Lead Ethicist

Inspired by research and driven by compassion!

The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is one of Canada’s largest learning and research multi-campus hospitals. With more than 1,100 beds and approximately 12,000 staff members, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region.

From the compassion of our people to the relentless pursuit of new discoveries, The Ottawa Hospital never stops seeking solutions to the most complex health-care challenges while continually engaging with the community to support our vision for better patient care.

Working together with its research institute, the University of Ottawa, and other partners, the hospital is continually gaining national and international recognition for high-quality patient care, teaching and research, while striving to meet the needs of the culturally diverse community we serve.

Salary Range

125,215.350 to 152,337.900/year

Position Information

The incumbent promotes and advances ethical decision-making and provides clinical ethics consultation services and ethics analysis across CCHCE to improve patient care, ethical praxis in everyday medicine.

The Lead Ethicist oversees the operations of the Champlain Centre for Health Care Ethics (CCHCE) and provides expertise related to ethical issues at clinical, organizational, and governance levels. This includes supervision/education of staff and learners, providing clinical and organizational consultations, leadership, governance, policy development, and specific recommendations on key organizational issues. Works in close collaboration with stakeholders to develop a strong network of partnerships.

The Lead Ethicist leads the creation and application of expert tools and guidance documents at various levels of the health care system to provide expert guidance to the board and senior management as well as front line employees, based upon these developed ethics resources.

The Lead Ethicist oversees the current accreditation Canada standards (Current `leading-practice standard in ethics frameworks developed at TOH) and facilitates organizational capacity-building to implement and understand accreditation requirements.

What you will bring

• Master’s degree in philosophy/ethics/bioethics;
• Minimum three (3) years practical and relevant experience working in an operational capacity in a healthcare environment required with a focus on clinical ethics;
• Three (3) years of experience in a leadership (formal or informal) role required;
• Experience providing clinical ethics consultation in a complex health care environment;
• Experience with program development, performance measurements and evaluation;
• Experience applying the use of guidelines and standards in the development of ethics program;
• Familiarity with the principals of budgeting and financial management and analysis within the public sector, preferably within the context of health care;
• Excellent interpersonal and people management skills including a professional demeanor and approach and ability to build strong relationships with business stakeholders at all levels, including executive leadership team;
• Ability to interact with diverse audiences: persons of various social, cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds;
• Strong verbal communication skills to navigate through sensitive and difficult, often end-of-life, conversations;
• Ability to manage the day-to-day operations and the performance of the program 
• Ability to supervise and manage staff as needed Excellent people management and team building skills in a complex environment;
• Apply knowledge in all aspects of the position. Specifically, clinical, and organizational consultations, capacity-building endeavors, and most day-to-day communication rely on such expertise;

You will stand out with

• Ph.D degree in Philiosophy/Ethics/Bioethics;
• Proficiency in English and French oral expression (advanced level) and comprehension (advanced level).

What you can expect from us

The Ottawa Hospital is committed to providing a healthy, safe, and inclusive work environment for everyone. We are driven by our purpose to provide each patient with the world-class care, exceptional service and compassion we would want for our loved ones.

We offer an attractive and equitable compensation package including a comprehensive benefits package, a Defined Benefit Pension (DBP) plan, and insurance protection. We also offer discounts from choice providers on a variety of products and services.

The Ottawa Hospital provides various Health and Wellness resources as well as opportunities for personal and professional development opportunities from our in-house Learning and Leadership Development team to help align your goals with your career objectives.

Interested? Apply today!

If you are interested in being part of the team of health-care professionals at The Ottawa Hospital, please submit an online application for Job Opening ID# 106061.

We thank all those who apply but only those selected for further consideration will be contacted. The Ottawa Hospital is an equal opportunity employer. Upon request, accommodations due to a disability are available throughout the selection process.

Deadline to apply: June 6^th, 2025

Last updated on: May 27th, 2025