AccessHR is excited to partner with The City of Red Deer for the recruitment of a full-time, permanent HR Team Lead - Total Compensation
ABOUT RED DEER
Located in Central Alberta along the QEII Highway corridor, Red Deer is strategically positioned between Calgary and Edmonton, making it an important economic, service, and transportation hub for the province. With a population of approximately 100,000 residents and a regional trading area serving more than 300,000 people, Red Deer continues to experience steady growth driven by its diverse economy, strong business community, and exceptional quality of life.
Red Deer is known for offering the amenities of a larger urban centre while maintaining the accessibility, affordability, and sense of community of a mid-sized city. The community features extensive parks and trail systems, vibrant arts and cultural opportunities, excellent recreational facilities, and a strong network of educational and healthcare services.
Red Deer also provides excellent access to Central Alberta’s lakes, outdoor recreation, and mountain destinations. Its central location, growing economy, and highly livable environment continue to attract professionals, families, and businesses from across Canada.
ABOUT THE CITY OF RED DEER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
The City of Red Deer is a progressive municipal government with an operating budget of ~$480 million, a capital budget of ~$60 million, and ~1,700 employees including full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers. Employees are the cornerstone of the organization and the City is seeking creative, skilled, and forward-thinking individuals as the organization grows and realigns to that growth.
Guided by Red Deer’s commitment to a unified community vision, “Our City, One Voice”, the City is dedicated to building a strong and resilient community. The City of Red Deer’s Strategic Plan is centered around three key focus areas: a Thriving City, Community Health & Wellbeing, and a Connected & Engaged City. Last but not least, the vision for 2050 is that Red Deer is vibrant and visionary, grounded in connection, and growing in diversity.
Recognizing that its employees are fundamental to actualizing the above, the City values the diverse experiences, perspectives, skills, and talents that individuals bring to the organization. This commitment to diversity and inclusion helps foster a workplace culture where individual, team, and organizational successes are recognized and celebrated.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
The HR Team Lead - Total Compensation reports directly to the Chief People Officer and is a key member of the HR leadership team. They provide strategic and operational oversight for payroll, pension, benefits, compensation, classification, and HRIS administration.
Leading a team of 8 specialized professionals, this role works closely with Labour Relations, Finance, and department leaders to ensure compensation programs, systems, and practices are practical, compliant, and aligned with organizational needs.
This opportunity is ideal for a collaborative and strategic leader with experience in total compensation within a complex public sector environment. The role offers a well-rounded balance of day-to-day transactional leadership and longer-term project work, including evolving systems and processes and helping shape future compensation and total rewards strategies.
Success in this role will require authentic leadership, articulate communication, and the ability to guide teams and stakeholders through ongoing organizational change and realignment.
KEY DELIVERABLES
- Strategic Total Compensation Leadership: Lead the development and continuous improvement of the City’s total compensation programs and services, ensuring alignment with City Council philosophies, organizational priorities, fiscal accountability, and long-term workforce strategies.
- Compensation, Classification, and Market Analysis: Oversee compensation and classification programs, labour market reviews, and benchmarking activities to support equitable, competitive, and sustainable compensation practices.
- Operational Leadership and Service Delivery: Provide leadership and direction to the Total Compensation team, ensuring accurate and timely delivery and reporting of services while maintaining high service standards.
- Systems, Process, and Organizational Alignment: Lead the ongoing review, alignment, and enhancement of systems, processes, and practices across total compensation functions, supporting organizational realignment, operational effectiveness, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Risk Management, Governance, and Compliance: Ensure compliance with applicable legislation, collective agreements, policies, and governance requirements while mitigating organizational risk related to compensation, payroll, pension, and benefits administration.
- Financial Analysis and Decision Support: Provide strategic analysis, forecasting, reporting, and expert advice to support budgeting, workforce planning, labour relations, and organizational decision-making.
- Health and Safety: Promote and support a safe and healthy workplace by ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety legislation, corporate policies, training, and safe work practices while demonstrating leadership and accountability for workplace safety initiatives.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Total Compensation Expertise: Experience leading multiple total compensation functions, ideally within complex municipal and/or public-sector environments.
- Project & Change Leadership: Expertise with leading organization-wide compensation initiatives, reviews, and process improvements, including overseeing external consultants, managing project timelines, and supporting organizational change.
- Compensation & Labour Relations Knowledge: Comprehensive understanding of compensation principles, job evaluation methodologies, collective agreements, labour relations practices, and legislative requirements within a unionized environment.
- Strategic Thinking & Analytical Skills: Advanced analytical, financial, and problem-solving skills; ability to interpret complex information, conduct costing and market analyses, and provide practical recommendations.
- Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: Robust relationship-building, negotiation, presentation, and communication skills; outstanding ability to translate and communicate complex concepts in laypeople terms.
- Collaborative Communication & Leadership: Ability to build trusted, inclusive relationships across teams and functions while communicating clearly and credibly with diverse stakeholders; fosters open dialogue, facilitates collaboration, and effectively navigates challenging conversations.
- Political & Organizational Savvy: Demonstrates sound judgment, discretion, and an understanding of the complexities of a public-sector environment while managing sensitive issues and competing priorities.
- Personal Attributes: Humble, fair, and accountable; leads with integrity and builds trust through empathy and openness; strong commitment public service values.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
- Degree in Human Resources or a related field; a combination of related education, professional designations, and progressive total compensation experience will also be considered.
- 7+ years’ progressive experience in compensation and/or total rewards roles; experience leading compensation-related teams.
- Experience providing support to collective bargaining processes and job evaluation programs.
- Experience working within large, complex, and evolving public sector organizations.
- Experience interacting with boards of directors and/or municipal councils.
ASSETS
- Professional designations including CPHR, CCP, or equivalent.
- Municipal government work experience.
- Mid-level leadership experience in the public sector.
- Advanced education or certification in change management, project management, and/or business administration.
WHAT WE OFFER
- Competitive total compensation package, including a base salary range of $108,415 to $135,518.
- Extended health coverage, dental care, and travel insurance.
- Health spending and lifestyle spending accounts.
- Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP); match + 1%.
- Generous paid time off plans.
- Relocation Support.
Total Compensation: The City of Red Deer is committed to fair, equitable and market-aligned compensation for all of their employees. Actual compensation for an individual may vary depending on many factors, including skills, performance over time, business needs, qualifications, experience, and location.
POSITION REQUIREMENTS
- Work on-site at City of Red Deer a minimum of 4 days/week.
- Flexibility to occasionally work outside of regular business hours to support business needs.
APPLY
Interested candidates are invited to apply HERE with a cover letter and resume. Please note that the position posting will close at 6:00 pm on June 12th, 2026.
All applicants will receive a personalized response, and candidates under consideration will be contacted directly. Applications are reviewed regularly, and interviews may be scheduled throughout the posting period. If you require adjustments or accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process, we encourage you to let us know.
We welcome applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking. The City of Red Deer is committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive, and safe workplace where differences are valued. We encourage applications from people of all ages, genders, marital statuses, family statuses, races, ancestry, place of origin, source of income abilities, neurodivergent identities, sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and religious beliefs. All qualified applicants are considered fairly and without discrimination in accordance with applicable human rights legislation.
