Specialist, People & Culture

Company Overview:

Ontario Genomics invests in researchers and start-ups to drive industrial biotech commercialization through homegrown, cutting-edge solutions in food and agriculture, medicine, and cleantech. With more than 600 partnerships and $3.5 billion in investments, we’ve worked with governments, industry, and innovators for over 25 years to help get ideas out of the lab and into the real world. From a people and culture lens, we are committed to delivering exceptional value while maintaining the highest standards of compliance, employee engagement, collaboration and collective well-being.

Position Overview:

We are seeking a strategic and dynamic Specialist, People & Culture, to enhance and maintain our positive working environment and strong relationships with employees while ensuring excellence in people and culture practices and maintaining transparency via internal communications to the team. This role will drive employee engagement, support people operations and compliance processes, as well as internal communications and content creation.

Key Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Senior Director, Communications, Public Affairs & People Strategy, provide day-to-day HR & Communications support by building and maintaining a positive organizational culture and employee engagement. Specifically:

• Support managers and employees in employee relations matters and the application of relevant workplace legislation and internal policies (ESA, OHSA, WSIA, AODA, etc.), escalating as required.
• Support employees in payroll and benefit administration and interpretation using HR operating systems
• Participate in the design and delivery of employee surveys, internal communications and employee engagement initiatives
• Lead relationships with external vendors and contractors (payroll, benefits, pension, training)
• Facilitate employee recruitment, onboarding and offboarding processes
• Organize and coordinate internal and external training sessions
• Manage employee documentation in compliance with employment law and internal procedures
• Track and administer employee time off and leave requests, maintaining accurate balances and reporting
• Coordinate internal committees and working groups (e.g., IDEA, Health & Safety, Social, Career Development)
• Support performance and talent cycles (goal-setting logistics, review timelines, training coordination, probation checkpoints)
• Draft and maintain internal resources (policies, FAQs, onboarding guides, manager toolkits) and support a consistent internal communications cadence
• Provide operational support to stakeholder/government engagement as needed (briefing materials, scheduling, contact lists, follow-up tracking)
• Coordinate internal events and all-staff meetings (run-of-show, logistics, vendor coordination)

As a member of an agile team, this role also includes a number of other duties, as assigned, to support the overall function of our organization.

Qualifications & Attributes:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Business, Human Resources Management, Communications or related field
• Practical experience in an HR Specialist/People & Culture role (recruitment, onboarding, and talent acquisition processes)
• Experience working with HR systems and supporting payroll processes
• Exceptional communication (written and oral) and relationship-building skills
• Proven ability to navigate regulatory environments and government initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to lead diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts
• High-level strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to work collaboratively in a dynamic, matrixed and fast-paced environment
• Proven initiative, sound judgment, and discretion; able to advocate for improvements and bring forward opportunities

Download the job posting PDF file

At Ontario Genomics, we embrace inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) principles and strive to incorporate these into our hiring practices. We are working to address research that shows women and other equity-deserving groups often only apply when they feel 100% qualified. If you don’t see yourself fully reflected in every job requirement listed in the posting above, we still encourage you to reach out and apply. We are committed to creating a more just, inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible organization. We welcome applicants from all genders, ages, ethnicities, races, cultures, abilities, sexual orientations and life experiences to apply. While everyone is considered, only the most qualified candidates will be contacted. Upon being contacted, accommodation requests can be made for any stage of the recruitment process.