Vice President, People & Culture

Job Description

Location: Ottawa (primarily in office with hybrid opportunity). Travel required.

With a range of full-service real estate offerings including property management, development, investment and asset management, and leasing, Colonnade BridgePort has built a reputation of excellence in the real estate industry. We service a portfolio of state of the art commercial, residential, and mixed-use properties in Ottawa, the GTA and Southwestern Ontario, Gatineau, and Atlantic Canada.

Reporting to the CEO, the VP, People and Culture (P&C) is the senior-most leader responsible for defining, promoting, and executing Colonnade BridgePort’s people strategy across all regions. This role leads the full P&C function, encompassing talent acquisition, talent management, organizational development, culture, total rewards, and workforce planning, while acting as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Executive Committee.

The ideal candidate blends strategic leadership with pragmatic, hands‑on execution. They bring mature judgement, strong executive presence, and the ability to influence across a high‑growth, entrepreneurial environment.

Responsibilities

Executive Leadership and Influence

• Serve as a core member of the Executive Committee, contributing to strategic decision‑making and organizational alignment.


• Act as a key advisor and thought partner to the CEO on people, culture, talent, and organizational effectiveness.


• Strengthen Executive Committee cohesion, governance, communication, and operating discipline.

People Strategy and Organizational Development

• Refine and implement a 3-year people strategy aligned with organizational growth and cultural priorities.


• Lead talent management, organizational design, workforce planning, and change management initiatives across regions.


• Implement leadership development programs to strengthen capability at all levels.


• Establish an enterprise‑wide succession planning framework and talent pipeline strategy.

Talent Acquisition and Workforce Planning

• Oversee recruitment, ensuring timeliness, quality, and a positive candidate experience.


• Build talent acquisition capacity, including leveraging alternative recruitment resources where needed.


• Upgrade recruitment processes including talent attraction practices to ensure competitiveness in all regions.


• Partner with business leaders to anticipate workforce needs and build future capability.

Performance, Culture and Employee Experience

• Evaluate the current performance management framework to ensure the process aligns with growth and goals of Colonnade BridgePort. Implement changes as necessary.


• Champion an inclusive, high‑performance culture that reflects the organization’s values and entrepreneurial spirit.


• Lead employee engagement initiatives that foster trust, alignment, and cultural strength across all regions.

Total Rewards

• Ensure a comprehensive compensation benchmarking analysis is conducted as necessary to ensure market competitiveness in all regions.


• Review and enhance the variable compensation program to ensure fairness and clarity.


• Ensure compliance with evolving pay transparency and regulatory requirements.

Operational Excellence and P&C Infrastructure

• Strengthen foundational P&C processes, quality assurance, documentation accuracy, and urgency awareness.


• Monitor changes to legislative requirements in all regions, develop plans including appropriate change management activities and implement to ensure compliance.


• Build regional P&C presence to support employees and leaders in key markets (e.g., Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada).


• Maintain and uplift the positive, people‑first culture within the P&C team.


• Mentor and support team members in their professional aspirations.

Qualifications and Experience

Required

• 10–15+ years of progressive experience in People and Culture / Human Resources leadership, including executive‑level accountability.


• Demonstrated experience in high‑growth, multi‑region, or scaling environments.


• Proven ability to influence executive teams, coach senior leaders, and manage complex organizational dynamics.


• Experience leading organizational design, workforce planning, and change management initiatives.


• Strong knowledge and experience developing and leading talent management and leadership development programs.


• Experience with compensation strategy and total rewards frameworks.


• High emotional intelligence, maturity, humility, and relationship‑building ability.

Preferred

• Experience in industries with operational complexity (e.g., financial services, real estate, engineering, investment, or similar).


• Exposure to environments with M&A, integration, or significant organizational transformation.


• Bilingualism (English/French) or experience leading people strategies in bilingual markets.

The above statements reflect the general details considered necessary to describe functions of the job and shall not be construed as a detailed description of all work requirements that may be inherent in the job.

Commitment to our People

We are committed to creating a positive experience for our employees. We work hard at Colonnade BridgePort and have fun while doing it! Our employees enjoy participating in sports tournaments, BBQ’s, potlucks, prize draws, holiday parties and more! The successful candidate can expect the following perks and benefits:

• Four weeks’ annual starting paid vacation; three days personal and five sick paid days annually.


• Hybrid working environment.


• Comprehensive benefits plan that includes health, dental, vision, and disability coverage (cost shared by company and employee).


• RRSP matching program.


• Professional development (up to two paid courses per year).


• Holiday office closure between Christmas and New Year’s, summer hours (position dependent, alternative may be offered).

To learn more about our commitment to our community and sustainability, click here.

Colonnade BridgePort acknowledges that teams with diverse backgrounds and perspectives can bring about innovative solutions and ideas. Therefore, we welcome and encourage qualified applications from people of all gender identities, visible minorities, Indigenous persons, and people with disabilities. Accommodation is available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. To request an accommodation, please email people@colonnadebridgeport.ca.

We thank all interested applicants; however, only those under consideration will be contacted.