Administrative Assistant, Engagement and Communications

OUR COMPANY BACKGROUND & CULTURE

UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario's university sector, proudly serving over 41,000 members across five universities and fourteen sector organizations. Our purpose is to bring greater retirement peace of mind to the university sector by investing with integrity and serving members with care. As a sector-wide plan designed for growth, our doors are open to all Ontario universities.

Together, we're a team of progressive thinkers and agile doers operating within a fast-paced culture of collaboration and respect. We believe in bringing smart and capable people together to create, solve, and grow with a clear shared vision and values of integrity, inclusivity, ingenuity, and impact. Our culture is intentionally welcoming and purposefully rooted in equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation (EDI&R). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace.

As a pension plan, UPP approaches investing through a long-term lens to generate and safeguard value. Our commitment to investing responsibly accounts for material risks that impact our investment portfolio to generate sufficient risk-adjusted returns to meet the pension needs of our members.

Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other.

THE ROLE

The Administrative Assistant, Engagement and Communications, provides administrative and coordination support to both the Engagement and Communications teams and serves as a key backup to Reception and Executive Assistants. Reporting to the Managing Director, University Sector & Stakeholder Engagement, this role ensures seamless administrative operations, supports day-to-day logistics, and helps maintain the overall efficiency of the department.

This role will coordinate meetings, manage calendars, coordinate travel, manage expenses, prepare correspondence, track project timelines, and provide administrative assistance to internal and external stakeholders. The Administrative Assistant will also assist with the planning and coordination of events/meetings, support document management, and assist with office coordination and communication activities.

This role is based in downtown Toronto in a hybrid work environment, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and in-office (minimum two days per week in-office).

SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES

Administrative & Operational Support

• Provide general administrative and clerical support to the Engagement and Communications teams, including scheduling, meeting preparation, and correspondence.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings, ensuring agendas, materials, and logistics are well organized.
• Support the management of shared inboxes and document repositories, ensuring timely responses and organized filing.
• Assist with preparing and formatting reports, presentations, and communications materials.
• Track and maintain key departmental timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
• Serves as backup for Executive Assistants

Calendar & Coordination

• Provide general administrative and clerical support to the Engagement and Communications teams, including scheduling, meeting preparation, and correspondence.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings, ensuring agendas, materials, and logistics are well organized.
• Support the management of shared inboxes and document repositories, ensuring timely responses and organized filing.
• Assist with preparing and formatting reports, presentations, and communications materials.
• Track and maintain key departmental timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
• Serves as backup for Executive Assistants

Reception & Front Desk Support

• Provide general administrative and clerical support to the Engagement and Communications teams, including scheduling, meeting preparation, and correspondence.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings, ensuring agendas, materials, and logistics are well organized.
• Support the management of shared inboxes and document repositories, ensuring timely responses and organized filing.
• Assist with preparing and formatting reports, presentations, and communications materials.
• Track and maintain key departmental timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
• Serves as backup for Executive Assistants

Team & Project Support

• Provide administrative assistance for departmental events, workshops, and engagement activities.
• Coordinate event planning and logistics for external events.
• Coordinate document approvals and signatures, ensuring timely and accurate completion.
• Liaise with internal departments such as Finance, HR, and IT to support operational needs.
• Support the onboarding of new employees within the Communications and Engagement teams.
• Other duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• College diploma or equivalent combination of education and administrative experience.
• 2–3 years of experience providing administrative support, preferably in a professional or corporate environment.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and digital collaboration tools (SharePoint, Teams).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Professionalism and discretion when handling sensitive or confidential information.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a customer-service mindset.

LIFE AT UPP

Do work that matters. We are duty-bound to serve our members' interests, and it's a responsibility we don't take lightly. That's why we've ingrained sustainability in our work from day one—to ensure our members have a resilient future to retire into, both today and for generations to come.

Stronger together. Collaboration is how UPP was born, and it's how we work with each other and our partners day in, day out. No one at UPP is just a number (even if they are excellent at math) and every win is a shared win.

Grow every day. You'll have the opportunity to work on unique, once-in-a-career projects that maximize your skill set and probably teach you some new ones—at any stage in your career.

Prioritize wellness. At UPP, wellness takes many forms. Ultimately, it's about ensuring our people are cared for in the ways that matter to them. Check out some highlights of our inclusive employee-focused benefits program including:

• Defined benefit pension plan
• Flexible hybrid work model
• Work from abroad up to eight weeks/year
• Comprehensive group benefits including medical, dental, vision etc.
• Extended paramedical and mental health service coverage
• Health care and lifestyle spending accounts
• Fertility treatments, paid parental leave, and gender affirmation coverage
• Education Assistance program

UPP enthusiastically welcomes applications from all qualified applicants and especially invites people with lived experience as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or as a member of another Human Rights Code protected group that faces barriers to employment to apply. Our goal is to create a barrier-free experience for every candidate throughout the recruitment process, so if you require accommodation at any point during the process, please let us know so that we can make the appropriate arrangements. It would be our honor to work with you to adapt our processes to ensure that you can meaningfully participate.

UPP respects your privacy. For information on how UPP handles the personal information you provide during the application process, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Statement.