Accessibility Coordinator

People, Place, Prosperity

Working within our Strategic Plan, Cambridge Connected, and committing to our values of Integrity, Respect, Inclusiveness and Service, the successful candidate will work together to help the City of Cambridge achieve our vision: A place for people to prosper - alive with opportunity.

Job Profile

Reporting to the Supervisor of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, the Accessibility Coordinator is responsible for leading and coordinating corporate accessibility initiatives to align with the City of Cambridge's mission and strategic plan. This role provides leadership and oversight in planning and implementing key projects and initiatives that advance the City's accessibility strategy and policies. The Accessibility Coordinator acts as an advisor to management on compliance with accessibility legislation, guiding actions to improve services, removing barriers, and addressing the needs of employees and community members. The role also involves developing, coordinating, and delivering training initiatives to promote awareness and reduce bias. The incumbent will facilitate discussions, organize meetings, document project plans, and prepare reports for internal and external stakeholders. This position plays a pivotal role in ensuring the City's compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) by working closely with the Cambridge Accessibility Advisory Committee and staff to implement accessibility standards across the organization. The Accessibility Coordinator is also responsible for reviewing and analyzing site plans to ensure legislative compliance, providing actionable recommendations to project managers, developers, and other stakeholders. Additionally, the role involves building partnerships with community organizations, municipal partners, and members of the public, while representing the City at various meetings and events. This position requires a high degree of political sensitivity and a commitment to the City's core values of respect, inclusiveness, integrity, and service.

What you will be doing

• Provide advice and guidance to management, staff, members of council and citizens on AODA compliance, Human Rights legislation, equity and inclusion.

• Support the execution of accessibility plans and implementation process.

• Act as the staff liaison for the Accessibility Advisory Committee.

• Provide best practices, guidance and support to internal staff, leaders, council and employees on accessibility challenges, solutions and legislative and regulatory requirements.

• Establish governance and framework to review, identify, and adjust existing processes.

• Proactively collaborate with key internal and external stakeholders to integrate accessibility standards across workplace policies, programs and environments.

• Conduct feedback consultations with departments on accessibility plans and support action plans to enforce accessibility compliance.

• Create Personal Attendant for Leisure Cards (PAL).

• Complete AODA Compliance report for the Ministry every two years and support interdepartmental reporting on the City's progress in accessibility and action plans for improvements.

• Analyze site plans for AODA compliance and provide actionable comments for developers and City Planners.

• Conduct and/or participate in roundtable meetings regarding AODA issues related to reasonable accommodation within City facilities and services.

• Support communication activities including progress updates.

• Develop and implement training and create awareness to support accessibility.

• Create and manage a centralized repository of best-in-class accessibility solutions, product vendors, and other tools/resources.

• Receive and resolve complaints from the public.

• Act as City representative, attend meetings and work with various associations and community organizations.

• Communicate with internal and external stakeholders and working groups through meetings, emails, phone calls, social media, events and trainings.

• Collaborate across accessibility programs and initiatives to develop and enforce accessibility compliance.

Education

Undergraduate Degree in Social Sciences, Planning, Social Work, Disability Studies, Engineering or related field of Accessibility, and/or a combination of education and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, abilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Experience and Knowledge

• Strong Commitment to accessibility and disability inclusion.

• Experience in successfully leading, monitoring and promoting corporate-wide strategies on accessibility programs and services.

• Experience in providing expert advice and guidance to clients and/or management on accessibility standards, best practices and applicable legislation, such as the AODA.

• Strong project management with the ability to coordinate multiple projects and initiatives simultaneously with various stakeholders, including acting as a representative for the institution/organization in working groups or committees.

• Analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to understand priorities and issues, exercise sound independent judgement and leverage data for making key decisions and building business cases.

• Strong communicator, relationship builder and collaborator.

• Detail orientated with strong ability to prioritize, organize and manage a workload.

• Experience in developing and presenting documents and reports to staff, council and to diverse audiences.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

• Experience in event coordination, training development and implementation of EDIA principles.

• Practical knowledge of local community partners.

• Practical Knowledge of Canada's Accessibility Laws, including AODA, ACA and others.

• High degree of proficiency in all MS Office programs (Excel, SharePoint, PowerPoint, and Word).

We will ask you for these items if you are hired

Your compensation

This position is within Grade 8 of the CUPE Local 1882 Salary Schedule and has an annual salary range of $72,800 to $77,386. We offer a comprehensive benefit package and are an Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) employer.

Hours of work

The current regular hours of work are in accordance with the Inside Worker's Collective Agreement, (35 hours per week), Monday to Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm.

Advertisement expiration date

Interested candidates should apply at www.cambridge.ca/careers. This posting will close on November 29, 2024.

Accommodation needs and protection of privacy

The City of Cambridge recognizes and appreciates diversity and inclusion enhances our public value commitment.

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience and encourage all qualified people to apply, including and especially people from equity-deserving groups. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment with honour and respect toward their individual dimensions of diversity.

We strive to remove barriers that may prevent qualified applicants from fully participating in the recruitment and selection process. Accommodation in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and other applicable legislation is available throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process. Contact HRServices@Cambridge.ca to make your needs known in advance.

For more information on our Employment Equity, please read our full policy.

Personal information collected in relation to the recruitment process is collected under the authority outlined in the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and used solely to determine eligibility for employment with the City of Cambridge only.