Nova Scotia Government Hiring Cools in August

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What actually matters

Justice fills the cells and the courtrooms

Justice hired 27 people in August, up from 24 in July and second only to Social Development. Almost all of it was frontline: six Correctional Officers, three Deputy Sheriffs, two Probation Officers, two Justice Officers, two Law Clerks, a Court Officer, a Sentence Administrator, and a Victim Services Navigator.

Two corrections leadership hires stand out: Davis Whittle as Assistant Deputy Superintendent and Craig Benedict as Captain. On the legal side, the department reshuffled its litigation directors. Kevin Kindred moved from Director, Litigation to Senior Counsel, and Amanda Dillman moved from Director, Family Litigation into the Director, Litigation seat he left.

Social Development pivots from disability supports to child welfare

Opportunities and Social Development still hired the most people (29), but that is a third of July's 89. The mix changed too. Last month was almost entirely Disability Support Program roles. This month the department added only three Local Area Coordinators and two Intensive Planning Support Coordinators. The bulk went to child and family services: four Social Workers, two Foster Care Social Workers, two Assessment Social Workers, a Child Protection Social Worker, a SAFE Assessment Worker, a Youth Counsellor, and a Youth Worker.

At the top, TerryLynn Slaunwhite joined as Director, Corporate Services. Two managers were promoted to director: Kimberley McCarron went from Manager, Operations Support to Director, Service Provider Support, and Daramfon Morgan went from Manager, Homelessness Programs to Director, Supportive Housing and Homelessness. Three caseworkers were retitled to Intake Caseworker, which suggests a dedicated intake function is taking shape in Income Assistance.

Managers step up to director across the service

The clearest pattern in the title changes is managers moving into director roles. Beyond the two at Social Development: Ben Westheuser at Cyber Security and Digital Solutions jumped from Manager, User Support Services to Director, Digital Health Enablement. Ed Burley at Public Works went from Project Manager to Director, Major Projects. Matthew Brufatto at Environment and Climate Change went from Hazardous Materials Specialist to Manager, Resource Management Unit.

One level up, Patrick Riley at Health and Wellness moved from Director, Risk & Corporate Operations to Executive Director, Corporate Operations. And Natural Resources hired Matt Parker from outside as Executive Director, Forestry and Wildlife, the most senior new hire of the month.

Acting titles keep getting dropped

The confirmation trend we have followed since March added two more names. Andrew Webber at Growth and Development went from A/Director, Economic Growth and Innovation to Director, Economic Growth. Colette Sexton at Labour, Skills and Immigration went from A/Contract Liaison Manager to Manager, Sector Initiatives. One went the other way: Jocelyn Ferguson at Justice picked up an acting title, moving from Legistics Analyst/Editor to Acting Deputy Registrar of Regulations.

The Public Service Commission reorganizes HR

Four title changes and one hire at the Public Service Commission, all pointing the same way. Prachi Gaba and Lovely Dhiman were both promoted from Associate HR Business Partner to HR Business Partner, and Manish Handa was hired directly into the same role. Janet Heffler went from Manager, Information Management to Project Director, and Christopher Purdy went from Director, Program to Director, Workforce Intelligence and Systems. That last title is new to our data.

Cyber Security keeps hiring technical staff

Nine hires at Cyber Security and Digital Solutions, mostly on the technical side: three Technical Analysts for User Support Services, a Software Developer, a QA Analyst, and Parth Patel as Technical Architect, User Access & Internal Identity. Tega Uwanogho joined as Senior Project Manager and Yvette Arthur as Platform Specialist for NS Forms. Among existing staff, Cindy Aucoin was retitled from Director, Head of Infrastructure & Operations to Director of Digital Infrastructure, and Dhruv Dabhi moved from Firewall Operations to DevSecOps Cloud.

Elections NS finishes its rename

In July, Elections Nova Scotia retitled its coordinators around "election planning." In August the rename reached the top of the unit: Pierre Gareau went from Director of Operations to Director of Election Planning & Services.

Summer roles wind down

Natural Resources hired 9 (down from 35), still mostly Park Attendants and a Park Student, plus a Wildfire Prevention Officer. Public Works hired 14 (down from 35): Checkers, Crewpersons, an Equipment Operator, a Ferry Attendant, and Adam Flick as Manager, Real Property. Service Nova Scotia added 10, six of them Customer Service Representatives, plus Prakash Chellamuthu as Senior Manager. Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage brought on three Visitor Experience Team members and two managers.

Two quick turnarounds worth noting. Dan Khan, who appeared in our July report as a new Project Manager for Mine Site Reclamation, was retitled Mining Engineer within a month. And Melissa Downey was hired at Education and Early Childhood Development as "Diector, African Canadian Services Branch." The directory has a typo. We have not corrected it below.

Month-over-Month

New Hires by Department

Plus new hires across Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage (7), Emergency Management (3), Education and Early Childhood Development (2), Intergovernmental Affairs (2), Labour, Skills and Immigration (2), Agriculture (1), Executive Council (1), Fisheries and Aquaculture (1), Human Rights Commission (1), Office of Addictions and Mental Health (1), Public Service Commission (1), Seniors and Long-Term Care (1), and Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal (1).

Title Changes by Department

Plus title changes across Growth and Development (2), Health and Wellness (2), Natural Resources (2), Elections NS (1), Environment and Climate Change (1), FOIPOP Review Office (1), Intergovernmental Affairs (1), and Service Nova Scotia (1).

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