Patient Partner, Patient Safety, Equity & Engagement

Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) works with partners to spread innovation, build capability and catalyze policy change so that everyone in Canada has safe and high-quality healthcare. Through collaborations with patients, caregivers and people working in healthcare, we turn proven innovations into lasting improvements in all dimensions of healthcare excellence.

If you would like to contribute to the safe and high-quality healthcare of Canadians, apply to the position below and join HEC!

Term: Temporary Part-Time. 18-month contract (25 hours per week)
Reports to: Director, Patient Safety, Equity & Engagement
Salary Range: $64,540- $80,676- $96,810 (Typical hiring range: $68,574 - $76,442)
Location: We are a pan-Canadian healthcare organization and welcome candidates from across Canada. Our head office is located in Ottawa, Ontario and we welcome flexible work options such as permanent/fully remote, hybrid, flexible work hours, and compressed work weeks.
Deadline to apply: February 9, 2025, 11:59pm ET
How to apply:  https://hecesc.bamboohr.com/jobs/

The Patient Partner brings extensive first-hand experience as a patient partner involved in health system improvement that helps to inform meaningful engagement practices and partnership within HEC and our programs of work. The Patient Partner leads and supports engagement efforts across HEC that enables staff to ‘walk the talk’ for meaningful engagement and acts as an advisor, mentor and coach. 

In this 18-month contract period, the Patient Partner will lead the ongoing growth and development of engagement capabilities at HEC, aligned with our guiding principles for engagement and recommendations from the Co-Design Initiative. The Patient Partner will lead the growth of HEC’s Patient Partner Network, and implement initiatives to support this Network, the Patient Engagement Resource Hub and other engagement efforts.

Your core responsibilities include:

  • Works collaboratively to develop and embed a consistent approach for engagement that aligns and puts action to the guiding principles for engagement.
  • Leads the ongoing growth of HEC’s network of patient partners, supporting the development of structures, including ways to manage the network of patient partners, and recruitment and orientation approaches.
  • Helps to diversify and broaden HEC’s reach with patient partners, with attention paid to issues of equity, diversity and inclusion to ensure a wide range of lived experience perspectives and engagement approaches that are fit for purpose.
  • Mentors and coaches HEC teams and patient partners as they work together on program activities and internally for HEC processes and policies
  • Provides ongoing capacity development opportunities that enable and support the ‘how-to’s’ of meaningful engagement practices across HEC that are consistent with our guiding principles for engagement.
  • Uses their extensive experience as a patient and as a patient partner to ensure patients’ perspective remain central to HEC programming and in strategic discussions.
  • Contributes to continuous quality improvement (CQI) and to strengthening our workplace culture by being engaged, positive, helpful and energized in your work.
  • Contributes to evaluation efforts, learning from and with HEC teams and patient partners, for continuous improvement of engagement practices within HEC
  • Helps HEC make change happen for healthcare improvement and safety.
  • Leads, manages, and successfully delivers on complex initiatives to achieve organizational goals.

For complete details, please see the Job Description (PDF 160 KB).

Education and experience you will need to have:

  • A minimum of five (5) years experience as a patient/caregiver/community member partner who has experience in direct level of care and partnership experience at the health and/or care system level that is regional, provincial, or national with government and/or nongovernment organizations in the domains of research, policy, education, health system improvement for quality and safety, is required.
  • Lived experience as a patient, caregiver or community member interacting with health and care systems is required. It is this lived experience as a patient/caregiver that has been your main experience of the health system and the perspective you bring of the system (and not as a provider/staff member within the system).
  • Demonstrated experience leading and implementing impactful initiatives from inception to completion, including the ability to craft comprehensive project plans.
  • Skilled in setting clear timelines and milestones, ensuring all phases of a project align with organizational goals and adept at integrating evaluation metrics to measure success and inform continuous improvement.
  • Bilingual in French and English is preferred (English communication skills at Advanced “C” level required).
  • Proficiency in computer software skills in Microsoft Office suite and virtual environment are required.

You will be a great fit for this role if you have:

  • Highly developed interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
  • Strong coaching, mentoring, and collaboration skills with an ability to meet people where they are at.
  • Excellent project management skills including the ability to plan and the ability to collaborate with other teams and across the organization.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills, with experience in facilitating and presenting to large and small audiences.
  • Demonstrated time management skills. Well organized and attentive to detail.
  • Professional tact and diplomacy and confidentiality required.
  • Ability to work well in a dynamic and highly motivated team.
  • Proven ability to inspire and lead while actively contributing to the execution of tasks, ensuring strategic objectives are met.

HEC currently offers:

  • Competitive salary with a bilingual bonus (if applicable)
  • Full access to our comprehensive benefits package on the 1st day of employment
  • Flexible work options including onsite, hybrid, or fully remote and flexible hours of work
  • Holiday break closure in December between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
  • Generous vacation and personal leave plans
  • A defined benefit pension plan with the CAAT Pension Plan
  • Employee and Family Assistance Programs
  • Fitness and Wellness Allowance
  • Remote Work/Parking Allowance
  • Paid professional association fees
  • Educational and development opportunities
  • On site (Ottawa) gym and complimentary coffee/tea
  • Social activities

 HEC is open to exploring the possibility of secondments and interchanges with other organizations as part of our recruitment process. 

Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) is an equal opportunity employer and embraces diversity and inclusivity. HEC is committed to building teams with a variety of backgrounds, skills and views, as the more inclusive we are, the more impact we can have. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals, including visible minorities, Indigenous persons, and persons with disabilities. We thank all applicants for their interest; only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.