--- title: Specialist, Environmental Strategic Issues Management canonical: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/saskpower-specialist-environmental-strategic-issues-management-6ca9 locale: en description: SaskPower is hiring a Specialist, Environmental Strategic Issues Management on CSR Jobs. Discover this in-house sustainability role and apply today. updated: 2026-10-27 company: SaskPower country: Canada contract: Full time seniority: Mid-level missions: Stakeholders engagement, Compliance, Strategic planning job_type: Sustainability Manager posted: 2026-10-27 valid_through: 2026-11-26 apply: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4483662773 source: CSR Jobs --- # Specialist, Environmental Strategic Issues Management You will be SaskPower's on-the-ground lead for environmental mitigation and accommodation programs in the Cumberland House region, coordinating restoration, monitoring and offset work alongside Indigenous Rightsholders and local stakeholders. This role matters because it sits where utility operations meet **Treaty and community relationships**. The work shapes how SaskPower addresses downstream environmental impacts and builds trust with the communities most directly affected by its generating stations, turning commitments into observable progress. This suits someone who is equally comfortable in a community meeting and a regulatory briefing, who understands that western science and Indigenous knowledge have to inform each other, and who can hold long relationships steady while projects move slowly. ## Job FAQs ### What are the main missions and responsibilities of this role? The core mission is to administer SaskPower-supported environmental offset, mitigation, monitoring and accommodation programs around Cumberland House with a partnership-based approach. Day to day this means coordinating contractors and technical leads, tracking budgets and scopes, preparing briefings and reports, and keeping the lines open with Indigenous Rightsholders, regulators and internal teams. Longer term, the specialist helps build adaptive management programs that combine western science and Indigenous knowledge, so that monitoring results actually feed back into decisions. The role also carries a compliance thread: understanding licence conditions and regulatory commitments and translating them into practical plans that communities can live with. You would be expected to identify risks and opportunities in environmental strategy, support cross-functional committees, and represent SaskPower in regulatory and community discussions. The position is designed as a bridge, so **relationship maintenance is as central as technical delivery**. ### Key learning opportunities for this job This is a role with a deliberate ramp-up: SaskPower states it will support the successful candidate in developing the skills needed over time. That means structured exposure to environmental regulation, permitting and licence conditions, likely through internal mentorship and work alongside regulatory specialists. The technical learning spans fisheries and aquatic habitat, wetland restoration and environmental monitoring, including scope development, contractor oversight and budget management. You would also gain practical grounding in offset and accommodation program design, which is a specialized area few candidates arrive with fully formed. On the relationship side, the learning is harder to teach in a classroom: navigating governance networks in Cumberland House, working with Elders and community leadership, and learning how to hold western science and Indigenous knowledge together in one monitoring framework. **Cultural learning is part of the job, not an add-on**. ### How does the ideal candidate look like (experience, skills)? SaskPower frames this as a combination of education and experience, with a degree or diploma in environmental science, engineering, natural resource management or a related field as the typical background. More important is demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder environmental initiatives and contracts, ideally with a regulatory dimension. The distinguishing requirement is contextual: understanding of the social, cultural and governance networks in the Cumberland House region, including historical context and overlapping interests among Indigenous communities and organizations. A candidate who can show they have worked in closely connected communities and balanced regulatory, operational and corporate objectives will stand out. Soft skills matter here: analytical problem-solving, facilitation, clear writing, project management and the ability to manage competing priorities in a changing environment. A commitment to safety and continuous improvement is stated explicitly, so evidence of both should appear in the application. ### Advice to stand out and make a successful application Tailor your application around the Cumberland House context rather than around generic environmental management language. SaskPower has named the community and described the social complexity in unusual detail, so a cover letter that shows specific understanding of the region, its history and its governance landscape will read very differently from one that does not. Use concrete examples of multi-stakeholder environmental programs you have coordinated: who the parties were, what the disagreement was, how you handled contractor and budget