Chief of Staff to the President and Chief Operating Officer

Trans Mountain Corporation operates Canada’s only pipeline system transporting oil products to the West Coast. We deliver approximately 890,000 barrels of petroleum products each day through a dual pipeline system of more than 1,150 kilometres of pipeline in Alberta, British Columbia and Washington state.

Trans Mountain also operates a state-of-the-art loading facility, Westridge Marine Terminal, with three berths providing tidewater access to global markets.  

As a federal Crown corporation, Trans Mountain continues to build on more than 70 years of experience delivering operational and safety excellence through our crude oil pipeline system. 

With our expanded pipeline system now in place, Trans Mountain provides enhanced direct access for Canadian crude oil to world markets. The expansion realizes a world-class system for oil transport, developed to Canada’s high standards within one of the most stringent regulatory regimes in the world, creating long-term economic benefits, enhanced marine protection, enhanced safety and emergency management capabilities, and enhanced skilled-worker capacity building in communities and Indigenous groups.

Our Core Values

Trans Mountain’s core values – Safety, Integrity, Respect and Excellence – guide our every step. Each obstacle we’ve overcome or success we’ve experienced has been the result of a shared commitment to living these values every day. Together, we’re focused on doing the right thing for each other and our communities. If you are looking for an opportunity to apply your strengths in an environment that encourages Safety, Integrity, Respect, and Excellence, we invite you to explore this opportunity with us!

Location: Calgary Head Office                          

Department: Executive Administration

Reports to: President & Chief Operating Officer              

Worker Type: Employee    

Schedule Type: Full-time

Work Setting: In-office

The Chief of Staff serves as a strategic partner and internal consultant to the President & Chief Operating Officer (P&COO). This role is designed to add meaningful leverage to firm leadership by independently defining and rapidly investigating emerging opportunities.

The Chief of Staff will operate with delegated authority to act as a primary sounding board for leadership, combining rigorous strategic analysis with the authoring of complex, cross-functional initiatives.

This role requires high-level strategic gravitas, sound judgment, and the ability to hold productive tension with senior leaders and Board members when priorities compete, or alignment is not yet achieved.

The individual will synthesize external and internal insights into Trans Mountain-specific narratives, translate strategy into action, and ensure firmwide strategic initiatives are delivered with clarity and impact.  This is a highly visible role that works closely with the ELT, VPs, and stakeholders across the business.

Key responsibilities:

Strategy Execution & Initiative Leadership

• Owns and leads a portfolio of strategic initiatives from concept through implementation.
• Exercises delegated decision-making authority on behalf of the P&COO in steering committees and leadership forums to maintain momentum.
• Coordinates, tracks, and prioritizes execution of strategic initiatives; monitors progress and ensures timely follow-up and delivery.
• Drives follow-through and accountability and decision-making across teams, navigating resistance and surfacing trade-offs at the highest levels of the partnership.
• Undertakes special projects assigned by the P&COO, coordinating cross-functional teams, tracking milestones, and reporting outcomes and impact.

Strategic Analysis & Executive Advisory Support

• Proactively identify enterprise-wide strategic gaps and structure complex or ambiguous issues into clear problem statements and recommendations.
• Develops and proposes business cases and implementation approaches for new or evolving strategic initiatives.
• Synthesizes and challenges insights from external management consultancies, translating high-level concepts into practical, decision-ready materials for executive audiences.
• Relays observations and recommendations to the P&COO, and other executives as appropriate.

Executive Council & Governance Forums

• Reviews the EC meeting materials and briefs the P&COO and follows up with the Senior EA to the CEO and P&COO for any action items arising from the EC Meetings.
• Ensures P&COO meetings with Direct Reports are forward-looking and aligned to business cycles and priorities for maximum effectiveness.
• Assigns, tracks, and follows up on action items; creates and manages detailed action plans based on meeting outcomes.

Stakeholder Engagement & Cross Functional Coordination

• Acts as a senior sounding board to ELTs and VPs to align priorities.
• Serves as a key liaison between core business functions and major project teams, ensuring timely information flow, alignment of priorities, and effective coordination of resources.
• Facilitates working sessions, steering committees, and decision forums with independent authority.
• Acts as a connector across functions and regions to reduce duplication and improve execution discipline.
• Navigates complex stakeholder dynamics across leadership forums, balancing diverse perspectives while maintaining an enterprise-level focus.

Executive Communications

• Authors high-impact presentations, updates, and briefing materials for executive and Board-level audiences and leadership forums.
• Translates complex work into clear, authoritative narratives that support high-stakes decision-making.
• Conducts research on topics relevant to operations and strategic goals, particularly in preparation for external meetings.

Continuous Improvement

• Architects opportunities to strengthen strategy execution practices, governance, and ways of working
• Shares leading practices to improve strategy and initiative delivery.

