Manager, Strategic Initiatives

**The University of Ottawa—A crossroads of cultures and ideas**

The University of Ottawa is home to a dynamic community of over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroad of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We believe in the power of representation, and that increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff supports this objective. Our goal is to provide students with the best possible learning experience, in an environment that reflects the diversity of its people, their ideas, and their identities.

We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. Our employees come together around the shared purpose of constant improvement, personal development, service excellence, teamwork and a passion for learning with a desire to make uOttawa and the world a better place. Everyone's contributions are valued, we all play a part in making uOttawa a world-class institution. Most importantly, we make it possible for you to achieve your full potential. **Because at uOttawa, you belong**

**Position purpose**:
Provides strategic and operational leadership in identifying, planning and implementing all aspects of strategic initiatives supporting key stakeholder engagement and campaign execution within the University Advancement Office. These include urgent and emerging projects and activities in support of priority stakeholders and segments of the alumni base and donors to enhance the strategic positioning, ranking and branding of the University of Ottawa for alumni, donors, partners and community.

**In this role, your responsibilities will include**:

- Strategic Planning: Works closely with the Director and the Associate Vice-President Advancement and the leadership team on strategic planning. Makes recommendations to the Director and AVP on the best course of action required to meet the sector objectives.
- Operations Management: Defines the sector's direction with regard to operational priorities by setting objectives based on work priorities, project deliverables and deadlines. Develops an operational schedule and determines the resources needed to meet objectives and deadlines. Oversees operational activities undertaken as part of special projects under his or her purview. Acts as project lead and management liaison with other External Relations (ER) sectors, faculties or services whose contribution is key to the success of a program, project or initiative.
- Project Management: Leads assigned special projects and events, including but not limited to: defining the scope of assigned projects; organizing project timelines; tracking and monitoring all relevant progress and budget; setting up and organizing leadership meetings pertaining to projects to ensure they align with the current strategy. Adjusts project plans as needed. Reports and makes recommendations to the Director and AVP, Advancement on future and potential projects.
- Human Resources Management: Supervises operations staff of the program. May oversee the work of additional staff assigned to specific projects to ensure alignment with overall program goals. Responsible for recruitment, professional development, performance management and conflict management for the staff under his or her responsibility.
- Communication and Liaison: Develops, implements and maintains effective working relationships and partnerships with all relevant internal and external stakeholders (e.g. Faculty/Deans, Advancement Leadership Team, Alumni Relations, Alumni Association Executive Committee). Executes effective program/process management by liaising with internal and external stakeholders to assess and identify their needs in terms of specific projects or initiatives.

**What you will bring**:

- Bilingualism - French and English (spoken and written)
- Bachelor’s degree in public relations, administration, or communications, or a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience
- Knowledge of the principles of fundraising and engagement, and best practices
- 7 years’ experience in not-for-profit sector, public service and/or alumni relations, or advancement
- 5 years of related experience in project management
- Proven ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders
- Self-motivated, goal oriented, and strategic thinker with ability to work independently
- Experience leading complex and multi-stakeholder projects
- Demonstrated ability to write and produce high quality reports, plans and strategies
- Demonstrated ability to influence others, create alignment, generate commitment to goals and inspire others to acti