Work with Anthony P. Sheehan

Le texte français est un peu plus loin :)

Why This Page?

It’s no secret that it is becoming more and more difficult to attract and retain top talent. The number of opportunities, combined with the relative ease of talent mobility across the public service, is resulting in several vacancies across departments and agencies; and my team is no exception.

I created this page to try and creatively tackle the problem and maintain an ongoing list of open positions within my organization.

More importantly, this page provides you with additional information on my organization, my management style and the available positions to help you determine if working with us is the right fit for you!

Opportunities

Below is the list of opportunities. Each opportunity is further described after the summary of the work environment.

Please also note the important disclaimers and additional information below.

Should any of the opportunities capture your attention, please reach out to me at anthony.sheehan@cas-satj.gc.ca

Why work with us – More about myself

After 10+ years in the private sector, including working as a producer in the video game industry (Ubisoft), I joined the public service in 2014. Ever since, I’ve been trying to bring modern approaches to the GC to help deliver better services faster to Canadians. I published an article in 2017 on this topic, which made the cover page of the Canadian Government Executive magazine. I was appointed the Chief Digital Officer of Courts Administration Service (CAS) in July 2022. Before that, I worked as the Director General of the Transformation, Strategy & Results directorate at Transport Canada. Prior to joining Transport Canada in 2019, I was the Sr. Director of Digital Delivery and one of the leaders driving the NextGen HR & Pay innovative Agile Procurement Process. I hold an undergraduate degree from the Université de Sherbrooke, an Exec MBA from the Telfer School of Management and try to continuously improve as a public servant and as a leader. With this goal in mind, I recently participated in the Governor General Canadian Leadership Conference and the Canada Beyond 150 Program. I’m also a suicide prevention volunteer and co-founded the Gatineau Ottawa Agile Tour as well as co-launched and sold the startup alagarderie.ca. Originally from Québec city, I live in Aylmer with my wife and 2 young boys.

You can find out more about me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Leadership Style

We have a great team! I believe that a high-performing organization is one that is made up of talented people where team members have each other’s back, trust each other and hold each other accountable – pretty much what’s in here. In our team, we have a Work Hard & Play Hard mentality which makes being part of our team fun and gratifying. That’s why we hire based on competency and potential, and also on fit and behaviors; as how you deliver results is just as important as the results themselves.

I believe in self-empowered teams, supported by clear decision-making. I really liked some of the concepts in Ray Dalio’s book Principles, especially the concepts of radical truth and radical transparency. When you have a culture of open sharing of information and open and respectful discussions, you get to better results quicker. I also believe in a clear hierarchy of decision-making. This doesn’t mean that the most senior person is always right, but at the end of the day, they are accountable for the decision and the result and should therefore have the decision-making authority. In many cases, the leader will and should go with the team’s (and the experts’) recommendations. It’s what Ray calls “believability” – which is not the same thing as decision-making authority. I think that this model brings a good balance of empowering teams, good and trustworthy discussions and brings it all together with clear decision-making aligned to goals and vision.

Our leaders also take great pride in empowering our teams and working closely with team members to support their career growth. One of the greatest testimony of our success is when one of our employees gets a promotion, whether within our organization and beyond.

Work – Life Balance

I believe that jobs in the GC are really good jobs. They are not the best paid jobs, but they come with an opportunity to help increase the quality of life of all Canadians – that’s pretty amazing – and our salaries are paid from the taxes we collect from citizens. This comes with the accountability and duty to “give it your all” and take your job very seriously. So yes, we have deadlines, I hold my team to account, I make sure their performance is in line with expectations, I tell them when they fall short, we have difficult conversations when they fall short too often and I support them with the tools and training so they can get where they need to be. I do all this because its my job and we owe it to Canadians.

At the same time, I know that outcomes are more important than outputs, that tired and stressed employees are not productive, that there’s more to life than work and that ultimately, a happy, engaged and competent workforce is one that will best serve Canadians. So it’s in this interesting context that I try to find the right balance of Work Hard & Play Hard and yes, having the right balance – or integration – of work and life is important to me personally and professionally.

Flexible Work Arrangements

I started my career in the private sector and until joining the public service, I had always managed dispersed and asynchronous teams. I’ve grown in a culture where the results of your work are much more important than the when and the where you work. We try to hire the best in our teams. In return, we trust our teams to do what they do best. This means that they can – within applicable terms of conditions and rules – decide where and when they work, as long as it does not introduce risks and negatively impact team productivity and service levels. Given the nature of the job duties, aside from a few exceptions, most roles in my team can be filled and performed from anywhere in Canada – where there’s a good Internet connection :-)

Working Environment

Working for the Government of Canada (GC)

Working for the GC is rewarding and fulfilling! See the Top 10 reasons for joining Canada’s Public Service.

Working at Courts Administration Service (CAS)

CAS is a great place to work! The organization plays a major role in Canada's democracy.

