Manager, Sector Support, Surgery

At Ontario Health, we are committed to developing a strong organizational culture that connects and inspires all team members across the province. Our vision is that together, we will be a leader in health and wellness for all. Our mission is to connect the health system to drive improved and equitable health outcomes, experiences and value. How we work together is reflected through our five values: integrity, inspiration, tenacity, humility and care.

What Ontario Health offers:   

Achieving your career goals is a priority to us. Benefits of working at Ontario Health may include the following based on employment type:  

Fully paid medical, dental and vision coverage from your first day

Health care spending account

Premium defined benefit pension plan

3 personal days and 2 float days annually

Individual contributors start at 3 weeks’ vacation with 4 weeks at 2 yrs. 

Career development opportunities

A collaborative values-based team culture

Wellness programs 

A hybrid working model

Participation in

Want to make a difference in your career? Consider this opportunity.

The Sector Support, Performance & Accountability (SSPA) portfolio of Ontario Health functions as a strategic enabler with its system partners to provide high-quality and equitable care to the healthcare system. SSPA empowers Ontario Health by leveraging high-impact provincial health system strategies and initiatives aimed at supporting health system performance and accountabilities, sector support across broad divisions of the health care system (e.g. surgery, medical imaging, emergency services, alternate level of care, long-term care, home & community care), funding, capacity and infrastructure planning to assess and improve health system performance and effectiveness within Ontario.

SSPA is responsible for the IM/IT initiatives that support the Ontario Wait Time Strategy, the Emergency Room/Alternate Level of Care (ER/ALC) Information Strategy, and the Patient First Act. SSPA is accountable for the Wait Time Information System (WTIS) which captures wait times for surgical, alternate level of care and medical imaging (MI) cases along with efficiencies for MI from facilities across Ontario. SSPA is also accountable for the Surgical Efficiency Targets Program (SETP), which supports the measurement and reporting of Operating Room performance across the province and the Electronic Canadian Triage & Acuity Scale (eCTAS), which is a clinical decision support tool designed to standardize the application of CTAS guidelines in Emergency Departments. The information derived from these systems is used by the Ministry, Regions, facilities, and other stakeholders to inform performance improvement strategies for reducing wait times and improving efficiencies for services in Ontario.

The Sector Support: Emergency Services, Medical Imaging and Surgery (ESMIS) team within SSPA is responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight to teams managing the drivers of health system performance in these areas, while highlighting and providing recommendations on opportunities to improve access to services, deliver on OH’s priorities, and influence improvement within the health care system. Leveraging stakeholder relationships, clinical expertise, and OH’s extensive data infrastructure, this team oversees the compiling of information to develop key insights and understanding of health system trends to support evidence-based decision making for internal and external health system stakeholders. The team works collaboratively with other SSPA partners, OH Clinical Programs, Regions, and the Ministry to develop integrated health system plans/roadmaps for focused clinical areas, including emergency services, medical imaging, and surgery.

Reporting to the Director of Sector Support: ESMIS, the Manager for Sector Support: Surgery, will be responsible for managing the surgical portfolio within SSPA. This will involve providing provincial surgical recommendations to senior leadership based upon qualitative and quantitative data, being a trusted partner for health system stakeholders, creating and evolving provincial data standards and definitions, clarifying health system information needs, and identifying and supporting opportunities to drive improved surgical access to care performance in Ontario. As part of this role, the Manager supports the creation and execution of multi-dimensional operational, project, and strategic plans aligned to support OH’s data and analytics strategy and bring customer-centric philosophy and leading practices to the work. The Manager will provide leadership and development of initiatives and operational activities to support program goals through extensive stakeholder relationships and translating Ministry and clinical guidance into prioritized action with tangible benefits for Ontario patients. The Manager will also be responsible for leading, developing and coaching a high-performance service team.

