Recovery Alberta is a newly established provincial health agency mandated to deliver addiction, mental health, and correctional health services across Alberta. Formed in 2024 as part of a transformative restructuring of the province’s health system, the agency represents a pivotal shift toward a more integrated and recovery-oriented model of care. With a dedicated $1.13 billion annual budget and a workforce of approximately 10,000 staff and physicians transitioned from Alberta Health Services, Recovery Alberta is accountable to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction and delivers care across a wide continuum – from virtual services and community outreach to acute inpatient psychiatry and correctional facility health services. Central to its identity is the Alberta Recovery Model, a four-pillar framework emphasizing prevention, intervention, treatment, and long-term recovery, supported by robust partnerships and a strong ethos of cultural safety, personalization, and community responsiveness.
Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Senior Operating Officer (SOO), Psychiatry & Mental Health (Inpatient) is a critical leadership role within Recovery Alberta’s inaugural senior team. This senior leader will oversee the delivery of inpatient psychiatric services throughout the province, ensuring alignment with the agency’s recovery-focused vision and provincial health priorities. The SOO will steward both strategic and day-to-day operations – shaping clinical models, managing large-scale budgets, leading multidisciplinary teams, and embedding recovery-oriented practices in acute care settings. In close collaboration with medical leadership and external partners, the SOO will help translate system-level ambitions into operational excellence while driving integration across the care continuum.
The ideal candidate brings senior leadership experience in complex health care environments, with a demonstrated record of overseeing inpatient mental health operations within multidisciplinary, high-accountability systems. They are strategic yet grounded, capable of balancing transformational goals with frontline realities. Known for their integrity, cultural competence, and relational acumen, they lead with a values-based style that emphasizes inclusion, psychological safety, and continuous improvement. Financial stewardship, program design, stakeholder engagement, and policy alignment are critical strengths, as is the ability to navigate dynamic environments with clarity, compassion, and purpose.
This is a rare opportunity to lead at the forefront of one of Alberta’s most consequential health reforms. With flexibility to be based anywhere in the province, the SOO will find a uniquely impactful mandate – helping to define the culture, systems, and standards of a new provincial agency. For a leader passionate about equity, systems change, and meaningful impact in mental health and addiction care, this role offers both challenge and purpose in equal measure.
This role may be based anywhere in Alberta that allows for regular access to work from a hospital and travel throughout the province as needed.
To explore this opportunity further, please submit your resume by clicking Apply.
We thank all applicants for their interest in this position. Please note that we will only be in contact with those individuals moving forward with our client.
