Director, Building Division

Director, Building Division

Regular Full Time - Excluded

One of BC’s Top Employers, the City of Coquitlam (“Coquitlam” or “the City”) offers meaningful career opportunities to over 2,000 employees to make a difference within the local community. As the sixth largest city in BC, Coquitlam is home to more than 150,000 residents. The diverse municipality is a great place to work as it continues to grow through innovative urban design, inspiring arts, culture and recreation programs, and state-of-the-art transportation systems.

Vision
Sustaining a high quality of life for current and future generations, where people choose to live, learn, work and play.

Mission
To serve the public interest through open, fair and accountable local government with a focus on leadership, innovation and community priorities and strengths.

Corporate Values
Organizational values form the foundation for the City’s decision-making framework and relationships with its interest holders, including employees, residents and clients. The City of Coquitlam strives to be an organization recognized for its excellence in City governance and employee, resident and client relations.

To learn more, please visit Coquitlam’s 2024-2027 Strategic Plan.

THE OPPORTUNITY
The Building Division plays an essential role in ensuring the safety and energy efficiency of all residential and commercial developments within the City, as well as ensuring that all building construction aligns with the BC Building Code, Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw. The Division is experiencing a significant increase in both the volume and complexity of building applications, with the newly created role of Director, Building Division (“Director”) responsible for overseeing projects worth $1.6B of construction value in 2023.

The Director is responsible for the direction, operation, and progress of Coquitlam’s Building Division. They are responsible for the administration of the BC Building Code, the Building Bylaw, and other associated bylaws and policies through plan reviews and inspections to ensure safety, compliance, and efficiency in all building construction in the City. The Director is responsible for leading divisional objectives, including providing strategic level advice to senior management and elected officials, and establishing and managing budgets.

Reporting to the GM, Planning and Development, the Director provides coaching, mentorship, and succession planning to build capacity to a total team of 48 staff through two Managers reporting directly, and ensures a culture of continual improvement and customer service. By modernizing processes, upgrading technology, and implementing digital transformation, they strive to implement best-in-class permitting and inspection practices, thereby optimizing the overall customer experience.

The Director also serves as Chief Building Official and is responsible for working with developers and the construction sector to minimize the impacts from construction on residents following the City’s Good Neighborhood Development policy. The Director is a key member of the Planning and Development Department’s senior leadership team. This is an outstanding opportunity for a progressive and visionary leader to make a significant impact on a building division whose activity has grown exponentially in both volume and complexity. Bringing a strategic lens and a service mindset, the Director will bring strong change management, team leadership, and process optimization skills to enable Coquitlam’s Building Division to enhance its operational effectiveness, balancing the interests of developers and the community at large.

Major Accountabilities

• Leadership and Team Management: oversee a team of plans reviewers, building officials, inspectors and support staff, providing guidance, professional development, training, and mentorship to ensure their professional growth and enhance their performance;
• Permitting and Licensing: manage the issuance of permits, licenses, and certificates of occupancy for an increasing volume and complexity of applications ($1.6B of construction value in 2023), ensuring timely and accurate processing while maintaining a transparent and customer-oriented approach;
• Building Code Enforcement: lead the team that ensures strict adherence to the BC Building Code, relevant municipal by-laws, and other applicable regulations during the construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings; oversee thorough plan reviews and site inspections to verify compliance; provide expert advice and guidance to architects, engineers, developers, contractors, City Council, city staff, and the general public regarding building code interpretations and compliance requirements;
• Policy Development: collaborate with city planners, engineers, Council, and other stakeholders to develop and implement building-related policies, programs, and initiatives that align with the City's development objectives and reflect industry best practices;
• Process Modernization: under the spirit of continuous improvement, update, streamline and modernize the application and plan review process and procedures; leverage technology and digitization to speed up the process, increase labour efficiency, and improve customer service;
• Construction Impact Mitigation: work with developers, contractors and construction officials to minimize and mitigate the impacts of construction on residents and businesses following the City’s Good Neighbourhood Development policy;
• Budget and Resource Management: participate in the budget planning process, managing allocated resources efficiently, and proposing resource requirements based on workload and departmental needs;
• Interdepartmental Collaboration: foster positive working relationships with other departments, collaborating on cross-functional projects and sharing information to enhance overall efficiency and service delivery;
• Emergency Response: be on continual standby to report to EOC and manage building-related emergencies and rapid damage assessments for public safety (i.e. earthquake, flood, fire).
• Technical Disagreements: adjudicate on technical reports, applicant information and Building Code / Bylaw objectives to determine the acceptability of a given process, proposed alternative solution, or other building application.
• Risk Management: assess legal and liability environment as well as industry practices to identify and define process and regulatory changes that can reduce risk to the City in application of the Building Code;
• Political Acumen: responds to Council referrals / inquiries and interpret intentions to define the best avenues for response; assemble teams for policy analysis that reflects direct response to Council’s priorities, and issues.

