Senior Advisor, Change Management

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Do you thrive in an entrepreneurial environment and enjoy working in a team atmosphere? Are you an "outside the box" thinker who strives to implement continuous improvements? Do you take a strategic approach to your work? Do you enjoy a fast-paced culture where your opinions are valued and respected? Do you enjoy building partnerships to solve mutually beneficial challenges?

Mitacs is a national not-for-profit that helps industry and non-profit partners solve strategic challenges by leveraging Canada's world-class post-secondary talent and a global network of industry, academic, and government partnerships. Through these collaborations, Mitacs helps business and community partners succeed, improves students' on-the-job skills development, and strengthens Canada's world-class innovation ecosystem. At Mitacs, we strive to develop the next generation of innovators with vital research and business skills. In partnership with domestic and international companies, governments, and academia, we support a new economy using Canada's most valuable resource – its people.

To get a better understanding of Mitacs and read more about our values, please visit our website.

Role Overview

The Senior Advisor, Change Management plays a pivotal role in advancing Mitacs's Enterprise Transformation (MET) strategic objectives. Reporting to the Director, Enterprise Transformation, this role is responsible for developing and executing change management strategies that drive organizational readiness, stakeholder alignment, and adoption of new processes and technologies.

Working closely with the Enterprise Transformation team, this role ensures that change initiatives are effectively communicated and understood across stakeholder groups. The Senior Advisor contributes to content development and preparation of presentations and communications, while overall internal and external communications strategies, including messaging and writing, are led by the Communications team. Operational support and routine communications will be coordinated with the TMO Coordinator.

This position is central to guiding organizational change across people, processes, and technology, ensuring that transformation outcomes are realised and sustained.

As required by Canadian law, all employees must be legally entitled to work in Canada throughout their employment with Mitacs.

Why This Role?

This position offers the opportunity to:

• Contribute directly to enterprise-wide transformation initiatives with significant organizational impact.
• Work alongside senior leaders and cross-functional teams on portfolio alignment and readiness.
• Shape and implement change management strategies that accelerate adoption and proficiency.
• Gain exposure to program-level governance and transformation leadership.
• Mentor and support team members in applying change management methods and practices.
• Develop expertise in stakeholder engagement, organizational readiness, and transformation leadership within a dynamic, mission-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities

Change Strategy and Communications alignment:

• Develop and implement Transformation Change Management and Communication Strategies and tactical plans for MET initiatives.
• Lead collaboration with the Communication and Public Affairs team to establish and execute on a portfolio's communication strategy, encompassing both internal and external communication plans.
• Advise leadership on effective change sponsorship, stakeholder engagement, and organizational readiness.
• Facilitate senior leadership discussions to gather input and assess change impacts.
• Ensure alignment between project-level change plans and portfolio strategy.

Planning and Execution

• Conduct Change Impact Assessments (CIA) and Change Readiness Assessments (CRA) across transformation initiatives.
• Identify, monitor, and mitigate change-related risks and resistance throughout the initiative lifecycle.
• Develop and track readiness, adoption, and outcome measures.
• Execute change enablement plans to drive transition and adoption.

Communication and Engagement

• Partner with the Communications and Public Affairs team and portfolio leaders to share content and input for engagement campaigns, messaging, and stakeholder updates (internal and external); overall strategy and communications writing are led by the Communications team.
• Prepare presentations, briefing notes, and pre-reads for senior leadership and cross-functional meetings.
• Ensure clarity, consistency, and alignment of messaging across transformation initiatives.
• Collaborate on portfolio and initiative interventions to drive adoption with business leads.
• Provide content development with Communications and the TMO Coordinator, ensuring alignment with change objectives and adoption goals.

Role requirements:

• Post-secondary degree or diploma in Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, Communications, or related field.
• Certification in industry-recognized change methodology (e.g., Prosci, CCMP) or equivalent training and experience.
• 5–10 years of experience leading change management in complex, cross-functional business, or Enterprise transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of change management principles, frameworks, and adoption practices.
• Demonstrated experience supporting stakeholder engagement, change impact assessment, and readiness planning.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages to diverse audiences.
• Highly proactive, detail-oriented, adaptable, and comfortable managing ambiguity and multiple priorities
• Strong relationship building and collaboration skills.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and collaboration tools (MS Forms, Canva).
• Ability to leverage analytics and metrics to track adoption, engagement, and ROI of change initiatives.

Nice to have:

• Certifications in Agile (CSM, PSM, SAFe) or Project Management (PMP, CAPM)
• Experience within a Transformation Management Office (TMO) or Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO)
• Familiarity with Power Platform tools (Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps) and other digital collaboration/knowledge management platforms.
• Awareness of emerging technologies, including AI tools that enhance productivity, engagement, and adoption.
• Experience with organizational design, process improvement frameworks (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma), and operational efficiency initiatives.
• Experience designing and delivering executive-level workshops, training sessions, or change forums.
• Bilingualism (English and French) is considered an asset.

Hiring Range: $87,440 - $105,000

Hiring and Salary Range Transparency 

Typically, employees are hired, transferred, or promoted within the salary range, specifically between the minimum and midpoint in the hiring range.

The salary range refers to the range of base salaries for a given position, encompassing the minimum and maximum amounts. The midpoint of the range is positioned approximately halfway between the minimum and maximum, indicating a fully qualified employee with comprehensive job knowledge and experience for the role.

Only in rare and exceptional circumstances, where a candidate has the experience, skills, and expertise that far exceed those required for the position, would we consider paying above the hiring range for this role.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and decolonization are core values at Mitacs: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion - Mitacs. We believe a diverse workforce comprised of individuals with different ideas, strengths, interests, and backgrounds (e.g., gender identities and expressions, Indigeneity, race, abilities, sexual orientation, and other identities) are crucial to our success. We welcome everyone to apply and encourage you to connect with us if you require accommodations during the recruitment process.