Deputy Clerk

Full Time, Permanent

Town of Kentville is recruiting to fill the position of Deputy Clerk to join our fast paced and growing municipal government. This position offers a unique role of interacting daily with elected officials, staff at all levels in the organization, community groups, and businesses. The role requires someone with strong organizational skills and adept at undertaking many tasks simultaneously under established deadlines. Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer, the successful candidate will work closely with strategic files and projects and plays an important role in the operation of the Town, being a strong ambassador for public communications.

Specifically, this role provides administrative support to Council, various committees, CAO, and Directors, and is directly involved with many initiatives including occupational health and safety, FOIPOP, municipal elections, and communications.

Kentville offers a comprehensive benefits package including competitive compensation, pension plan, health and benefit plan, and regular training opportunities. The salary range for this position is $57,907 to $70,386.

If you possess a diploma or undergraduate degree in public administration, political science, communications, business administration, or a similar educational program, or a combination of these educational requirements or lived experiences that meet these requirements, along with five (5) years' experience working in municipal government, another government agency, or not-for-profit entity in an administrative and coordination position working with elected officials and senior staff, then you might be very interested in this position.

Our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative, at all job levels, of the citizens we serve. We welcome applications from Indigenous, African Nova Scotian and other racially visible people, persons with disabilities, and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. If you are a member of one of the equity groups, you are encouraged to self-identify, on either your covering letter or resume.

Contingent on meeting the minimum education or equivalent experience, your application will be a high priority during the screening process.

Deputy Clerk

FULL-TIME NON-UNION

SALARY CLASSIFICATION: 8

Approved: September 1, 2025

General Position Functions

Deputy Clerk shall be responsible for implementing a records management system and records destruction policy; advertising, preparing agendas and meeting packages and transcribing meetings for designated committees and council; acts as Kentville's Occupational Health and Safety Coordinator, responsible for advertising and promoting all designated meetings; administer FOIPOP on behalf of the Town; participate in various environmental and sustainability initiatives; carry out the role of Returning Officer for all municipal elections; plan and organize swearing in ceremonies; assist with the organizing and promotion of designated Kentville public announcements; provide administrative support to mayor and council; coordinate the annual Kentville feedback survey; assist with E11 complaint system; support Bursary Committee; support departments with Municipal Awareness Week activities; and prepare reports when requested.

This job description is a general outline of duties and responsibilities and is not meant to limit the employee's initiative to expand or increase their work output subject to approval by their supervisor.

Accountability

This position reports directly to the Chief Administrative Officer.