THE PERSON

The successful Director candidate will have strong technical and interpersonal skills, an aptitude for strategic and project planning, financial acumen, and proven experience leading a large, busy, multi-function division. They will possess superior written and verbal communication skills with the ability to make public presentations and prepare reports to a variety of audiences. The Director will prepare and administer divisional operating budgets, while maintaining responsibility for monitoring results. They will also provide guidance and leadership to a multi-level team, displaying excellence in people leadership and the ability to coach and mentor staff to succeed in their own career development goals. The Director should possess a continuous improvement mindset, instilling a customer service mindset in the division, while seeking ways to find efficiencies in the permitting process.

Professional and Personal Qualifications

• Degree in architecture, engineering, construction management, or a related discipline;
• Registered Building Official (RBO), Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) or Registered Architect, preferred.
• Membership and professional certification in EGBC, AIBC, BOABC, POABC, AScT;
• 10+ years experience leading local or regional government building and development operations, or working in a leadership role in firm consulting to local government;
• Experience leading and mentoring a team, including deciding on division staffing, performance evaluation and management; internal staffing policy and procedures; and division budgeting and resourcing;
• Exceptional analytical and decision-making skills to assist with the interpretation of application/permit issues, and building code equivalencies, building consensus on specific types of regulatory tools that allow objectives and goals to be met at minimum cost.

Competencies and Personal Characteristics

• Leadership: Achieves desired organizational results by encouraging and supporting the contribution of others; a proactive and positive team player who acts with a sense of urgency and leads by example; sets and communicates clear goals.
• Accountable: Holds self and others accountable for responsibilities; focuses on results and measuring attainment of outcomes in a business focus.
• Strategic: Develops a plan in support of organizational strategic direction. Demonstrates an understanding of the link between one’s job responsibilities and overall organizational goals.
• Integrity and Honesty: Demonstrates a resolute commitment to and respect for the spirit behind the rules and core values of the organization, setting an example of professionalism and ethical propriety.
• Influential and Collaborative: Has an open and consistent approach to working with others and possesses strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and develop/maintain partnerships, obtaining stakeholder agreement.
• Creativity and Innovation: Develops new insights into situations; questions conventional approaches; encourages new ideas; designs and implements new or cutting-edge programs/processes.
• Effective Working Relationships: Treats colleagues and stakeholders with respect; resolves conflicts in a timely manner, negotiates effectively, and provides effective feedback to colleagues/employees.
• Communication: Clearly presents written and verbal information; writes with clarity and purpose; communicates effectively in both positive and negative circumstances; listens well.
• People Development: Fosters learning and development of others through coaching, managing performance and mentoring; has a genuine desire to develop others and help them succeed; formally and informally recognizes deserving staff and colleagues.
• Resident Focused: Anticipates and attends to the needs of internal and external stakeholders of the organization; keeps resident interests in the forefront.

COMPENSATION
The 2025 salary range is $177,540 - $207,695. Additionally, there is an opportunity to participate in an earned day off / flex day program. This position is based in Coquitlam with some flexible, hybrid work options available.

The City offers an attractive vacation and extended benefits package, including the Municipal Pension Plan.

The City of Coquitlam has retained Leaders International Executive Search. All interested job applicants are requested to contact them directly.

FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Tony Kirschner or Leo McPeak
LEADERS INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE SEARCH
#880—609 Granville Street Vancouver, BC V7Y 1G5
Phone: (604) 688-8422 or Email: vancouver@leadersinternational.com
Job posting on Leader's website: https://leadersinternational.com/city-of-coquitlam-director-building-division/