Labour Relations Financial Advisor

About Us

At the Department of Finance and Treasury Board, we provide financial leadership, analysis and policy advice that strengthen Nova Scotia. As stewards of the Province’s financial affairs, we support responsible fiscal management through budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis and advice to departments and public-sector partners.

If you are a highly analytical financial professional who enjoys interpreting complex agreements, building sophisticated costing models and translating detailed information into clear advice, this opportunity may be for you. This Financial Advisory Services Unit which supports the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is seeking a Labour Relations Financial Advisor to provide specialized analysis on compensation, workforce costs and education-sector funding.

About Our Opportunity

As the Labour Relations Financial Advisor, you provide expert financial analysis and advice on compensation, benefits, pensions, workforce costs and related funding for the education sector. You support the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, regional education entities, the provincial Francophone school authority, and other publicly funded education organizations.

You develop and maintain integrated labour-cost models, interpret collective agreements and compensation provisions, cost proposed and approved settlements, validate wage and settlement claims, and incorporate compensation and workforce changes into budgets and forecasts. Your work connects agreement language, payroll and FTE data, education funding arrangements, and school-year workforce structures to produce timely, accurate and decision-ready advice.

Primary Accountabilities

As the Labour Relations Financial Advisor, you will: 

• Develop detailed financial models and “what-if” scenarios to assess the current and future cost of bargaining proposals, settlements, compensation changes and workforce adjustments across education employers, bargaining units and employee groups.
• Analyze education-specific provisions such as salary schedules, hourly rates, work years, smooth-pay arrangements, substitute costs, paid leave, instructional or preparation time, pensions, benefits, retirement or service awards, and classification grievance outcomes.
• Create and maintain authoritative compensation, benefit, pension, allowance and FTE information using collective agreements, payroll records, submissions from education entities and financial systems.
• Provide confidential, time-sensitive analysis before, during and after collective bargaining, clearly presenting costs, assumptions, risks, options and longer-term impacts to negotiators and senior decisionmakers.
• Review wage and settlement claims in detail, confirm alignment with collective agreements and approved funding, investigate discrepancies, and recommend payments, recoveries or recurring budget-base adjustments.
• Integrate approved and anticipated labour-cost changes into annual budgets and monthly forecasts; monitor expenditures and FTEs; explain material variances; and recommend adjustments to maintain accurate financial plans.
• Prepare briefing materials, estimates support, fiscal-impact assessments, Treasury Board submissions and ad hoc executive analysis related to education-sector compensation and funding.
• Coordinate year-end accounting for assigned portfolios, including accruals, journal entries, recoveries, reconciliations, working papers and responses to audit enquiries.
• Conduct jurisdictional, labour-market and trend research to support assumptions, benchmarking, forecasts and long-term compensation and workforce projections.
• Work closely with education-entity representatives, departmental leaders, Financial Advisory Services colleagues, labour relations and compensation specialists, central agencies, payroll and human resources staff, and auditors while safeguarding sensitive information.

Qualifications and Experience

You have a bachelor’s degree in a related field and five years of related experience, or an acceptable equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

You bring demonstrated experience analyzing complex financial, compensation or workforce information and building or modifying detailed financial models. You can interpret contracts, collective agreements, policies or other complex documents; identify financial implications and interdependencies; work with large datasets; and explain your analysis clearly to both financial and non-financial audiences.

You have advanced Microsoft Excel skills, strong attention to detail, and excellent writing, presentation and problem-solving abilities. You exercise sound professional judgment, protect confidential information, and can manage competing priorities and deliver accurate work under tight and changing deadlines.

While not required, it is considered an asset if you possess: 

• A professional accounting designation, or progress toward one.
• Experience in a government, education or broader public-sector environment.
• Experience with collective bargaining, labour-relations costing, compensation analysis or settlement implementation.
• Experience analyzing payroll, salary-grid, pension, benefit, FTE, substitute or workforce-funding information.
• Experience preparing budget, forecast, year-end, audit, Estimates or Treasury Board materials.
• Experience using Microsoft Power BI to analyze data and develop dashboards, reports and visualizations that support financial analysis and decision-making.
• Knowledge of education-sector collective agreements, school-year workforce arrangements or public education funding.
• French-language skills.

We will assess qualifications and competencies using one or more of the following: written examination, standardized testing, oral presentation, interview and reference checks.

Equivalency

We recognize equivalent combinations of training, education and experience. Applicants relying on equivalencies must clearly demonstrate them in their application.

Benefits

Based on the employment status, the Government of Nova Scotia offers its employees a wide range of benefits such as a Defined Benefit Pension Plan, Health, Dental, Life Insurance, General illness, Short and Long Term Disability, Vacation and Employee and Family Assistance Programs.  For information on all our Benefit program offerings, click here: Benefits for government employees.

Working Conditions

This position requires the successful candidate to work on-site. You will be working within a high-paced, busy office environment with strict deadlines. Most of your time is spent in a comfortable office setting. Your normal work week is 35 hours/week, 7 hours/day. You may be required to work overtime on occasion.

What We Offer

• Career development where you have access to career guidance, tools, resources, and ongoing training for every stage of your career
• Engaging workplace: our employees feel valued, respected, connected, and tuned in, we have forward-thinking policies and strategies
• Countless career paths