Senior Project Officer, Organizational Development & Transformation

OCAD University acknowledges the ancestral territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabeg and the Huron-Wendat, who are the original owners and custodians of the land on which we live, work and create

OCAD University, Canada’s largest and oldest art and design university, is a vibrant community of bold, curious and compassionate artists, designers and scholars who are imagining and creating a joyful, equitable and sustainable world. The University is an internationally renowned hub for art, design, digital media, research, innovation and creativity, and arts administration. It embraces collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to change-making through art, design-thinking curriculum and research, making OCAD U a local, regional, national and global leader in art and design.

It is an exciting time to join the OCAD U community as the University is at a key stage in its institutional transformation, with the implementation of its Academic and Strategic Plan and guiding principles — driving positive impact; decolonization, indigenization and equity; environmental sustainability; emerging as a vibrant hub; student centered approaches; innovation in learning teaching and research; and financial stewardship.

Reporting to the Director, Organizational Development & Transformation, the Senior Project Officer, Organizational Development & Transformation plans, coordinates and supports the delivery of complex organizational change, organizational design and operating-model initiatives across OCAD University (OCAD U).

Applying organizational development and project-management practices, the Senior Project Officer supports the analysis and design of organizational structures, roles, accountabilities and ways of working, and prepares design options and recommendations for consideration by project sponsors and institutional decision-makers.

The Senior Project Officer works in partnership with Organizational Development and People & Culture (P&C) colleagues to integrate stakeholder engagement, readiness, communications and adoption considerations into project delivery. The incumbent is responsible for providing project leadership to cross-functional working groups by coordinating deliverables, clarifying responsibilities, monitoring progress and escalating risks and decisions to the appropriate project lead or sponsor.

Summary of Responsibilities:

Project Planning and Delivery

• Develop, maintain and coordinate integrated project plans for complex organizational development, organizational design and operating-model initiatives.
• Translate approved project objectives and strategic priorities into defined workstreams, deliverables, milestones, dependencies, responsibilities and implementation timelines.
• Establish and maintain project schedules, work breakdown structures, responsibility assignments, decision points and reporting requirements.
• Monitor progress against approved plans and identify delays, emerging issues, resource constraints and dependencies that may affect project delivery.
• Maintain risk, action, issue and decision logs and coordinate follow-up on outstanding commitments.
• Develop mitigation strategies and contingency options for consideration by the Director, project sponsors and working groups.
• Coordinate project deliverables and provide functional project direction to working-group members without exercising formal supervisory authority.
• Support the transition of completed project deliverables to operational owners and identify outstanding actions required for implementation and sustainment.
• Participate in post-implementation reviews to document outcomes, lessons learned and opportunities to improve future project delivery.

Project Governance and Executive Support

• Establish and coordinate an effective meeting and reporting cadence for project sponsors, steering committees, working groups and executive-level governance bodies.
• Consolidate complex project information into clear and concise materials that support timely sponsor and executive decision-making.
• Track governance decisions, approvals, conditions and follow-up actions and ensure they are reflected in project plans and related documentation.
• Identify matters requiring sponsor or executive-level review and escalate them through the appropriate governance channel.
• Support the Director in presenting project progress, risks, dependencies and recommendations to senior leaders and institutional decision-makers.

Organizational Design Support

• Apply established organizational design principles and methods to support reviews of organizational structures, roles, reporting relationships, accountabilities and service-delivery models.
• Conduct or support spans-and-layers analysis, role mapping, responsibility analysis and assessments of organizational interfaces and accountabilities.
• Work with the Business Analyst, Organizational Development Specialist and other P&C colleagues to bring together process, workload, workforce and organizational information to support design activities.
• Prepare organizational design materials, including structural options, role summaries, responsibility matrices, transition considerations and design-impact assessments.
• Document stakeholder input and distinguish recommendations, decisions, assumptions, constraints and matters requiring further analysis.
• Ensure that organizational design proposals are appropriately documented and presented for sponsor review and approval.
• Coordinate with appropriate People & Culture colleagues where proposed changes may affect job descriptions, job evaluation, employment arrangements or collective agreement considerations.

