Halifax posts job for auditor general, chief administrative officer

If you're looking for a new job, the Halifax Regional Municipality is taking resumes for two powerful positions: auditor general and chief administrative officer.

Richard Butts resigned from his post as CAO in January 2016 to become president of Clayton Development Ltd. City solicitor John Traves is filling in on an interim basis at the moment. 

Meanwhile, Halifax is the only city in the Atlantic region to have an Auditor General. Larry Munroe, who was the first one, is leaving the position he's been in since 2009. 

'Excellent business reputation'

While the city searches for a permanent replacement for Butts, it's on the hunt for someone who can manage the municipality's $850 million budget.

The municipality is looking to hire someone with an "excellent business reputation" and at least 10 years of executive-level experience, "preferably on a government environment or a mix of government and private experiences."

The job tends to pay better than most. When Butts was CAO, he earned $182,000 in the first half of the 2015 fiscal year.

With power comes responsibility. It was just two CAO's ago when a concert scandal back in 2011 led to Wayne Anstey's immediate resignation.

The 'independent officer'

As HRM's first and only auditor general, Larry Munroe was busy.

For example, in 2012, he reported that the municipality was hiring too many consultants. This past December, Munroe shed light on the city's excessive spending on overtime.

The AG's job is to look out for the public, whoever gets the job is "an independent officer, appointed by and reporting to Halifax Regional Council with responsibilities, powers and duties as set out in the Province of Nova Scotia Bill 179."

Like the CAO, the AG also has a duty to report to regional council. For this job, the candidate needs a relevant undergraduate degree, plus a charted professional accountant designation. It also requires, "15 years of proven senior level experience in municipal, provincial, or federal government settings or in major multi-divisional corporate structure."

Both the chief administrative officer job and the auditor general job can be found by searching on civicjobs.ca. The deadline to apply for both jobs is June 2.