Manager, Graduate Transformation, Faculty of Graduate Studies - Jobs in Calgary, AB

Job Description

Position OverviewThe Faculty of Graduate Studies is currently seeking a Full-time Limited Term Manager, Graduate Transformation for approximately 6 months.The Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) is the home faculty for approximately 7500 graduate students registered in over 70 graduate programs across the University of Calgary and is a key service and resource hub for all aspects of the graduate student experience from application to convocation. FGS works in close partnership with graduate education leaders, faculty, and staff from the teaching faculties and central student service units to deliver world-class graduate education and a positive well-rounded student experience.In support of the Framework for Growth vision to grow the graduate student population to 10,000, and the Strong Foundations Plan focus on building strong people, processes, and systems, the aim of UCalgarys Graduate Student Journey Transformation initiative is to enhance the end-to-end graduate student experience across all units. The FGS Process and Systems Optimization (PaSO) project is focused on transforming the common processes, workflows and technical solutions involved in managing the graduate student lifecycle to deliver an optimal experience at all stages of the student journey.Reporting to the Senior Director, Strategic Operations in FGS, the Manager, Graduate Student Journey Transformation has leadership accountability for PaSO and the broader Graduate Student Journey Transformation initiative, which is being co-led and supported by a team of core consultants. The Manager has responsibility for project budgets and will oversee a combination of staff reports and contract resources in a complex, evolving environment with multiple deliverables and partnerships.The Manager is a member of the FGS leadership team and will collaborate and consult with leadership and staff in all teaching faculties, the Office of the Registrar, Student Enrolment Services, and other central units.There is a high volume of complex work, driven by constant and critical deadlines, with high institutional visibility and expectations to deliver results and report progress to UCalgarys senior leadership. The position requires excellent leadership skills and the ability to generate alignment and drive and facilitate significant change across diverse groups of stakeholders. Some non-standard hours of work may be required.The Manager, Graduate Student Journey Transformation will provide strategic and day-to-day leadership for PaSO and the broader Graduate Student Journey Transformation initiative, focused on streamlining academic and administrative processes and reimagining how existing technology can support the student journey. The Manager will play a critical role in planning, analyzing, and delivering optimal student services and supports that are critical to the UCalgarys long-term sustainability and effectiveness.The Manager will challenge the status quo in the pursuit of process and system improvement, encouraging and leveraging contributions from diverse stakeholders, comprised of FGS and program staff and leaders, institutional partners, information technology specialists, and core project consultants. The Manager will be accountable to lead the identification, assessment, recommendation and implementation of new processes, process redesign, automation, and improvements for FGS graduate student journey functions as well as those that are common across graduate programs. They will also play a critical role in leading organizational change management initiatives.With support from the Senior Director, the Manager will lead the PaSO Project Team (staff and contractors) and facilitate the PaSO Program Working group (graduate program managers) and various PaSO consultation groups (graduate program staff). They will liaise with the team of core consultants that is supporting FGS on PaSO and leading graduate student journey transformation within teaching faculties to ensure all initiatives are aligned and integrated. The Manager will work with the PaSO PM and other project leaders to develop a prioritized road map of all improvement initiatives with appropriate milestones and deadlines, and ensure effective monitoring and reporting of project status and benefits.Position DescriptionSummary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):Project Leadership and Management:

• The Manager, Graduate Student Journey Transformation leads and manages all aspects of the FGS PaSO Project and works closely with the core consulting team leading transformation within teaching faculties to ensure all initiatives are aligned and integrated, and improvements are delivered according to approved timelines and budget.
• Oversees a large volume of complex, dynamic and concurrent FGS and cross-institutional sub-initiatives to design and deliver material improvements and transform the graduate student journey through effectively deploying people, processes and technology.
• Provides strong leadership presence and builds alignment across functional teams in support of common goals.
• Develops relationships and builds engagement, support and buy-in for the project both within FGS and with key stakeholder groups across the institution.
• Leads project strategy and planning; collaborates with project team, core consultants, and stakeholders across FGS, graduate programs, Student Enrolment Services, information technology, and other units as required to define and maintain a roadmap that prioritizes and integrates all graduate student journey transformation initiatives.
• Provides leadership for specific process improvement sub-initiatives. Convenes working groups to dive deep into business processes to uncover and analyze pain points, identify root causes, propose and evaluate potential options, and develop future state process and technology solutions. Challenges team members to think creatively and consider new ideas.
• Coaches the Process Improvement Specialist and other team members to lead process improvement sub-initiatives as required and ensures all sub-initiatives are coordinated and led effectively.
• Works with staff and contract Organizational Change Management (OCM) resources to:
  • Evaluate the change environment, understand complexity, and impact of change, and ensure change management methodology, skills and knowledge are successfully deployed to plan, organize and execute change for all initiatives.
  • Collaborate with internal/external stakeholders to ensure alignment, generate change management recommendations, and develop change management solutions including building awareness and change readiness, and implementing training and communications activities.
  • Communicate regularly with stakeholders at all levels, develop and deliver presentations as required.
  • Monitor and track change adoption and realization of benefits, address issues, and celebrate successes.
• Facilitates effective monitoring and reporting in collaboration with the PaSO PM and core consultant lead:
  • Prepares and manages budgets and monitors financial status relative to project plans.
  • Develops and implements project dashboard and other tools for tracking and reporting status and benefits of the overall project and all sub-initiatives.
  • Ensures team members are fully informed of deliverables and deadlines and initiatives are tracking to timelines. Addresses any delays or issues in a timely manner.
  • Regularly updates senior leadership on portfolio status, risks, issues, and decisions.