Stakeholder Engagement and Consultation

• Develop and maintain stakeholder maps, engagement plans and stakeholder profiles or personas for
• Develop consultation materials, discussion guides, presentations and feedback mechanisms appropriate to the initiative and audience.
• Document, synthesise and report stakeholder input, including common themes, concerns, dependencies and areas of differing perspective.
• Advise the Director on stakeholder considerations that may affect design decisions, implementation sequencing or project readiness.
• Support consultation processes that are inclusive, accessible and responsive to the needs of diverse employee and stakeholder groups.
• Build collaborative working relationships across academic and administrative units and support productive dialogue where priorities or perspectives differ.

Change-Management Integration

• Work in partnership with the Organizational Development team to integrate change-management considerations into project plans and deliverables.
• Support assessments of stakeholder impacts, organizational readiness, sponsorship needs and adoption risks.
• Draft frequently asked questions, presentations, implementation updates and other change-support content for review and approval.
• Coordinate with People & Culture and Marketing & Communications partners to support consistent and timely project communications.
• Ensure that stakeholder feedback, readiness findings and adoption considerations are reflected in project risks, schedules and implementation plans.
• Support the development and coordination of transition resources, toolkits and guidance for managers and employees.

Implementation and Transition Readiness

• Develop and maintain implementation-readiness plans for approved organizational, role and process changes.
• Coordinate implementation activities with People & Culture Advisors, HRIS/Payroll, Finance, IT Services, operational leaders and other institutional partners.
• Coordinate implementation schedules to support alignment among organizational, workforce, process and technology changes.
• Identify and escalate gaps that may affect implementation, service continuity or the employee experience.
• Support operational leaders in clarifying implementation responsibilities, sequencing and hand-off requirements.
• Monitor implementation progress and coordinate the resolution or escalation of issues arising during transition.
• Maintain confidential organizational, role and employee information with a high degree of judgement and discretion.

Qualifications:

Required:

• A university degree in Organizational Development, Human Resources, Business Administration, Public Administration, Project Management or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience combining project management with organizational development, organizational design, business transformation or related organizational change work, including at least two (2) years leading or coordinating complex, cross-functional projects involving multiple stakeholder groups.
• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining integrated project plans, including milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, decision records and executive-level status reporting.
• Demonstrated experience supporting organizational design activities involving organizational structures, roles, responsibilities, interfaces or operating models.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating project governance involving sponsors, steering committees, working groups and/or senior institutional leaders.
• Experience planning and facilitating stakeholder consultations, design sessions, workshops and cross-functional working meetings.
• Experience coordinating stakeholder engagement, organizational readiness and implementation activities in support of complex organizational change.
• Strong knowledge of project management principles, methods and tools, including scope, schedule, risk, dependency, issue and change control.
• Strong understanding of organizational development, organizational design and change-management principles and their application within complex organisations.
• Superior organizational and planning skills, with the ability to coordinate multiple concurrent workstreams, manage interdependencies and respond effectively to changing priorities.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify organizational implications, interdependencies, implementation risks and appropriate courses of action.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills, including the ability to prepare clear, concise and decision-oriented briefing notes, recommendations, presentations and executive materials and convey sensitive or complex information to varied audiences.
• Demonstrated political acuity, sound judgement and discretion when working with confidential organizational, role and employee information, combined with the ability to provide project leadership and coordinate cross-functional contributors without formal supervisory authority.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications and experience using project-planning, collaboration and presentation tools, along with a demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and contributing to a respectful work and learning environment.

Assets:

• Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), Agile or comparable project-management certification.
• Change-management certification or professional development, such as Prosci or an Association of Change Management Professionals credential.
• Experience in a post-secondary, broader public-sector, unionized or shared-governance environment.
• Understanding of collective agreements, employment policies and organizational change considerations within a unionized environment.

Mode of Work: Hybrid, minimum 3 days required on campus

Compensation: Hiring Range - $77,914.95 to $89,322.94 per annum, commensurate with experience, plus benefits; Salary Range - $77,914.95 to $102,401.21 per annum.

Hours of Work: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week.

Application Deadline:Interested applicants are invited to submit an updated *resume and cover letter (PDF)by selecting "Apply Now" below. Review of applications will begin November 26^th and continue until the position is filled.

*Please upload your resume and cover letter as one PDF. Please name your upload: FirstName_LastName-Job Code

As an employer committed to employment equity, we encourage applications from members of equity-deserving communities including women, racialized and Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.

OCAD University is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier free experience to applicants with accessibility needs. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact People & Culture for more information or refer to OCADU’s Accommodation in Employment Policy

All qualified persons are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority. While we thank all candidates for their interest, only those short-listed will be contacted.