Here is what you will be doing:

As a member of the Sector Support: ESMIS Leadership Team within SSPA, the Manager formulates, directs, and participates in the development and implementation of strategic goals and operational objectives for SSPA products and services in relation to surgery

Provides overall surgery leadership and decision making to enable the development and execution of operational, strategic, and project initiative goals

Collaborates and develops strong relationships and engages a diverse set of high-level stakeholder groups (internal and external), either to collaborate on delivery of key activities or to solicit support and buy-in for operational/ program activities (organizes and/or participates in committees as required)

Provides exceptional leadership, analytical, tactical, and critical strategic thinking, problem-solving techniques, and facilitation skills to manage and lead the planning, implementation, and associated evolution of complex provincial information management initiatives of medium to large scope

Creates recommendations and insights for the surgery by leveraging qualitative and quantitative data/information

Identifies improvement opportunities for surgery and escalates key issues/risks to the Director; proposes and executes solutions to address challenges or mitigate risks; manage risks by monitoring and implementing mitigation plans to identify, track, and resolve potential problems

Monitors operational/program performance; provides status updates and reports to variety of audiences (i.e. Ministry, OH Executive, Board Reports); ensures timely completion of team deliverables

Identifies emerging trends and best practices in surgical landscape in Ontario and implications on OH strategies

Adopts ownership of provincial performance information to represent key critical trends and issues, and advocate change to better surgical patient experience

Coaches staff to ensure continuous quality improvement initiatives are incorporated into day-to-day activities and effectively manages delegating, scheduling, and prioritizing of staff workloads

Provides recruitment, retention, performance management, and mentoring/development activities for the surgical team; leads and participates in employee engagement activities at all levels of OH

Contributes to organizational efforts and initiatives, as appropriate, to enhance SSPA's mission, values, and goals by promoting a high performing, fun team atmosphere with high morale

Performs cross-functional and/or other duties consistent with the job classification, as assigned or requested

Here is what you will need to be successful:

Education and Experience

Extensive subject matter expertise within surgical department functions in Ontario and a keen understanding of surgery wait times and efficiency as it relates to regional, provincial, national, and international trends/best practices in specialty areas in Ontario

Bachelor’s degree required. Having a master’s degree in health sciences; Health Administration, Business Administration or closely related is strongly preferred

Eligibility for registration within a regulated health profession within Ontario is an asset

Minimum 8+ years of experience as a manager of business operations and resources; preferably including management experience within information, technology, or healthcare management setting

Experience hiring, managing, and leading teams with a strong focus on personal accountability and attention to results

Proven experience in analyzing health system qualitative and quantitative information/data to provide insights/recommendations to key stakeholders and senior leadership

Comfortable with ambiguity; ability to offer creative solutions to meet stakeholder requirements and needs

Previous experience with clinical and scientific stakeholders

Knowledge and Skills

Excellent communication and presentation skills, with ability to tailor style based on a diverse audience including executive, clinical, business administration and technical audiences

Comfortable with ambiguity; ability to offer creative solutions to meet stakeholder requirements and needs

Demonstrated ability to plan and execute multiple large-scale, complex, high-risk projects simultaneously in a collaborative manner, adjusting to issues as needed in a dynamic work environment. The ability to prioritize and effectively anticipate and respond to issues as they arise

Must be flexible and forward-thinking, passionate about leadership, organizational health, culture, values, and team development, with the ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team environment

Proven ability to develop relationships with key stakeholders to establish trust, credibility, and respect

Must be detail-oriented with strong problem solving, critical thinking, and negotiating skills

Prior knowledge of Ontario’s Health System with direct experience in the management of provincial scale solutions

Understanding of how data and information may affect and influence patient flow, and wait times at the local, regional, and provincial level is preferred

Superior ability to analyze and define problems, evaluate alternatives, find solutions, and make decisions

Proactive approach to building management skills and competencies in team engagement, facilitation, and empowerment

Employment Type:  Permanent Full Time

Salary Band:   7

Location:  Toronto, Ontario (currently hybrid; subject to change). All applicants must be a resident of Ontario to be considered for roles at Ontario Health.

Internal Application Deadline Date: May 9, 2024

Ontario Health encourages applications from candidates who are First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Indigenous; Francophone; Black and racialized; members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities; trans and nonbinary; and disabled.

We encourage applicants with accessibility needs to notify us if they have any accommodation needs in the application and/or interview process.

Note: As part of the initial recruitment screening process, applicants must confirm that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If applicants are not fully vaccinated, they will be required to identify any accommodation needs pursuant to a protected ground under the Code. Applicants who identify an accommodation need will be required to provide supporting documentation with respect to their need for accommodation when requested by Ontario Health. If no such accommodation is identified, the applicant will not be eligible to proceed through the recruitment process.

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