Staff Leadership and Management:

• Provides strong leadership and uses excellent communication, problem-solving and analytical skills to lead and motivate individuals to work cohesively in a team environment. Builds a strong and proactive team culture.
• Provides full managerial oversight for direct reports, including recruitment and performance management. Ensures staff members are well trained, competent, supported in their work, and encouraged in their development.
• Provides oversight for all project contract resources (PM, OCM, BA, technical)
• Determines how staff and contractors will be deployed on the project and its various sub-initiatives. Effectively manages workloads and assignments in support of project deliverables. Establishes goals and expectations, monitors performance and resolves issues and conflicts as they arise.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• A minimum of an undergraduate degree in a related field. Masters degree is an asset.
• 5+ years leadership and/or consulting experience, overseeing a complex portfolio, with responsibility for leading teams of varying sizes that work with tight deadlines and with a high standard quality of work.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the operating procedures and systems used by the University of Calgary and the Faculty of Graduate Studies, as well as knowledge and understanding of the student lifecycle and the policies, processes, and procedures of the various units within the university, connected to the graduate student journey is a significant asset.
• Leadership: Demonstrated leadership skills and communication/conflict management skills in a fast-paced, complex work environment. Must be a positive, collaborative, and supportive leader, able to organize, motivate, mentor, and develop people. Demonstrated ability to achieve excellence in individual performance while always being focused on working with others to achieve the team goals.
• Project oversight: Proven track record leading and implementing complex multi-partner projects to successful implementation, in areas such as process improvement, technology adoption, strategic change and cultural adoption. Demonstrated success in taking complete ownership of deliverables from inception to delivery and in building, tracking and delivering key metrics for project success.
• Project management: Experience playing a project management role and able to deliver the full cycle of project management accountabilities. Strong ability to manage multiple complex calendars/schedules with ability to coordinate and organize special projects and deliverables. Able to recommend prioritization of resources, time and budget to leadership.
• Change management: Must embrace change and have demonstrated success in supporting and leading change in a complex, results-oriented environment. Past success in implementing formal organizational change management programs.
• Stakeholder engagement and relationship building: Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with business and technology partners across organizational levels with proven conflict resolution skills and experience. Ability to promote teamwork, collaboration, and partnership and build alignment and buy-in. Ability to determine appropriate stakeholders and level of decision making and communicate appropriately while recommending key points of view.
• Communication: A confident facilitator and presenter with ability to effectively communicate and present complex concepts with messaging tailored to the audience, and ability to support shared understanding between business & technology teams.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving: Demonstrated analytical abilities and experience bringing an operational perspective to solving problems with the ability to challenge the business to think creatively and consider new ideas. Able to dive deep into complex business and technology topics to uncover pain points and analyze them to identify true root causes. The ability to anticipate the short and long-term impact of decisions and take a broad approach to problem solving.
• Technical: Demonstrated ability to leverage technology to support service delivery. Advanced-level user of MS Office Suite (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, SharePoint, Teams). Strong working knowledge of technology, technical projects, databases, platforms, servers, environments, deployments, testing strategy & execution, etc. Formal training/certification in Project Management, Business Analysis, Lean Six Sigma, or other relevant domains is an asset. Senior-level knowledge of the Oracle (Peoplesoft) enterprise system and especially Campus Solutions is a significant asset.

Application Deadline: July 14, 2022We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.Additional InformationThis position is classified in the Management Career Band, Level 2 of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework.To find out more about management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary and all we have to offer, view our Management and Staff Careers website.The University strongly recommends all faculty and staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.About the University of CalgaryThe University of Calgary is Canadas leading next-generation university - a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude. Located in the nations most enterprising city, the university is making tremendous progress on its Eyes High journey to be recognized as one of Canadas top five research universities, grounded in innovative learning and teaching and fully integrated with the community it both serves and leads. The University of Calgary inspires and supports discovery, creativity and innovation across all disciplines. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy in line with the foundational goals of Eyes High, committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (equity@ucalgary.ca) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources (hrhire@ucalgary.ca).We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.Quick Apply

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