees the full HR portfolio, including total rewards, compensation and benefits, employee relations, talent acquisition, performance management, and workforce planning, and leads the ongoing integration of the Foundation’s internal EDI strategy across people practices. The VP ensures people systems, policies, and processes are effective, equitable, and consistently applied, while providing practical guidance to leaders and managers. Working closely with Learning and Development, Internal Communications, Operations, and other partners, the VP helps align talent, engagement, culture, and organizational priorities to support day-to-day operations and longer-term workforce needs.
As an ideal candidate, you are an experienced HR practitioner with strong operational depth and sound judgment. You have led the day-to-day delivery of HR in complex organizations and bring hands-on experience across core disciplines, including total rewards, talent processes, and EDI.
Comfortable advising leaders and navigating complex employee matters, you ensure compliance with employment legislation and organizational policy. You are steady, pragmatic, and collaborative in your approach, hold a university education in a related field and a professional HR designation, and take pride in seeing well-designed people processes work effectively in practice while contributing to a workplace where people feel supported, included, and connected to Heart & Stroke’s mission.
How You Will Make An Impact Every Day
Strategic Leadership and Organizational Talent Strategy
Serve as a trusted advisor to the SVP, CEO, and Leadership Team on talent strategy, workforce planning, and future capability needs.
Support the ongoing implementation of Heart & Stroke’s forward-looking Talent & Diversity strategy that reflects its mission, values, and strategic priorities.
Monitor and leverage emerging trends, including AI, demographic shifts, hybrid work, and legislative compliance, to inform talent strategy and organizational capability.
Continue to foster and support a culture grounded in care, inclusiveness, wellness, and high performance.
Human Resources, Talent Systems, and Employee Experience
Lead all HR functions including talent acquisition, employee relations, and performance management.
Strengthen the employee lifecycle through equitable, human-centered, and values-aligned policies and practices.
Provide leadership on employee relations, conflict resolution, and sensitive workplace investigations.
Champion the use of people analytics, data, and dashboards within HR to support strategic decision-making and workforce insights.
Partner closely with Internal Communications to align messages related to engagement, culture, and people programs.
Work in strong partnership with Learning & Development to ensure that organizational capability-building aligns with talent needs and broader organizational strategic priorities.
Total Rewards and Workforce Wellbeing
Lead Heart & Stroke’s total rewards programs, including compensation, pension, benefits, wellness, and recognition.
Ensure programs are competitive, equitable, and aligned with the Foundation’s total rewards philosophy.
Guide benchmarking, compensation reviews, pay equity measures, and the design of total rewards programs that attract and retain top talent.
Strengthen integration between wellness initiatives, mental health supports, and Heart & Stroke’s culture of care.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Leadership
Continue to build and lead the Foundation’s internal HR EDI strategy, and work to coordinate and embed equitable practices and inclusive leadership throughout the organization in collaboration with leaders across other units.
Partner with leaders to foster a culture of belonging, psychological safety, and respect.
Champion anti-racism, accessibility, reconciliation, and equity across all people systems and organizational practices.
Ensure EDI principles inform hiring, promotion, leadership development, and talent processes.
Partnership, Collaboration, and Organizational Alignment
Collaborate with Learning & Development and the Project Management team to align capability-building, organizational