Senior Manager – Constituent Engagement Platforms

The Senior Manager provides overall management and technical leadership for a major functional area with multiple lines of service.

The senior manager plays a pivotal and strategic role as the driving force behind both Salesforce initiatives and related services, and also DestinyOne platform for non-credit programs at both campuses. This role is focused on shaping the broader strategic direction and delivery of these cloud platforms that are our institution’s core enterprise technologies. The Senior Manager collaborates closely with academic and administrative units to deeply understand their unique needs, aligning product capabilities with the institution's overarching goals.

In this leadership role, the Senior Manager oversees project and sustainment teams to ensure alignment with UBC’s strategic vision. While Project Managers are responsible for executing specific projects, the Senior Manager sets the course, ensuring each initiative contributes to the forward-looking roadmap.

The Senior Manager also leads operational and ongoing sustainment efforts for the services in their purview, managing the support teams and strategically nurturing Salesforce and DetinyOne adoption. Exceptional stakeholder relationship-building skills are vital to swiftly establish trust and gain profound insights into diverse community needs. This role excels in presentations and interpersonal interactions, adeptly engaging with executive leadership and technical units.

The Senior Manager is responsible for optimizing the university's investment in Salesforce and DestinyOne platforms, strategically positioning the platforms to enhance teaching, learning, research, and workplace productivity. This overarching vision and strategic approach define the core focus of the role.

Organizational Status

The Senior Product Manager reports to the Director of Program Delivery and works closely with the rest of the UBC IT teams, campus stakeholders, vendors and external institutions. The incumbent supervises a team of professionals including managers, business analysts, developers, technical analysts, application administrators and quality assurance analysts.

Work Performed - Specific Duties

• Responsible for developing strategic service designs in collaboration with IT and business stakeholders that effectively meet requirements of the greater strategic direction of the university.

• Oversees project and sustainment teams to ensure alignment with UBC’s strategic vision. While Project Managers are responsible for executing specific projects, the Senior Manager sets the course, provide overall management and ensure each initiative contributes to the forward-looking roadmap.

• Assesses variances from the functional area(s) plans, budgets and schedules, develops and implements changes as necessary to ensure that scope, time, cost, and quality objectives are achieved.

• Oversees vendor relationships. Negotiates with Vendor for services and licenses as required.

• Leads long range planning for enterprise projects of complex campus wide information systems, and develops and maintains technology roadmaps for the functional area.

• Prepares annual budgets in the context of the overall UBC IT priorities.

• Promotes application lifecycle best practices and applies and follows appropriate change management methodologies and best practices.

• Anticipates and analyzes emerging trends in technology to assesses the impact and advise senior management.

• Spearhead the Salesforce initiative at UBC as its chief advocate and champion, and collaborate with academic and administrative units to understand their needs and align product capabilities.

• Strategically leverage the university's Salesforce and DestinyOne platforms investment for workplace productivity as well as teaching, learning, research purposes.

• Lead the planning and implementation of Salesforce enterprise roadmap at UBC.

• Establish and manage enterprise governance processes and practices within the platforms, in collaboration with Enterprise Data Governance and other relevant IT and business executive stakeholders.

• Focus on strategic platform adoption and cost-effective management.

• Track and report on key performance metrics related to adoption, usage, and ROI, and how these metrics inform strategic decisions.

• Ensure optimal integration of the platforms with other enterprise systems and collaboration tools.

Work Performed - Core Duties

• Leads project teams and ongoing sustainment teams. Develops integrated strategies, operating plans, targets and measures for a major functional area and leads the day to day delivery of its services, programs and activities.

• Works with business partners and/or leadership to understand and anticipate business and IT needs of a major functional area with multiple lines of service.

• Establishes and administers functional area budgets, prepares cost/benefit evaluations and ensures for cost efficiencies.

• Negotiates for, sources and obtains financial, physical, or human resources to support long-term projects and programs.

• Develops and ensures systems, procedures, methods, standards and controls are created and followed which foster operational efficiency, monitor compliance, mitigate risks, and achieve functional area results.

• Develops and implements innovative services, business solutions, and programs, provides technical leadership and oversight on projects, and collaborates with others on integrated solutions and initiatives across other administrative/academic units.

• Develops and manages reporting Managers, team leads, professionals and other staff including selection, training, coaching, performance management and all other people practices.

• Manages the staff performance assessment process and conducts regular meetings with direct reports.

• Provides career planning advice to staff and creates development plans to help staff achieve their career goals including assigning work which leverages their skills and capabilities and provides them with opportunities for learning.

• Manages performance concerns and disciplinary action in collaboration with HR and, where applicable.

• Anticipates and analyzes trends in technology and assesses the impact of emerging technologies on the business.

