Senior Associate Dean: Dalhousie University (CBU campus)
Dalhousie University is seeking a Senior Associate Dean to provide academic, financial, administrative, and strategic leadership for Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine’s Cape Breton Medical Campus in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Dalhousie University
Founded in 1818, Dalhousie is located in the Province of Nova Scotia (in the territory of Mi’kma’ki) with 21,000 students on four campuses in Halifax and Truro and satellite locations in Yarmouth and Saint John, New Brunswick. Nova Scotia is growing rapidly, and Halifax is one of Canada’s fastest-growingcities with a booming technology community and a diverse economy fueled by proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. With more than 6,600 employees, Dalhousie is one of Nova Scotia’s largest employers, and the university benefits locally, regionally, and nationally from a reputation as a high-quality employer. As we strengthen our important role in service to our province and communities, our strategic plan, Third Century Promise, signals our long-term ambitions while providing a clear, actionable strategy to guide us over five years.
As part of Canada’s U15 research-intensive universities, Dalhousie is a key driver of the region’s intellectual, social, and economic development. Dalhousie University’s first 200 years have seen it transform from a local centre of learning to an institution with global impact. At the dawn of its third century, Dalhousie is more relevant, connected, and vibrant than ever.
The Cape Breton Medical Campus
Dalhousie University (Dalhousie) and Cape Breton University (CBU) entered into a partnership in 2022 to establish the Cape Breton Medical Campus (CBMC) in Sydney, NS, and will admit the first cohort of learners in 2025. Together, the institutions share the goal of enhancing their contribution to Nova Scotia’s evolving health reform agenda. CBMC will open in August 2025, as a regional campus of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine undergraduate MD program.
Dalhousie and CBU understand and agree that it is CBU’s goal to work to evolve the Cape Breton Medical Campus into a stand-alone Cape Breton University Medical School to be owned and operated by CBU, with potential to begin this work following the 2033 accreditation cycle and become operational by 2035. The duties of the Associate Dean, Cape Breton Medical Campus, will span the period leading up to the opening of the CBMC in 2025, and beyond, into the initial operating years of the campus.
The CBMC is one of the three campuses of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine. The other two campuses are based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick. The Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine currently trains over 600 medical students and has residents training in over 50 Family medicine and Royal College specialty programs. It leads health research and has received over $300 million dollars in research funding over the past five years.
CBU currently offers a number of health-related programs at the undergraduate degree and postgraduate diploma levels, including a Bachelor of Science, Nursing and a Bachelor of Social Work. A partner in the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub, CBU is a developing leader in rural clinical trials capacity building. It also houses the Centre of Excellence for Healthy Aging, which is dedicated to programs and research that translate into improved care for older adults in rural Nova Scotia.
Beginning in 2025, CBMC will offer a 4-year undergraduate medical education program for 30 students per year. In addition, postgraduate residency training programs will be developed, and additional core clinical rotations will be provided through the postgraduate training programs based in Halifax and other areas of Nova Scotia. Clinical teaching will be provided by more than 650 faculty distributed throughout the clinical teaching sites and supported by local staff and academic leadership in Nova Scotia Health regional facilities.
The Position
The Senior Associate Dean, Cape Breton Medical Campus (CBMC) will report to the Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, for all matters related to the execution of the academic mission of the CBMC, and to both the President of CBU and the Dean of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine for non-academic matters advancing CBMC’s strategic mission.
The Senior Associate Dean, CBMC, is the representative, agent, and spokesperson for Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine in Cape Breton. The Senior Associate Dean receives guidance from the governing bodies of the CBMC, the Steering Committee Co-Chairs, and other CBMC leads. The Senior Associate Dean, CBMC will be responsible to advance the vision, mission, and objectives of the CBMC and ensure operational readiness before the arrival of the first cohort of learners in August 2025. Once the campus begins teaching students, the Senior Associate Dean will oversee the execution of the undergraduate medical education program at the CBMC working in collaboration with Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME).
The Senior Associate Dean, CBMC will work collaboratively with the Dalhousie staff and leadership responsible for the academic programs provided in Cape Breton and at Dalhousie’s Halifax and Saint John campuses. They will work to improve the health of rural Nova Scotians through effective working relationships with government departments (Advanced Education; Health and Wellness; Seniors and Long-term Care), Nova Scotia Health, IWK Health, CBU and its health education and research institutions, and Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine and health education and research institutions.
The Ideal Candidate
The successful candidate must have a medical doctorate or equivalent degree alongside a minimum of five years of experience in a senior leadership position in a clinical or health education setting. A graduate degree with a research focus in medical education or business administration would be an asset. The ideal candidate will have experience in family medicine and/or rural medicine, as well as demonstrated knowledge and understanding of medical education and research principles and practice. As a demonstrated collaborative leader, the successful candidate will have experience in team leadership and management of financial and human resources. They must also have strong facilitation, presentation, and negotiation skills as well as demonstrated success collaborating effectively across and building strong relationships with diverse stakeholder groups and within community. Finally, it is essential that the candidate bring a breadth of experience and proven commitment and success in advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Job Competencies
• Thinking and Acting Strategically
• Relationship Building
• Respect & Inclusion
• Change and Innovation
• Resource and Process Management
This is a five-year, renewable term with a continuing academic appointment in the department. The Senior Associate Dean position is subject to renewal for a second five-year term, conditional on satisfactory annual performance evaluations and a positive review of the first term as Senior Associate Dean.
For more information, including a copy of the Executive Brief, please email Katherine Frank or Abbey MacLeod.
A complete application will include a cover letter and a detailed curriculum vitae. If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply online at www.kbrs.ca/career/18170.
Dalhousie University commits to achieving inclusive excellence through continually championing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. The university encourages applications from Indigenous persons (especially Mi’kmaq), persons of Black/African descent (especially African Nova Scotians), and members of other racialized groups, persons with disabilities, women, and persons identifying as members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community. For more information, please visit www.dal.ca/hiringfordiversity.
Should you require an accommodation to participate fully in the recruitment process, please email KBRS.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.