General Support

• Assists the P&COO with establishing priorities and timelines; follow through with Executives and Directors on delivery and keep the P&COO informed of progress.
• Partners with the P&COO to ensure they are empowered with the information needed to make decisions.
• Ensures the P&COO is well prepared for internal and external meetings, validating purpose and intended outcomes, ensuring efficiency and preparedness, and following up on action items.
• Proactively follows up with the P&COO and his VPs on matters affecting their areas, including status of critical initiatives and resolution of issues affecting strategic priorities.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, commerce, economics, engineering, or a related discipline.  A master’s degree, MBA, or equivalent advanced qualification is considered an asset.
• A minimum of 10 years of progressively senior experience in strategy, management consulting, business transformation, corporate development, operations, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience advising senior executives and working effectively with Executive Leadership Teams, Boards, and other senior bodies.
• Proven ability to lead complex, enterprise-wide and cross-functional initiatives from initial concept through implementation, including establishing priorities, coordinating resources, monitoring progress, and driving accountability for results.
• Strong strategic and analytical capabilities, with demonstrated success structuring ambiguous issues, assessing opportunities and risks, developing business cases, and translating analysis into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Exceptional judgment, discretion, and political acuity, with the confidence to challenge constructively, surface trade-offs, and navigate competing priorities with senior leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to operate with a high degree of independence and delegated authority in complex, fast-paced, and highly visible environments.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing executive briefings, Board materials, strategic presentations, decision documents, and other high-impact communications.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex internal and external information into concise, organization-specific narratives and practical courses of action.
• Strong project and portfolio management capabilities, including the ability to manage multiple strategic priorities, establish action plans, track milestones, and ensure timely follow-through.
• High degree of integrity, professionalism, confidentiality, and accountability.
• Strong interpersonal skills and executive presence, with the ability to establish credibility quickly and serve as a trusted advisor and sounding board.
• Experience within a large, complex, regulated, infrastructure, energy, or operational organization is considered an asset.

Working Conditions:

• Willingness and ability to travel as required.
• May need to provide support outside of regular business hours and/or on the weekend.

Application

Candidates may submit their application in English or French. To apply in French, please use our French careers site: Careers (French)

At Trans Mountain, we believe in an inclusive, accessible, and barrier free recruitment and selection process for all applicants. If you require an accommodation at any point in the process, please contact us at: Talent@transmountain.com or the designated Talent Acquisition Advisor. Accommodation requests will not affect the assessment of your application or candidacy or the designated Talent Acquisition Advisor. Accommodation requests will not affect the assessment of your application or candidacy.

We Build Careers and Pipelines That Last

Our story is about determination, resourcefulness and resilience. It’s about charting our own course, finding innovative solutions to challenging problems and doing the right thing. It was true when Trans Mountain became a company in 1951 and it’s just as true today. We welcome new members to our team that embrace the qualities in our story, that thrive on the new path and directions we take.  Our culture is one of care and taking our responsibilities seriously. If you would like to contribute to our culture, then join our journey.

A Rewarding Opportunity

We offer:

• Valuable experience providing opportunity for professional development and career advancement;
• An opportunity to engage with and learn from some of the most talented and experienced people in the business;
• Competitive compensation;
• Comprehensive benefits programs including flexible benefits, pension and savings plans;
• A place to share a sense of purpose and build relationships;
• Meaningful work that makes a difference;
• An opportunity within the Canadian energy industry.

We value:

• The health, safety and wellness of everyone working in our company;
• Meaningful participation from Indigenous and local communities;
• The commitment and resilience of our people;
• Collaboration and achieving success together. 

In keeping with Trans Mountain’s commitment to maximize benefits for communities, priority will be given to qualified candidates from Indigenous, local and regional communities along the Trans Mountain pipeline corridor.

In Alberta, the pipeline system spans the traditional territories of Treaty 6, 7 and 8, and the Métis Nation of Alberta (Zone 4).

In British Columbia, the system crosses the traditional territories of numerous First Nations that are affiliated with the Secwepemc, Dakelh (Carrier), Nlaka'pamux, Syilx/Okanagan, Interior and Coast Salish, Stó:lo, as well as the Métis.

Trans Mountain also operates through 15 First Nation Reserves located within the region spanning the BC interior through Fraser Valley.

Our Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA)

Trans Mountain is committed to fostering inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.  The diverse viewpoints and cultural knowledge that our employees bring to work enrich our organization’s collective cultural understanding, which is reflected in the work we do every day.  We strive to create an environment that is free of barriers to promote full participation in the workplace. Trans Mountain welcomes new team members from traditionally underrepresented groups, including but not limited to women, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized groups, persons with disabilities and members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community.