Publication Officer

The Parliamentary Budget Office is an independent and non-partisan entity providing stimulating and rewarding work. We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and learning opportunities to support professional and career development.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is mandated to support Canadian democracy by providing Parliament with analysis that supports the quality of parliamentary debate and promotes greater budget transparency and accountability. During election periods, the PBO’s mandate also includes costing election proposals made by political parties or independent members. The PBO operates under the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act (PESRA) and the Parliament of Canada Act and is independent of the executive branch of government.

The PBO is supported by a dedicated corporate services team. We are currently searching for a candidate to support our work as a Publication Officer.

The Publication Officer is the hands-on production and quality gate for PBO publications. As a member of a small and agile team, the incumbent makes sure that every report leaves the PBO accurate in both official languages, consistent between its English and French versions, visually polished, accessible and on time. They revise and format reports, publish them on the PBO website, help analysts present clear charts and tables, and build the style guide and templates that keep PBO products consistent. They have a love of language and a strong eye for design, enjoy tinkering with digital tools to make production faster and more reliable, and are motivated to grow in publishing, web production and accessibility.

EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT
26-PB-19

Publication Officer

Indeterminate

One position available. This selection process may also be used to establish a pool of prequalified candidates that could be used to staff determinate and indeterminate positions at the Parliamentary Budget Office that require similar knowledge or competencies.

PB-02 ($78,422 - $92,769)
(comparable to IS-03)

Open to: Canadian Citizens and permanent residents who are legally able to work in Canada.

Open date: 2026-11-12

Work Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Closing date: 2026-11-26, 12:00 PM, Eastern Time

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS

Language Requirements

Bilingual Imperative:

• Reading comprehension: Superior level (C)
• Written expression: Superior level (C)
• Oral interaction: Superior level (C)

Education

In order to be considered, you must clearly explain how you meet the following education requirement in your application.

• A degree or diploma from a recognized post-secondary institution (university, college or Cégep) with acceptable specialization in French or English language and literature, translation, linguistics, publishing, communications, graphic design, or another field relevant to the duties. At the manager’s discretion, an acceptable combination of education, training and/or experience may serve as an alternative to the minimum education stated above.

Experience

In order to be considered, you must clearly explain how you meet the following experience requirements in your application.

• Experience proofreading, revising or editing texts in French and in English, in a professional, academic, editorial or volunteer setting.
• Experience using desktop publishing and document-production tools (e.g., Word, Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop), demonstrated through professional work, academic work or a portfolio.
• Experience using web content-management systems or WYSIWYG editors, including basic HTML.
• Experience applying style guides, templates, quality-control or accessibility requirements to published documents or web content.
• Experience managing several concurrent tasks, deliverables or deadlines involving multiple contributors.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of French and English grammar, usage, style and typographic conventions, and of recognized language references and terminology tools (e.g., The Canadian Style, Le guide du rédacteur, TERMIUM Plus).
• Knowledge of layout, typography and visual presentation principles, including for charts and tables.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards and practices for documents and web content (e.g., WCAG).
• Knowledge of HTML and of how content is structured and published on the web.

Abilities

• Ability to write, revise and communicate with precision in both official languages.
• Ability to detect errors, inconsistencies and ambiguities in text, figures and layout, and to reconcile the English and French versions of a document.
• Ability to produce accessible, bilingual and visually consistent documents and web content.
• Ability to learn new tools quickly and to find practical solutions to production problems.
• Ability to develop clear, practical standards and documentation that others can apply consistently.
• Ability to plan and track several publications at different stages and to follow up with contributors in a deadline-driven environment.

Personal suitability

• Attention to detail, rigour and results orientation.
• Curiosity and initiative.
• Client service orientation, tact and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
• Professionalism, adaptability, composure and sound judgment under pressure.

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS

If you possess any of the following qualifications, your application must also clearly explain how you meet them.

Asset experience

• Experience producing bilingual publications or web content in both official languages.
• Experience developing or maintaining a style guide, editorial standards or terminology resources.
• Experience preparing charts, tables, infographics or other data-informed visuals.
• Experience using scripting, automation or other technical tools to streamline document or web production.
• Experience maintaining a production calendar, work plan or tracker, including with project or collaborative planning tools.
• Experience working in a parliamentary, government or other public-sector environment.

Asset knowledge

• Knowledge of Canadian parliamentary institutions, including the mandate, role and work of Officers of Parliament such as the PBO.
• Knowledge of publication production workflows, including review, translation, formatting, quality assurance and release.

Asset abilities

• Ability to advise analysts on the clear, accurate and accessible presentation of charts and tables.

Operational Requirements:

• Occasional overtime and variable hours on short notice may be required, particularly around publication release dates.
• Willingness and ability to be present in the workplace a minimum of 4 days per week.

Condition of Employment:

• Successful pre-employment reliability security screening

Additional Information (please read carefully):

• You must include a cover letter, a CV and answer the screening questions in a manner that clearly demonstrates how you meet each of the essential experience qualifications listed above, and that clearly indicates whether you have any of the asset qualifications described. Applications without a cover letter addressing the essential and asset qualifications may not be given further consideration.
• Applicants are encouraged to include a portfolio or links to examples of their work, such as documents or publications they have edited, revised, laid out or designed, or web content they have produced. Work samples may be used to assess essential and asset qualifications. Please ensure that any shared material does not contain confidential information and that your own contribution is clearly identified.
• All communications relating to this process, including email messages, work samples and telephone conversations, may be used in the assessment of qualifications.
• When submitting your application, please confirm that you are either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Proof of Canadian citizenship or permanent residency will be required prior to appointment.
• If you are currently employed in the Public Service of Canada, please identify your employment status (i.e., indeterminate, determinate, student, casual), substantive group and level, and current second language evaluation results in your application.
• Depending on the number of applications, a top-down selection process will most likely be applied during the screening stage of the process. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to complete an unsupervised, time-limited practical exercise, in which they will prepare a short report for publication in both official languages, on December 2nd. Candidates will need access to Microsoft Word to complete this exercise. Following the evaluation of these exercises, selected applicants will be invited to an in-person written exam and an interview scheduled between December 8 to December 15. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted. All dates are subject to change.
• Satisfactory references and proof of education are essential conditions of employment.
• We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the contact information below. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.
• During this staffing process, masculine generic refers to both binary and non-binary genders and is used for conciseness purposes only.

Please reference Staffing Process 26-PB-19 in all your communications.

Questions? Contact Human Resources at 613-992-8026 or

We thank all those who apply.