Program Officer

Job Information

Job Requisition ID: 82993

Ministry: Technology and Innovation

Location: Edmonton

Full or Part-Time: Full Time

Hours of Work: 36.25 hours per week

Permanent/Temporary: Permanent

Scope: Open Competition

Closing Date: May 21, 2026

Classification: Program Services 3

Salary: $2,935.39 - $3,850.29 bi-weekly ($76,613 - $100,492/year)

Within the IPS division, Innovation, Partnerships and Governance (IPG) Branch supports Alberta’s innovators, researchers, businesses, and entrepreneurs by delivering programs and investments that drive economic growth, attract investment, and create jobs. The Branch leads innovation strategies and initiatives aligned with government priorities, including the Alberta Technology and Innovation Strategy (ATIS), to strengthen research and innovation across Alberta’s key sectors and improve competitiveness.

Innovation Discovery and Collaboration Programs (IDCP) Unit builds Alberta’s innovation capacity by working with post‑secondary institutions, non‑profits, and industry. The Unit helps ensure the province has world‑class talent and modern research and innovation facilities that support growth and attract investment.

Role Responsibilities

Reporting to the Manager, Discovery Programming, the Program Officer plays a crucial role in the grant management for Alberta's innovation funding programs, offering both technical and financial support. The primary focus is on ensuring transparency, accountability, and risk mitigation in the administration of collaborative innovation grant funding programs that co-invest in large-scale, multi-partner initiatives advancing Alberta's science, technology, and industry ecosystem.

The Program Officer takes the lead in coordinating processes and providing analytical, consultative, and quality control services during the pre-award phase of grant funding program life-cycles.

Responsibilities extend to collaborating with Ministry representatives to develop and update grant funding guidelines and templates, reviewing grant and contract documents, and managing processes for soliciting proposals and submissions. The role requires strong analytical capability, attention to complex partner and leverage structures, and the ability to assess compliance across multi-institutional delivery models involving post-secondary institutions, non-profit organizations, research institutes, and industry partners.

This role encompasses comprehensive grant financial services, including contributing to the allocation of program and project budgets, preparing forecasts, analyzing variances, and developing financial planning scenarios.

The Program

Officer generates analytics and management reports to support strategic and operational planning, decisions, and reports related to innovation grant funding programs. Under the leadership of the Manager, this position performs all work in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations, policies, and guidelines.

As an AI champion, the Program Officer actively explores, adopts, and promotes the use of AI tools to improve program administration, analytical workflows, and stakeholder service delivery. This includes staying current with emerging AI capabilities relevant to grant management, modeling effective AI tool use for colleagues, and identifying opportunities to integrate AI-assisted processes to improve program efficiency, reporting quality, and decision support.

The responsibilities of this role include

• Lead end-to-end grant administration, including pre- and post-award processes, grant agreements, and amendments, ensuring compliance and accountability.
• Provide financial oversight, including budgeting support, cost-sharing analysis, forecasting, variance analysis, and reconciliations.
• Produce financial reports and scenario analyses to support strategic planning, decision-making, and program sustainability.
• Review and assess funding requests and amendments (e.g., scope, timelines, residual funds) and advise senior leadership.
• Monitor recipient performance and reporting to ensure compliance with grant agreements, financial requirements, and program objectives.
• Manage relationships with grant recipients, partners, and auditors to support program delivery, reporting, and issue resolution.
• Coordinate stakeholder reporting, payments, and deliverables to ensure timely and accurate financial and program outputs.
• Strengthen program governance through financial controls, reporting consistency, and audit readiness.
• Contribute to program improvement through updates to guidelines, templates, and evidence-based recommendations.
• Prepare briefings, correspondence, and materials to support program decisions, changes, and reporting.

Role Responsibilities Continued<