Senior Director, Strategy & Operations

Classification & Regular Hours

Hours per Week: 35

Salary Grade: 19

The base salary will be $145,000 - $185,000 per annum. Starting salary will be aligned with the successful candidate’s experience, skills, and demonstrated qualifications.

Applications are being reviewed immediately.

About Western

Since 1878, Western University has been committed to serving our communities through the pursuit of academic excellence and by providing students, faculty, and community members with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social, and cultural growth. We seek excellent students, faculty, and staff to join us in what has become known as the "Western Experience" - an opportunity to contribute to a better world through the development of new knowledge, new abilities, new connections, and new ways to make a difference.

About Us

The Faculty of Health Sciences is a large, diverse, and comprehensive unit, comprised of seven Schools (Nursing, Kinesiology, Health Studies, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Food and Nutrition Sciences, and Communication Sciences and Disorders), a large Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and five Research Centres. The faculty has approximately 5500 undergraduate students and more than 1600 Graduate students (250 PhD students).

Responsibilities

As an integral member of the Faculty's senior leadership team and principal administrative advisor to the Dean, the Senior Director, Strategy & Operations provides executive leadership for the Faculty's administrative strategy, operations, financial and workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, and resource stewardship. Working closely with the Dean, the Senior Director translates the Faculty's strategic priorities into an integrated administrative and resource strategy and provides leadership across the Faculty to ensure that financial, human, physical, technological and operational resources are aligned to advance academic, research and institutional priorities.

The Senior Director provides strategic oversight and leadership to the Faculty's administrative functions and senior administrative leaders, establishes integrated planning and governance frameworks, and advises the Dean and Faculty leadership on significant resource, organizational, operational and risk decisions. The role leads Faculty-wide workforce and organizational planning, oversees the Faculty's overall financial and administrative sustainability, sponsors major strategic and organizational change initiatives, and represents the Faculty with senior University leaders and partners on matters of strategic and operational significance.

Qualifications

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Business Management/Administration or Education
• Completion of Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) Designation, and/or Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP)

Experience:

• 10 years of experience in the following:
  • Experience in a senior leadership role managing budgets, human resources and projects, preferably in an academic institution
  • Experience working within a unionized environment
  • Experience initiating, leading and implementing proactive and progressive change in order to redesign and implement business processes, policies and strategies to facilitate improvement
• Knowledge of and leadership within complex health systems preferred

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• In-depth knowledge of financial budgeting and principles to develop financial models, forecasts and analysis, of strategic planning processes and of Human Resources principles and practices
• Knowledge of best practices in building a strong collaborative team and leading people and of performance development methods
• Openness to recognize when change is necessary, and to develop, implement and lead effective change management strategies
• Ability to collaborate across internal and external boundaries to meet common objectives, improve outcomes and support work beyond one's own unit
• Communication skills with the ability to converse with, write reports for, and deliver presentations to all levels of the organization
• Ability to deal confidentially with information that has financial, political, regulatory and reputational implications
• Innovative and flexible critical thinking skills to adjust to and implement new processes or technology to the University’s advantage
• Ability to draw on diversity of skills, backgrounds and knowledge of people to achieve more effective results
• Ability to handle details with a high degree of accuracy and to organize and prioritize a high volume of work to meet deadlines
• Ambitious with the ability to identify opportunities, develop action plans and set challenging goals in order to achieve desired outcomes
• Ability to quickly re-allocate resources and adjust priorities in response to unexpected events or changing circumstances
• Judgment, analytical and problem-solving skills with a consultative and collaborative approach to addressing issues and opportunities
• Advanced computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite
• Leadership skills with the ability to inspire employees and develop a shared vision to lead a team to excellence
• Ability to recommend controls to manage operational and legal risks
• Project management skills to align projects with strategic goals and operational objectives
• Ability to develop strategies that are in line with the University's mission and which balance competing priorities
• Ability to create a productive, safe and respectful work environment
• Familiarity with University policies and procedures preferred

Background Checks

Please note, successful applicants may be required to produce a current Police Information Check from a police service prior to commencing employment and will be required to complete a credit check satisfactory to the employer.

Western Values Diversity

The University invites applications from all qualified individuals. Western is committed to employment equity and diversity in the workplace and welcomes applications from women, members of racialized groups/visible minorities, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation, and persons of any gender identity or gender expression.

Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. If you require accommodations for interviews or other meetings, please contact Human Resources or phone 519-661-2194.

Please Note:

This position is an existing vacancy. This position is fully in-person, on-site. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.