Specific Job Responsibilities

• Responsible for assisting Chief Administrative Officer with carrying out the statutory duties of Municipal Clerk as outlined in the Municipal Government Act of Nova Scotia.
• Oversees the setup, maintenance, and implementation of a corporate-wide records management system, including paper files and electronic system, training and educating staff on its use and effectiveness, setting up scanning and meta data profiles, and liaises with the CAO who carries out Kentville's records destruction policy.
• Advertises, attends, prepares agendas, meeting packages with background information, and minutes for all Council Advisory Committee and Council meetings, as well as other assigned committees, using standard minute taking methods, preparing summaries of actions required from meetings and providing to all Directors and CAO after each meeting, and files approved minutes in official records of the Town.
• Creates, manages and updates as necessary, Kentville's legislated Conflict of Interest Book, documenting all disclosures of conflict on interest in meetings, filing them in the established book, making them available for public access, and store the book in a safe and secure location to prevent unauthorized access.
• Acts as Kentville's Occupational Health and Safety Coordinator and reporting potential JOHS non-compliance issues to Chairperson for follow-up in a timely manner.
• Responsible for advertising and promoting all meetings that they act as coordinator or administrative support for, posting meeting notice on website, social media platforms, and other required legislated or policy approved locations.
• Carries out the duties and responsibilities of Responsible Officer pursuant to Part XX of the Municipal Government Act, receiving applications, processing payments, replying to requests for information, notifying third parties when required, releasing or denying requests, requests CAO approval to seek legal advice when necessary, reviewing and processing appeals, and reporting annual statistics to provincial FOIPOP Administrator.
• Participates as a member of the staff team that oversees various environmental and sustainability initiatives undertaken by Kentville such as Bird Friendly Town and environmental projects and assessments, working in collaboration with provincial and federal funding partners and organizational agencies to improve the Town's carbon footprint.
• Acts as Kentville's Returning Officer for all municipal elections, including hiring and training of election workers, compilation of election lists, booking facility rentals, creating potential candidate information packages, hosting potential candidate information meetings, ordering election supplies, placing advertisements, carrying out elections, and reporting results to public at the conclusion of voting.
• Plans and organizes the swearing in ceremonies for each new council or Chief of Police, meeting with councillors elect and staff to plan the event, select date and location, issue invitations to dignitaries and special guests, book facility, food, and refreshments, arrange for person to oversee ceremony and do the swearing in of council members, prepare and print programs, and carry out setup of facility.
• Assists with the organizing and promotion of designated Kentville public announcements, press conferences, media releases, funding statements, and assists the mayor and designated councillors with arranging for their attendance if required.
• Provides administrative support to Mayor, Councillors, and Chief Administrative Officer, including arranging meetings, conducting research, preparing correspondence and researching and writing reports and letters.
• Acts as Kentville's staff liaison for the Town's annual bursary review and selection committee.
• Coordinates and facilitates an annual survey of Kentville residents, seeking feedback from Directors and Chief Administrative Officer on questions and wording, prepares and issues on-line and paper survey, promotes and advertises the survey, and at the completion of the survey deadline, compiles feedback and data and prepares a report for Chief Administrative Officer and Directors outlining the feedback received and comparisons from previous years.
• Assists other designated staff with providing communications information to the public concerning council and administrative matters, posting on Town website, social media platforms, radio, newspaper, direct mailouts, et cetera, where deemed appropriate and financially efficient.
• Works with other administrative staff in the review and operating of Kentville's E11 system of receiving, tracking, and responding to citizen requests and complaints, documents complaints in the system, following up to determine if complaints are being addressed, while ensuring that files are reported on and closed when handled satisfactorily, reporting files that are not closed in a reasonable time to the Chief Administrative Officer.
• Assists Council and Department Directors with the planning, advertising, hosting, and facilitation of public meetings or information sessions for significant Town issues such as stormwater management, regional recreation facility, infrastructure and capital projects, municipal and provincial funding opportunities, as well as new programs and services or ones with significant changes.
• Supports council members with their registration and attendance at approved professional development training and conferences, ensuring information concerning registration forms, hotel and car booking (with a travel agent, when appropriate), travel, et cetera, are provided when received and the Town policy regarding such training and reimbursement of expenses is explained along with required public reporting.
• Monitors all relevant media sources each week for comments about Kentville and any issues related to Kings County that may be of interest to or potentially have an impact on the Town or its residents, sharing information to relevant staff, Mayor and Council.
• Accepts and reviews requests from external agencies requesting the opportunity to make presentations or representations to Council, seeking support for the Mayor before authorizing such presentations, and providing each approved presentation group with the rules around their presentation length and format.
• Supports various municipal departments with carrying out their legislative duties regarding public notifications, advertising, and promotions, including assisting experts or consultants with training of Council and staff on the use of social media, websites, and appropriate marketing and promotional avenues.
• Assists with the promotion and awareness of Municipal Awareness Week each year and supports various departments with their planned open houses, educational forums, print materials, social media and radio advertisements, school presentations, and similar positive public interactions as well as during other appropriate times of the year.
• Conducts research and prepares reports for the Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer on various topics and issues during the year related to Kentville administrative and community matters as requested.
• Participates as a member of the Administration Team, attending meetings to provide department updates and feedback on inter-departmental issues, coordinates projects and initiatives and provides support to internal Town operational and administrative functions.
• Other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned from time to time by the Chief Administrative Officer.

Qualifications and Expectations

• Candidates for this position must possess as a minimum, a diploma or undergraduate degree in public administration, political science, communications, business administration, or a similar educational program, or a combination of these educational requirements and lived experiences that meet requirements.
• Additionally, the candidate must have a minimum of five (5) years experience working in municipal government, another government agency, or not-for-profit entity in an administrative and coordination position working with elected officials and senior staff, with preference given to those whose experience is directly or indirectly working with a local government organization, or a combination of formal experience and lived experiences.
• Due to the nature of this position, the employee must have exceptional reading and writing skills, have a positive past working relationship with various elected officials, be fluent with Microsoft Office, and comfortable working in a fast-paced work environment, often with short timelines and high media attention. This position will occasionally require work outside of normal office hours including evenings and weekends.

We thank you for your interest and please note that only candidates selected to move forward through the interview process will be contacted. Please send your cover letter and resume to [email protected] or mail to Town of Kentville, 354 Main Street Kentville, Nova Scotia, B4N 1K6, "Deputy Clerk Position". This competition will remain open until the position is filled.