Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development

Job Category
Faculty Bargaining

Job Title
Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development

Department
Faculty of Medicine | Provost and VP Academic | President's Office (Dermot Kelleher)

Posting End Date
May 11, 2024

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above.

Job End Date

The expected salary for this position is $210,000 per annum. The Faculty of Medicine is committed to offering equitable salaries, taking into consideration the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate as well as their years in rank. At UBC, in addition to a competitive salary, a generous benefit package as well as a highly valued pension plan and supportive leaves, are included. For more information about the various Faculty Benefits Packages available at UBC, please visit:  https://hr.ubc.ca/benefits/eligibility-enrolment/eligibility-and-plan-cost/faculty-postdoctoral-fellows-employees-and .  The successful candidate will also have access to a comprehensive range of services, resources and career development opportunities. For more information, please visit: https://hr.ubc.ca/working-ubc .

Professor (Tenure) | Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. ​​​​​​

The Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia (UBC), Sunny Hill Health Centre, and the Centre for Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) invite applications for a successful candidate eligible to be nominated for the approved Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development in the Department of Pediatrics, and appointed a faculty position at the rank of Professor with tenure.

This position is located within a health-care facility. Therefore, this position requires successful verification of full vaccination against Covid-19 provided prior to the start date, as required by the provincial health mandate.

The Sunny Hill Health Centre and its associated colleges and universities take a leadership role in educating the academic community about child development and rehabilitation. Sunny Hill’s physicians and health professionals are highly involved with research in partnership with UBC and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, with the goal to better the lives of children by improving our understanding of how to help children with disabilities develop healthy lives. The BC Leadership Chair in Child Development will support the evolution of Sunny Hill, BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre as international leaders in the field of child development. Their work will examine the ways in which systematic differences in childhood environments varying by neighborhood, community, or socioeconomic context affect development, to advance our understanding of the factors that foster healthy child outcomes.  The research program will address issues both of typical and atypical development.

The BC Leadership Chair in Child Development will be housed within HELP, an interdisciplinary Senate approved research centre of the Faculty of Medicine. Unique in Canada, HELP is a collaborative research and knowledge mobilization centre that brings together expertise, from across disciplines and sectors, to contribute to improving conditions that promote an equitable start in life for all children and their families.

This prestigious appointment, supported by the Leading-Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF), will provide a unique opportunity for an internationally recognized individual to lead research in an outstanding and inclusive environment to enhance the province of BC as a leader in our understanding of child development.  The BC Leadership Chair will build and expand on existing strengths and current initiatives within HELP, while providing the necessary leadership and guidance to foster HELP’s capacity for ground-breaking research in early child development. Working collaboratively with researchers from diverse fields, practitioners and policy makers, the Chair will contribute intellectual expertise to integrate HELP’s initiatives. HELP’s current areas of focus include population level data collection to monitor child development and wellbeing, linked and longitudinal database development, population health, school-based mental health, community development research, and research with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children and communities. Such an integrated approach offers the ability to investigate a multitude of possible influences on early child development, provides a solid empirical base on which to generate and test hypotheses, and is essential for the design of appropriate policy and practice. The successful candidate will be expected to participate in the teaching activities of their home Department, as well as provide mentorship and training to undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate learners. The incumbent will also be expected to provide service to the University and the broader academic and professional community, with leadership fostering new collaborations between members of HELP, Sunny Hill Health Centre, and the Department of Pediatrics (due to its connection to Sunny Hill Health Centre).

The successful candidate will hold an MD and/or PhD, or equivalent; clinician scientists are welcome and encouraged to apply. At the rank of Professor, the successful candidate will have demonstrated appropriate standards of excellence in teaching, have received wide recognition in their sustained and productive scholarly activity, and participated significantly in academic and professional affairs. The successful candidate will be an internationally recognized academic leader with experience in promoting collaboration across working and learning environments as well as building, managing and maintaining high-quality and productive relationships.  The successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to effectively communicate and interact with empathy and understanding, respect diverse perspectives and behaviours, and an ability to foster engagement and inclusivity across HELP, the Department of Pediatrics, Sunny Hill Health Centre and its other stakeholders to promote a culture of respect, integrity, compassion, collaboration and equity.  The successful applicant will show a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion and leading in this area. Equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice are essential to academic excellence, as well as to fostering an inclusive community for voices that have been historically underrepresented or discouraged. Candidates who bring diverse perspectives and lived experiences are encouraged to apply as we strive to enhance diversity, inclusiveness, socio-cultural representation, and perspectives within the Department.

An appropriate academic Department in the UBC Faculty of Medicine will be identified at the time a successful candidate is selected contingent upon the candidate’s area of expertise.

An application package should include a letter of application outlining the applicant’s research and teaching interests, accompanied by a detailed curriculum vitae, a brief statement (1-2 pages) of your current or previous contributions to advancing anti-racism, equity, diversity, decolonization, Indigenization and inclusion in an academic, professional, or community context, and the names of four arm’s length references should be directed to:

Name: Meredith Ladner, Research Administration Coordinator

Email: [email protected]

Subject Line: BC Leadership Chair in Child Development

Review of applications will begin on May 6, 2024, and continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date for this position is January 1, 2025 or upon a date to be mutually agreed.

In assessing applications, UBC recognizes the legitimate impact that leaves (e.g., parental leave, leave due to illness) can have on a candidate’s record of research achievement. These leaves will be taken into careful consideration during the assessment process.

The University is committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and equitable work environment for all members of its workforce. An inclusive work environment presumes an environment where differences are appreciated, recognized, and integrated into current structures, planning, and decision-making modes. Within this hiring process we are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable process for all candidates (including but not limited to people with disabilities).  Confidential accommodations are available on request for applicants who are short-listed. Please contact Meredith Ladner via email at [email protected]. To learn more about UBC’s Center for Workplace Accessibility, visit the website here https://hr.ubc.ca/CWA .  

Our Vision: To Transform Health for Everyone.

Ranked among the world’s top medical schools with the fifth-largest MD enrollment in North America, the UBC Faculty of Medicine is a leader in both the science and the practice of medicine. Across British Columbia, more than 12,000 faculty and staff are training the next generation of doctors and health care professionals, making remarkable discoveries, and helping to create the pathways to better health for our communities at home and around the world.

The Faculty - comprised of approximately 2,200 administrative support, technical/research and management and professional staff, as well approximately 650 full-time academic and over 10,000 clinical faculty members - is composed of 19 academic basic science and/or clinical departments, three schools, and 24 research centres and institutes. Together with its University and Health Authority partners, the Faculty delivers innovative programs and conducts research in the areas of health and life sciences. Faculty, staff and trainees are located at university campuses, clinical academic campuses in hospital settings and other regionally based centres across the province.

With gratitude, we acknowledge that the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine and its distributed programs, which include four university academic campuses, are located on traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of First Nations Peoples and communities around the province.

UBC - One of the World's Leading Universities. As one of the world's leading universities, the University of British Columbia creates an exceptional learning environment that fosters global citizenship, advances a civil and sustainable society, and supports outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada and the world.