Regional Director, East Region

Apply By: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 11:59 pm EDT

About the Ontario Public Service

A career in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) is driven by a passion for creating a stronger Ontario. We foster a diverse and inclusive workplace where employees have the resources, trust, and opportunity to deliver results for the people of Ontario.

About the job

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) leads and manages the province's transportation network to provide safe, equitable, efficient, sustainable, and convenient mobility options for the people of Ontario.

MTO's Operations Division protects and maximizes public investments in transportation infrastructure through effective operations and maintenance, corridor management, and emergency management, ensuring an efficient, resilient, and sustainable transportation network. Organized into four unique Ontario regions, Region Operations Branches are the ministry integrators for all transportation services in their geographic location.

The East Operations Regional Director serves as the place based executive leader, providing integrated leadership across regional operations, stakeholder and relationships management, and highway corridor management. The Director acts as the ministry's senior regional representative, balancing provincial priorities with local needs while ensuring safe, reliable transportation services.

Reporting to the Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations Division, you will:

• provide executive leadership, priority setting and overall operational, and strategic direction for the management of regional programs of East Operations Branch
• oversee highway maintenance and operations, including winter maintenance, emergency response, and incident management, ensuring safe, reliable, year round travel across the region's provincial highway network
• direct minor capital and preservation programs, delivering highway preservation and improvement projects while managing operational risks, contractor performance, and regional priorities
• provide executive oversight of corridor management, exercising sound judgment on complex development proposals and permit requests within the provincial highway corridor and permit control area
• lead regional stakeholder and relationship management with municipalities, Indigenous communities, industry stakeholders, and local partners, representing MTO at regional and provincial forums
• champion a strong regional leadership and workplace culture, setting clear expectations, modeling OPS leadership behaviours, and fostering employee engagement, inclusion, collaboration, and accountability across all regional teams

What you bring to the team

Executive Leadership

You are a confident, steady, and people centred leader who:

• champions transformation and change management projects that build organizational capacity and support the implementation of division, ministry, and government priorities
• provides leadership and strategic advice to program managers to support transformation/change initiatives as well as the successful delivery and management of their programs
• actively promotes cross-functional collaboration across branch and division boundaries and is committed to “One OPS” mindset centred on a shared mission of serving Ontarians with inclusion, integrity, and excellence
• creates and sustains a culture of diversity, inclusion, accessibility, anti-racism, and equity in the workplace

Relationship Management and Political Acuity

You have a strong track record of building and sustaining effective relationships, with ability to:

• engage effectively with municipalities, Indigenous communities, industry representatives, and government partners
• represent the organization confidently in high profile, politically sensitive, and public facing forums
• navigate contentious and complex issues through negotiation, influence, and principled decision making
• act as a trusted executive liaison, balancing provincial objectives with regional and community considerations

Job Knowledge

You are a strong operational leader, with demonstrated experience in:

• overseeing large operational portfolios, including contract management, performance monitoring, issue escalation, and operational risk management
• making defensible, time sensitive decisions in dynamic environments, including emergency response, service disruptions, and evolving public issues
• balancing safety, reliability, fiscal stewardship, and workforce capacity to sustain consistent, high quality operations
• navigating competing priorities, resource constraints, and stakeholder pressures while maintaining operational integrity and public confidence

Don't meet every qualification?

If you are excited about this position and meet most, but not all, of the listed qualifications, please still consider applying. We recognize that no one person might have every qualification in this job ad, and you just might be the right candidate!

How we support diversity, inclusion and accessibility

We are building an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We encourage everyone interested in working with us to apply, including people with disabilities, Indigenous, Black and racialized individuals, as well as people from all ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.

Our hiring process is accessible, consistent with Ontario's Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. We are working to prevent and remove barriers in our hiring processes and can offer accommodation to address specific needs related to Code-protected grounds such as disability, family status and religion. For more information about accommodation during the hiring process please contact us.

Learn more about the work the OPS is doing to create an inclusive, anti-racist, accessible and diverse workplace:

• diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
• accessibility
• Anti-Racism Policy