The 4 federal courts Courts served by CAS are superior courts of record established by Parliament for the better administration of the laws of Canada. They have jurisdiction over a wide range of matters including immigration and refugee protection, intellectual property, application of income tax and other revenue-related laws, as well as matters pertaining to aboriginal claims, environmental assessment and national security. All of the Courts are national and bilingual with 2 courts also being bijural, adjudicating under both the Common Law and Quebec Civil Code. As independent bodies, the Courts play a vital role in Canada’s democratic process and form a big part of the 3rd branch of government, the judiciary.

Here’s a high-level org chart to better understand how CAS is organized.

Working within CAS' Information and Technology Services Division (ITSD)

As the Chief Information Officer, I have the pleasure of being part of CAS' executive committee and lead the Information and Technology Services Division (ITSD). ITSD is accountable for providing the executive leadership and management direction for service and data management and modernization, the delivery of the Department’s IM/IT program as well as actively supporting CAS' departmental transformation. This includes the advancement of CAS's Court Registry Management Solution initiative aimed at improving the performance of our courts administration services and improving access to justice. ITSD's accountabilities also include the programs and governance required to meet the requirements of the Policy on Service and Digital to ensure client service experience and government operations are improved through digital transformation approaches. Working in the #GCDigital family is pretty amazing, learn more here!

Have a look at CAS' 2022-23 Departmental Plan to learn more about the organization's 4 strategic priorities:

DIGITAL COURTS AND VIRTUAL HEARINGS - Deliver information technology solutions that provide for the effective management of court business, offer self-service to litigants and improve access to justice.
NATIONAL COURT FACILITIES AND COURTROOMS - Deliver modern, equipped, accessible and secure federal court facilities across Canada.
OUR WORKFORCE - Attract, retain and develop a highly skilled, diverse and engaged workforce. Optimize our work environment and strengthen management excellence.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE - Provide consistent, quality and timely client-centric services. Modernize our practices, processes and tools and integrate new business and technological solutions.

Open Positions

AS-05 – Lead, Performance Measurement (BBB)

This person leads ITSD's performance measurement work, including the following:

Monitor the realization of planned benefits (from projects, activities, investments…)
Produce and maintain various performance reports & balanced scorecards
Coordinate the tracking and resolution of ITSD's Management Action Plans
Lead and monitor ITSD's MAF activities and responses
Coordinate the agenda and production of materials for ITSD's Quarterly Performance Management meetings
Track the achievement of various corporate commitments (Risks resolution plans, DP, DRF…)
Act as the Liaison for ITSD and attending briefings and formal meetings with Corporate Planning and TBS to seek guidance and clarity

AS-07 – Chief of Staff & Strategic Advisor to the CIO (CBC)

This person works closely with the ITSD management team to ensure the division is a high-performing organization. To achieve this, this individual is expected to:

Conduct research and strategic analysis to review material, produce executive briefings, options and recommendations for the DG and other senior executives
Review files and manage the directorate’s quality control and assurance processes and workflows to ensure the timely and quality completion of the directorate’s deliverables
Lead and coordinate the resolution of various issues and urgent requests for the directorate

Review, develop and recommend correspondence and serve as a critical liaison in dealings with the offices of the Chief Administrator, with offices of other executive committee members, with various committee secretariat and with other governmental stakeholders
Manage the directorate’s team of executive assistants & administrative staff to ensure the team provides the following services:

Manage and organize the DG’s and the Directors’ schedule, meetings, travel and conferences
Manage, monitor the status and move forward the directorate’s list of strategic commitments, Bring Forwards (BFs) and executive taskings
Liaise with the directorate’s managers and directors to ensure the completion of timely and high-quality deliverables.

Support various governance committees and management meetings by preparing meeting agendas, managing membership and meeting attendance, managing meeting invites, takings notes and producing records of decisions, issuing call outs to presenters, manage pre-brief and debrief meetings…
Develop guidelines and processes to enhance operational efficiency and communications across the DG’s office and the entire directorate

AS-04 – Talent Acquisition Coordinator

This person works closely with the rest of the Talent Management team to attract top talent into our team. They do so by researching and contacting candidates through social media and other channels to share stories and explain how great it is to work in our team, to entice them to apply to our open positions and competitions and to answer any questions they may have.

Disclaimers and additional information

Classification

To accelerate staffing and gather iterative feedback, the below opportunities are shared although they have not yet been formally classified. As such, the proposed language profiles, levels and groups - which impact rates of pay – are tentative and may change following the results of a formal classification assessment.

Rates of Pay

For those not fully familiar with the rates of pay and terms of employment in the public service, please consult the collective agreements for each of the positions (IT group, EC group, AS group).

Overview of the hiring process

Although each hiring process is different, here’s a video that provides an overview of each of the steps and provides tips on navigating the application process in the GC.