Manager, Application Development & FirstVoices Product Owner

Victoria, B.C. or Vancouver, B.C.

Join a growing team, dedicated to revitalizing First Nations arts, languages, cultures and heritage in British Columbia. The First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) is looking to fill a MANAGER, APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT AND FIRSTVOICES PRODUCT OWNER position to support the success and impact of our programs.

The Manager, Application Development and FirstVoices Product Owner (MADFVPO) reports to the Director, IMIT (DIMIT) and leads the application development professionals responsible for the continued development, modernization and evolution of FirstVoices. The MADFVPO supports the mandate of the First Peoples' Cultural Council (FPCC), which is to support B.C. First Nations in their efforts to revitalize their languages, arts and cultures.

Submissions from applicants with First Nations, Métis or Inuit ancestry are strongly encouraged.

Who We Are:

The First Peoples’ Cultural Council is a First Nations-governed Crown corporation with a mandate to support B.C. First Nations in their efforts to revitalize their languages, arts and cultures. You can learn more about us here: fpcc.ca/about-us

What We Offer:

- An equal opportunity, respectful and inclusive work environment.
- Travel opportunities to conferences and community events.
- Training and professional development opportunities to grow your career and skills.
- B.C. Public Service Pension.
- Dental, extended health and vision care for you and your family through Canada Life.
- We value your work-life balance and family/community time.

What You Will Do:

FirstVoices Product Ownership and Strategy

- Help define and advance the FirstVoices technology vision, product strategy and roadmap.
- Translate organizational priorities and First Nations language revitalization needs into clear technology and application-development priorities.
- Own and prioritize application development requirements and the product backlog.
- Balance new functionality and innovation with technical debt, security, reliability, maintainability and long-term sustainability.
- Establish clear engineering and product priorities for the FirstVoices Application Development Team.
- Identify emerging technologies and development approaches that could strengthen FirstVoices.
- Work with FPCC leadership and stakeholders to translate complex requirements into achievable technology initiatives.
- Provide the Director and Head of IM/IT with clear visibility into product priorities, dependencies, risks and delivery.

Python and Django Engineering Leadership

- Provide hands-on technical leadership for Python/Django application development.
- Guide backend architecture, engineering practices, technical standards and development approaches.
- Lead the development and maintenance of secure,



scalable and maintainable backend applications and services.
- Provide technical leadership for REST APIs, application integrations and backend services.
- Lead and participate in architecture and technical design discussions.
- Promote clean, maintainable, well-documented and testable code.
- Establish consistent development, documentation, testing and code-review practices.
- Conduct and guide technical and code reviews.
- Mentor developers and strengthen the team's Python/Django engineering capabilities.
- Help address complex application development and production issues.
- Work with other IM/IT professionals to ensure applications can be effectively deployed, secured, operated and supported.

Artificial Intelligence & First Nations Language Technology

- Identify opportunities to responsibly use AI and emerging technologies to accelerate First Nations language technology development.
- Apply AI-enabled development tools to improve software-engineering productivity and development capacity.
- Help the FirstVoices development team evaluate appropriate AI-assisted approaches to software development.
- Explore new technical approaches that could strengthen or accelerate First Nations language technology initiatives.
- Work collaboratively across IM/IT when assessing the architecture, security, privacy and operational implications of emerging technologies.
- Encourage responsible experimentation, learning and continuous improvement within the development team.

People and Engineering Leadership

- Provide leadership, coaching, mentoring and technical guidance.
- Establish clear priorities and expectations.
- Coordinate development work to ensure priorities are understood and achievable.
- Build an environment that encourages collaboration, accountability, innovation and continuous learning.
- Develop technical capabilities within the team.
- Promote consistent engineering and documentation standards.
- Lead Agile/Scrum development processes, including planning and retrospectives.
- Encourage constructive technical discussion and evidence-based decision-making.
- Support developers in resolving complex technical challenges.
- Help create an engineering culture focused on quality, maintainability, security and purpose.

What You Will Bring:

A Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related computing discipline,



supplemented by at least five years of related experience, ted projects. An acceptable combination of equivalent education, training, or experience in related fields will be considered. Experience working in a First Nations organization is an asset.

Skills and Abilities That Would Help You Succeed:

- Excellent understanding of the First Nations language and cultural context in B.C.
- Advanced technical skills and the ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences.
- Knowledge of software engineering best practices and a passion for clean, maintainable code.
- Ability to understand users' requirements, translate them into actions and to provide innovative, cost-effective solutions to complex business problems, from a 'user- first' perspective.
- Demonstrated ability to work both collaboratively within a team and independently, in an effective and organized manner.
- Demonstrated ability to self-regulate and respond constructively in challenging or changing situations.
- Strong business communication skills, including explicit, professional verbal and written communication.
- Ability to work effectively both collaboratively as part of a team and independently with minimal supervision.
- Demonstrates respect for diversity and contributes to an inclusive workplace.
- Demonstrates cultural competency and the ability to work respectfully and effectively across cultures.

Working Conditions:

- Most work is done in a general office environment.
- Regular travel to meetings throughout B.C. is required.
- Travel to attend meetings, conferences, seminars occasionally on short notice.
- May be required to work evenings and weekends.

The hiring salary range for this position is $95,000 - $110,000 based on experience and qualifications. The standard work week at FPCC is 35 hours.

For more information about the First Peoples’ Cultural Council, visit: fpcc.ca

Please send a resume and covering letter to: [email protected].

The posting will remain open until filled.

The First Peoples’ Cultural Council is located in Brentwood Bay and we are grateful to have our home in the beautiful traditional unceded territory of the WSÁNEĆ Nation people, in the village of WJOȽEȽP. FPCC also has an office in Tk’emlúps (Kamloops), on the unceded territory of the Secwépemc Nation.

FPCC values all employees and the communities we serve, and the health and safety of the work environment is a top priority. Depending on your role, FPCC reserves the right to require proof of a COVID 19 vaccination.

Pay: $95,000.00-$110,000.00 per year

Benefits:

- Company pension
- Dental care
- Disability insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Extended health care
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision care
- Work from home

Work Location: In person

📌 Manager, Application Development and FirstVoices Product Owner (Brentwood Bay)
🏢 FPCC
📍 Brentwood Bay