responsibilities, and what monitoring or reporting resulted. If you have worked with Indigenous Rightsholders, describe the relationship honestly and avoid claiming cultural expertise you do not have. Prepare for an assessment process that may include an interview, abilities test, case study or presentation. A case study is likely to test how you weigh community priorities against regulatory obligations, so practice articulating trade-offs out loud rather than only the technically correct answer. ### What aspects of the company's sustainability is this role likely to focus on? The focus is environmental remediation and restoration in the vicinity of SaskPower's northern generating operations, particularly the impacts that led to the Cumberland House accommodation discussions. That probably includes fisheries and aquatic habitat work, wetland restoration and long-term environmental monitoring, all tied to offset and mitigation commitments. Governance and social dimensions are inseparable from the environmental ones here. This role carries the Indigenous engagement and Rightsholder relationship side of SaskPower's sustainability agenda, which is central to its social licence to operate in northern Saskatchewan. Reporting and transparency to regulators and leadership are part of the same thread. The wider corporate context is a utility that still generates most of its power from coal and natural gas while adding wind and solar. A specialist in this position is unlikely to set decarbonization strategy, but their work on **environmental accountability and community trust** sits alongside that transition. ### What are the main challenges someone in this role might face? The hardest part is likely the social and historical complexity. Cumberland House has a long history with upstream hydroelectric development and its environmental effects, and expectations of SaskPower will be shaped by that history. Building trust as a new point of contact takes time, and progress can be slow. There is also a structural tension in the role: community priorities, regulatory requirements and corporate objectives do not always align, and the specialist has to find workable paths without overpromising. Managing contractors, budgets and monitoring programs across a large geographic area adds operational friction. The posting acknowledges a gradual transition, which signals that the successful candidate may not carry every responsibility from day one. Even so, **managing competing expectations** while learning the file will be a real test in the first year. ### How could a typical day look like for someone in this position? A typical day probably mixes desk work with relationship work. You might review monitoring data or a contractor report in the morning, then join a call with internal environmental, legal or operations colleagues to align on a regulatory commitment or a budget question. Preparation of briefings and presentations for leadership or regulators is a recurring task. Community-facing days would look different: meetings or site visits in or around Cumberland House, conversations with community leadership or technical partners, and follow-up notes that turn discussion into agreed actions. Travel to the region is likely part of the rhythm given the location of the role. The variability is high. Regulatory deadlines, seasonal monitoring windows and emerging community concerns can reshuffle priorities quickly, so the role rewards someone who plans carefully but stays flexible. ### What are the opportunities for professional growth and development in this role? SaskPower has built this position with a development path in mind, explicitly anticipating that the holder will grow into the full scope over time. That creates room to take on progressively more complex files, from monitoring coordination to leading offset and accommodation programs outright. Because the role touches regulation, Indigenous relations, project management and environmental science, lateral moves into regulatory affairs, environment and community relations or project delivery are plausible next steps. Exposure to leadership briefings and regulator discussions gives visibility beyond the immediate team. The experience of carrying a high-profile community file in a Crown utility is distinctive. **Trusted relationship management at this level** is a skill that transfers to senior roles in the sector. ### The main stakeholders you might be interacting with The primary external stakeholders are Indigenous Rightsholders and the Cumberland House community, including leadership, Elders and technical partners. These relationships are the heart of the role and require consistent, respectful presence rather than transactional contact. Regulators and government bodies are the second key group, since the role supports compliance with licence conditions and regulatory commitments. Consultants and contractors deliver much of the monitoring and restoration work, so contract and scope management with them is a daily reality. Internally, you would work with environmental specialists, legal and regulatory teams, operations and asset groups, and SaskPower leadership who receive briefings. Cross-functional committees are named in the posting, so **coordinating across internal teams** is a standing part of the job. --- Source: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/saskpower-specialist-environmental-strategic-issues-management-6ca9