Program Lead, PPF Academy

Salary Range: $70,000-$80,000 per annum

Reports to: Executive Director, PPF Academy and Action Canada Fellowship

Effective: Immediately

Language: Fluently bilingual French and English

Location: Hybrid, Ottawa-based

Number of Positions Available: 1

Make better policy learning happen.

The Public Policy Forum’s Academy designs practical, non-partisan learning that helps public servants and policy leaders deliver for Canadians. As Program Lead, you’ll build and run high-quality programs—from curriculum design to delivery—working with policymakers, practitioners, academics and Indigenous partners across the country.

Your initial portfolio will include the Policy Leadership Program, AI Policy Compass, AI Advantage, and Managing Canada’s Interests under Trump 2.0. The portfolio evolves with PPF priorities; you’ll help shape what comes next.

This position may require travel from time to time. Candidates must be available and willing to travel within Canada.

This position is Ottawa based. Only fluently bilingual candidates in both official languages will be considered for this role.

What you’ll do:

Project & Program Management

• Own end-to-end delivery: scheduling, workplans, timelines, budgets, run sheets, vendor/contract management, and managing day-of delivery.
• Work closely with program partners to ensure effective planning and delivery.

Communications and Marketing

• Plan and execute public marketing and individual outreach campaigns to sell seats for programs.
• Create content for social media and newsletters, email campaigns, etc. Ensure brand and bilingual consistency.
• Conduct market assessments to differentiate from competition and identify gaps in the market.

Learning Design & Delivery

• Develop curricula, agendas, teaching scripts and slide decks grounded in adult-learning principles – this applies to existing programs and for the development of brand new programs.
• Facilitate workshops and small-group sessions.
• Build evaluation loops and report outcomes (participant feedback, learning objectives, impact).
• Track trends and map experts/decision-makers across sectors to inform program content.

Operations & Administration

• Develop Academy plan with team. Contribute to quarterly and annual OKRs for the Academy.
• Develop and maintain Standard Operating Procedures for Program Lead responsibilities.

What you bring (must-haves):

• Post-secondary degree in a relevant field (e.g., education, public administration, political science) and 3+ years managing programs end-to-end in a policy, public sector, NGO, or learning environment.
• Fluently bilingual (English/French), written and spoken.
• Demonstrated curriculum/agenda design, facilitation, and event delivery experience.
• Strong project management skills (budgets, contracts, timelines); comfort with ambiguity and deadlines.
• Relationship building with senior stakeholders and partners; sound judgment and discretion.
• Tools: O365; virtual events (Zoom/Teams); spreadsheets for budgeting; basic CRM/LMS familiarity, Salesforce, SurveyMonkey.
• Initiative, reliability and strong collaboration skills.

Nice to have:

• Experience with Canadian public service contexts and/or policy.
• Exposure to AI policy or tech-for-public-good learning programs.

To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to careers@ppforum.flywheelstaging.com. We thank all applicants for their interest in this opportunity. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Accommodation will be provided at all stages of the hiring process. We ask applicants to make their needs known in advance.