Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement

Brock University is located on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, many of whom continue to live and work here today. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and is within the land protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Agreement. 

We are one of Canada’s outstanding comprehensive universities, where excellence and innovation thrive! Brock has been proudly recognized as a Hamilton-Niagara Top Employer for eight consecutive years. Brock continues to earn recognition as one of Canada’s Best Employers and one of Canada’s Best Employers for Diversity in 2026. For the second consecutive year, Forbes, in partnership with Statista, also named Brock one of Canada’s Top Employers for Company Culture. At Brock, you will find a welcoming, inclusive community and an exciting range of meaningful career opportunities.

Ignite new possibilities for your career. Break through at Brock.

Post End Date:

September 29, 2026 at 11:59 PM

This job advertisement is to fill an existing vacancy in the Senior Administrative Council (SAC) (Employee Group)

Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement

Brock University, Niagara Region, Ontario

Brock University is seeking a respected, relationship-centered Indigenous leader to serve as its next Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement. This is a unique opportunity to help shape the next chapter of Indigenous engagement, reconciliation, and institutional transformation at Brock University. Building on a strong foundation of community partnerships, Indigenous programming, and institutional commitment, the successful candidate will play a central role in implementing Brock's Indigenous Strategic Plan and fostering meaningful, sustainable change throughout the University.

The University

Brock University is a comprehensive teaching and research institution with rich academic programs and world-class scholarship. Located on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Agreement, with its main campus located in the historic Niagara region, Brock offers all the benefits of a young and modern university in a safe, community-minded region with beautiful natural surroundings. With more than 18,000 students in seven diverse Faculties, 600 faculty members, and over 124,000 accomplished alumni, Brock has earned a reputation as a one of Canada’s top post-secondary institutions. The university continues be an important regional presence and with a new campus in Burlington, further growing connections to the community through this new, dynamic space.

Brock was recently named one of Canada's best employers for Company Culture by Forbes as well as ranked top 10 as one of Canada’s Best Employers for Diversity in 2024, through an independent survey of more than 40,000 Canadian employees working for companies with more than 500 employees. Brock is also home to fourteen 3M Teaching Fellowship Award Winners, Canada’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in educational leadership and teaching at the post-secondary level, and eight Canada Research Chairs.

The Role

Reporting to the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, the Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement serves as the University's senior Indigenous academic leader and a key member of Brock's academic leadership team. The VPIE provides strategic advice and leadership across the institution to advance Indigenous priorities and strengthen relationships with Indigenous communities, students, faculty, staff, Elders, Knowledge Holders, and partners.
Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership and Institutional Transformation – Provide leadership for the implementation of Brock's Indigenous Strategic Plan and related institutional priorities. Support the development of measurable goals, accountability frameworks, and institution-wide initiatives that advance reconciliation, decolonization, and Indigenous engagement across academic and administrative portfolios. Serve as an advisor to the institution, working closely with senior leaders, faculty, staff, and students to build capacity for Indigenous engagement and cultural understanding.
• Community Engagement and Partnerships – Serve as Brock's primary senior contact for Indigenous community engagement. Build and maintain respectful, reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities, leadership organizations, governments, educational institutions, and community partners. Support meaningful engagement with Indigenous advisory and governance bodies while helping strengthen alignment between community priorities and institutional processes.
• Student Success and Well-being – Champion Indigenous student success by supporting culturally grounded programs, services, and initiatives that foster belonging, achievement, leadership development, community connection, and holistic well-being throughout the student experience.
• Academic Leadership and Indigenization – Provide leadership and guidance regarding Indigenous governance structures, institutional policies, and community-informed decision-making. Collaborate with Deans, faculty leaders, researchers, and academic units to advance Indigenous curriculum development, support Indigenous research and scholarship, build relationships with Indigenous faculty and staff, strengthen community-engaged research, and promote respectful and reciprocal approaches to knowledge creation and dissemination.

The Ideal Candidate

As the ideal candidate, you are an accomplished Indigenous leader in the higher education sector who is recognized for your ability to build trust, strengthen relationships, and guide organizations through meaningful change. You are a courageous leader, bringing a demonstrated commitment to Indigenous advancement and possess the credibility, humility, and strategic leadership required to work effectively across Indigenous communities and complex institutional environments.
 

You understand that meaningful progress is rooted in both relationships and action. You are a skilled listener, collaborator, and advocate who can bring diverse groups together around a shared vision while ensuring priorities are translated into measurable outcomes. Whether your experience has been developed primarily within higher education, Indigenous organizations, public institutions, community leadership, or a combination of these environments, you bring a demonstrated record of advancing Indigenous priorities, leading organizational change, and fostering strong partnerships.

Qualifications and Demonstrated Success:

• Indigenous identity and lived experience, preferably connected to local communities, consistent with the University's intention to fill this role as a designated appointment for an Indigenous candidate.
• An earned doctorate, terminal degree, or an equivalent combination of education, community leadership, executive experience, and demonstrated accomplishments.
• Progressively senior leadership experience within post-secondary education, Indigenous organizations, government, public sector organizations, or similarly complex environments.
• Demonstrated success building meaningful, reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities, organizations, Elders, Knowledge Holders, and partners.
• Experience leading strategic initiatives, organizational change, and collaborative planning processes.
• Understanding of Indigenous education, Indigenous student success, Indigenous scholarship, and community-engaged approaches to teaching, learning, and research.
• Knowledge of Indigenous governance, policy environments, and contemporary issues affecting First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.
• Experience working collaboratively within complex organizations and advising senior leaders, governing bodies, or community decision-makers.

Skills and Attributes:

• Exceptional relationship-building and consensus-building skills and a collaborative, authentic, and community-centered leadership style.
• Strategic thinking and action-oriented, with strong implementation abilities.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and engagement skills.
• Courage as a leader with a commitment to accountability, transparency, and shared responsibility.
• Humility, integrity, resilience, and cultural grounding.
• Understanding of distinctions-based approaches and the diverse realities of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban, global and reconnecting Indigenous communities.

Role Type: Current Vacancy
The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on September 30, 2026.

KBRS does not use artificial intelligence in any part of candidate and application screening.
Brock University recognizes that it is located on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Agreement. Today, Brock is the gathering place of many First Nations, Métis and Inuit— many of whom continue to live and work on its campus.

Brock University is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment and encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including but not limited to women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized persons, and persons of any gender identity and sexual orientation.

Support and accommodations will be provided to applicants with disabilities, upon request. Applicants in need of an accommodation in order to participate as a candidate in the recruitment process can contact accommodate@kbrs.ca or identify their needs to the recruitment professional named in the job description.

KBRS does not use artificial intelligence to screen candidate applications.

Candidates interested in this opportunity should contact Abbey MacLeod at amacleod@kbrs.ca, Kyle Steele at ksteele@kbrs.ca, or Dr. Jennie Massey at jmassey@kbrs.ca, or submit a full application package by clicking "Apply Now" by visiting the following link: https://www.kbrs.ca/Career/17744448320300000008kiz