Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)

Position Details:

Employer: Athabasca County

Location: Athabasca, AB

Industry: Municipal Government

Position Outline:

Located just 90 minutes north of Edmonton, Athabasca County is a thriving rural municipality encompassing more than 6,200 square kilometres of boreal forest, valuable farmland, pristine lakes, rivers, and vibrant rural communities.  It is home to approximately 7,280 residents and serves a local trading area of over 11,000 people.  

The County is home to two urban municipalities (Town of Athabasca and the Village of Boyle), eight summer villages, and eleven hamlets, and serves as the economic and service hub for a diverse and resilient region.

Strategically located as the gateway to Alberta's three oil sands regions, the County benefits from significant industrial and commercial activity while maintaining its rural character and exceptional quality of life.  Forestry and agriculture remain key economic drivers, complemented by opportunities in energy, agricultural processing, manufacturing, resource extraction, aggregate development, industrial growth, recreation, and tourism, as well as a budding entrepreneurial business sector.  With an abundance of lakes, rivers, and trails, the County offers outstanding year-round outdoor recreation, while modern municipal services, excellent schools, affordable housing, and safe and welcoming communities make Athabasca County an attractive place to live, work, invest, and raise a family. 

For additional information, please visit our website at www.athabascacounty.com

Reports to:

• Nine elected Council members including an appointed Reeve and Deputy Reeve

Direct Reports:

• Director of Finance
• Director of Corporate Services
• Director of Infrastructure
• Director of Community & Protective Services
• Executive Assistant

Employees:

• Approximately 90 FTEs

Budget:

• Operating: $35M
• Capital: $35M

Athabasca County is seeking an accomplished municipal executive to provide trusted leadership, disciplined administration, and visible public-service excellence.  The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) turns Council direction into clear organizational action while strengthening governance, financial sustainability, operational performance, community confidence, and long-term regional resilience.  Core responsibilities include:

🏛️ Governance and Council Relations

• Advise Council with clarity: Provide balanced analysis, legislative insight, and practical recommendations that support confident governance decisions.
• Maintain strong governance relationships: Foster a respectful, transparent, and accountable partnership with the Reeve, Deputy Reeve, and Council.
• Support effective decision-making: Attend required meetings, report on key issues, and identify opportunities, risks, and emerging municipal matters.
• Deliver on Council direction: Ensure bylaws, policies, resolutions, and strategic priorities are implemented with discipline and consistency.

🎯 Strategy, Organizational Performance, and Change

• Advance the strategic plan: Lead implementation, monitoring, and renewal of Council’s priorities.
• Strengthen organizational performance: Promote innovation, service excellence, continuous improvement, and measurable results.
• Lead change with purpose: Guide transformation through clear communication, collaboration, and practical execution.
• Champion service excellence: Set a visible expectation for responsive, respectful, citizen-focused service.
• Ensure consistent follow-through: Address inquiries, requests, and concerns promptly, professionally, and in line with approved standards.

👥 Executive Leadership and Administration

• Lead the Senior Leadership Team: Coach and align executive leaders to deliver reliable, high-quality municipal services.
• Create accountability: Set clear expectations, encourage professional growth, and reinforce ownership of results.
• Improve coordination: Reduce silos, strengthen cross-departmental collaboration, and recommend practical service improvements.
• Optimize structure and capacity: Review organizational needs and recommend changes that improve efficiency and long-term effectiveness.

💼 Financial Stewardship and Public Value

• Lead responsible budgeting: Direct operating and capital budget development in alignment with Council priorities.
• Protect fiscal sustainability: Maintain strong controls, sound forecasting, and disciplined long-range financial planning.
• Inform resource decisions: Provide Council with timely financial reporting and strategic advice.
• Ensure public value: Oversee procurement and contracts with transparency, fairness, and cost-effectiveness.

⚖️ Legislative Compliance, Policy, and Risk

• Ensure compliance: Align municipal operations with legislation, regulations, bylaws, Council policies, and governance standards.
• Strengthen policy discipline: Oversee the development, review, and implementation of bylaws, policies, procedures, and administrative practices.
• Anticipate change: Monitor legislative, intergovernmental, and sector trends and advise Council on implications.
• Manage risk prudently: Promote practical risk management, internal accountability, and responsible decision-making.
• Model integrity: Uphold ethics, confidentiality, professionalism, and political neutrality.

🏗️ Municipal Operations, Infrastructure, and Growth

• Oversee municipal operations: Ensure services are coordinated, dependable, responsive, and aligned with community needs.
• Advance capital priorities: Guide planning, procurement, delivery, and monitoring of infrastructure projects.
• Steward public assets: Support long-term asset management, planning, development, and major operational initiatives.
• Enable sustainable growth: Balance land use, service capacity, infrastructure readiness, and community development.
• Fulfill delegated authorities: Carry out Development Officer and Permit Issuing Authority responsibilities where assigned.

📈 Economic Development and Investment Readiness

• Promote investment readiness: Together with the Economic Development Officer, work with Council, partners, businesses, and community organizations to encourage growth.
• Support a business-friendly culture: Advance retention, expansion, entrepreneurship, and investment attraction.
• Diversify opportunities: Identify revenue and development strategies that strengthen competitiveness and resilience.

🤝 Community, Regional, and Intergovernmental Relations

• Build trusted relationships: Engage residents, businesses, neighbouring municipalities, provincial and federal governments, industry, and community organizations.
• Represent the County effectively: Participate in boards, committees, partnerships, conferences, and community events as appropriate.
• Strengthen public confidence: Advance clear communication, meaningful engagement, transparency, and trust.
• Stay connected to community priorities: Monitor emerging issues, funding opportunities, and municipal best practices.
• Maintain public presence: Attend evening, weekend, community, and regional functions as required.
• Support County business: Travel periodically to fulfill operational, regional, and governance responsibilities.

🌱 People, Culture, and Workforce Development

• Attract and develop talent: Recruit, mentor, evaluate, and retain a capable, committed workforce.
• Strengthen people systems: Maintain effective policies for compensation, succession, performance, engagement, and retention.
• Embed performance culture: Ensure regular evaluations, clear feedback, and leadership accountability.
• Promote a healthy workplace: Support a respectful, safe, inclusive, and productive work environment.
• Build a respected employer brand: Champion engagement, leadership development, succession planning, and pride in public service.

🛡️ Emergency Management, Safety, and Resilience

• Lead emergency readiness: Serve as Director of Emergency Management and guide preparedness, response, recovery, and organizational resilience.
• Prioritize safety: Ensure Occupational Health and Safety compliance and safe-work practices across the organization.
• Strengthen regional readiness: Participate in emergency planning, training, exercises, and continuous improvement.

📚 Professional Development and Related Duties

• Stay current: Maintain knowledge of municipal legislation, governance, leadership practices, and sector expectations.
• Invest in executive growth: Participate in professional networks, associations, conferences, and continuing education.
• Carry out related duties: Complete additional responsibilities assigned by Council consistent with the CAO role.

The successful candidate will be an approachable, visionary, and politically astute executive leader who brings:

• Outstanding leadership skills, with a proven ability to inspire, mentor, coach, and develop high-performing teams.
• Strong political acumen and sound judgment in supporting elected officials and navigating complex governance environments.  Willing to offer thoughts and opinions.
• Strategic thinking, with the ability to anticipate challenges, identify opportunities, and implement innovative solutions.
• Demonstrated change management expertise and the confidence to lead organizational transformation while managing conflict and resistance effectively.
• Exceptional relationship-building abilities and the capacity to establish trust with Council, staff, residents, businesses, and external partners.
• Open, transparent, and authentic communication, supported by strong listening skills and a collaborative leadership style.
• Down to earth presence coupled with excellent interpersonal, written, verbal, presentation, and public speaking skills.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to balance competing priorities while maintaining a long-term strategic focus.
• Proven decision-making ability, accountability, resilience, and sound professional judgment.
• Superior organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• A commitment to service excellence, continuous improvement, and organizational accountability.
• Unquestionable ethics, integrity, professionalism, humility, empathy, and a genuine passion for public service.

Together, these qualities reflect a leader who can build trust, guide a complex organization, and deliver thoughtful, accountable public service to the residents of Athabasca County.

The ideal candidate will bring the following education, experience, and executive leadership qualifications:

• A post-secondary degree in Public Administration, Business Administration, Commerce, Political Science, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and progressively responsible municipal leadership experience will be considered.
• Certified Local Government Manager (CLGM) designation or a related professional designation is preferred.
• At least seven (7) years of progressively responsible senior leadership experience, preferably in a municipal or public-sector environment, including as a CAO or equivalent executive experience.
• Proven ability to collaborate with elected officials in politically sensitive governance environments.
• Experience overseeing capital infrastructure projects, municipal operations, and asset management initiatives.
• Knowledge of planning and development, engineering, infrastructure, and land development principles is an asset.
• Extensive experience in strategic planning, organizational development, leadership development, succession planning, and change management.
• Strong knowledge of municipal finance, budgeting, long-range financial planning, procurement, and financial reporting.
• Experience securing, administering, and reporting on provincial and federal grant funding.
• Working knowledge of the Alberta Municipal Government Act (MGA), municipal governance, and related legislation, or equivalent public-sector legislative experience.
• Familiarity with GIS, asset management systems, information technology, records management, and life-cycle infrastructure planning is an asset.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships with volunteer boards, regional organizations, government agencies, and community stakeholders to advance shared priorities.

A competitive compensation package will be provided to the successful candidate.  This includes an attractive and competitive base salary, a comprehensive overall benefits package, enrollment in LAPP (Local Authorities Pension Plan) and on-going Professional Development support.  Details will be discussed in further conversations.

James Davies                               

Managing Director

DCG Executive Search Services Ltd.

Phone: (780) 758-9796

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.daviescg.com