• Performs other related duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

In the Senior Manager role at UBC, errors or lapses in judgment can significantly hinder the delivery of collaboration and communications services. Misalignment with academic and administrative units or ineffective leadership of project and sustainment teams may impede the university's strategic goals. Inadequate stakeholder relationships could disrupt collaboration and priority setting, potentially limiting the platform's effectiveness. Failures in managing salesforce and DestinyOne adoption might affect its long-term utility.

Failure to meet service level obligations for performance and availability of services could adversely impact the University community, including the large majority of students, faculty and staff, and could cost millions of dollars in lost productivity, funding and revenue. It also risks damaging the reputation of UBC and UBC IT.

Supervision Received
In the Senior Manager role at the University of British Columbia (UBC), direct supervision is provided by the Director of Program Delivery. Additionally, Program guidance and strategic direction are received from Salesforce initiative sponsors.

Supervision Given

The Senior Manager supervises staff directly and indirectly through subordinate leaders; oversees deliverables assigned to contractors and other individuals on a project basis.

Indirect responsibility is exercised over project teams, which are assembled from a combination of PMO and operations team members to drive specific initiatives forward. This comprehensive supervisory approach ensures the successful execution and ongoing enhancement of Salesforce initiative and related services.

Minimum Qualifications

• Post-graduate degree in a relevant discipline such as computer science or business administration.

• Minimum of ten years of relevant experience including at least four years of management experience plus three years of specialized experience in the design and implementation of major computer systems.

• Strong Salesforce platform knowledge is vital.

• Willingness to respect diverse perspective, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.

• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certification: Having a Project Management Professional (PMP) designation is considered an asset.

• Procurement: Proficiency in preparing RFPs and managing RFIs/RFPs for the evaluation, selection, and procurement of products and services from vendors.

• Management Skills: Expertise in change management, budget development, financial management, and risk management.

• Supervisory Experience: Supervisory experience required.

• Higher-Education Experience: Experience in a higher-education environment, as well as knowledge of policy and regulatory compliance, is an asset.

• Leadership Mindset: A leadership mindset with a focus on mentoring and coaching team members.

• Independence: The ability to work independently and assume full responsibility for decisions.

• Project Management Skills: Demonstrated ability to conduct needs analyses, plan, organize, manage, monitor, complete, and evaluate projects within allocated time and resources. Effectively facilitate groups to achieve appropriate outcomes.

• Communication: The capability to develop and deliver effective presentations and workshops.

• Resource Management: The ability to identify, obtain, and effectively manage organizational resources (e.g., people, materials, assets, budgets).

• Multitasking: Proficiency in managing multiple tasks and priorities, working in a fast-paced environment, and meeting time-sensitive, critical deadlines.

• Development Knowledge: extensive knowledge of applications development methodologies, as well as development and implementation best practices, "rules of thumb," and benchmarks is an asset.

• Industry Awareness: An understanding of key trends and players in the IT industry.

• Leadership Skills: Effective leadership, consulting, consensus building, conflict resolution, negotiation, and team-building skills are assets.

Collaboration - Identifies and improves communication to bring conflict within the team into the open and facilitate resolution. Openly shares credit for team accomplishment. Monitors individual and team effectiveness and recommends improvement to facilitate collaboration. Considered a role model as a team player. Demonstrates high level of enthusiasm and commitment to team goals under difficult or adverse situations; encourages others to respond similarly. Strongly influences team strategy and processes.

Communication for Results - Converses with, writes strategic documents for, and creates/delivers presentations to internal business leaders as well as external groups. Leads discussions with senior leaders and external partners in ways that support strategic planning and decision-making. Seeks a consensus with business leaders. Debates opinions, tests understanding, and clarifies judgments. Identifies underlying differences and resolves conflict openly and empathetically. Explains the context of multiple, complex interrelated situations. Asks searching, probing questions, plays devil's advocate, and solicits authoritative perspectives and advice prior to approving plans and recommendations.

Problem Solving - Diagnoses problems using formal problem-solving tools and techniques from multiple angles and probes underlying issues to generate multiple potential solutions. Proactively anticipates and prevents problems. Devises, facilitates buy-in, makes recommendations, and guides implementation of corrective and/or preventive actions for complex issues that cross organizational boundaries and are unclear in nature. Identifies potential consequences and risk levels. Seeks support and buy-in for problem definition, methods of resolution, and accountability.

Accountability - Sets enhanced objectives for self and others. Monitors performance trends and identifies opportunities to improve standards. Provides regular feedback and suggests alternative approaches necessary to ensure that organizational objectives and superior standards are achieved. Delegates responsibility and reallocates resources as needed to ensure that priorities are met for initiatives within area of responsibility.

Analytical Thinking - Determines criteria for assessing issues and opportunities. Establishes clear goals and priorities needed to assess performance. Identifies relationships and linkages between different information sources. Anticipates issues that are not readily apparent on the surface. Identifies root causes and effects. Establishes clear goals and priorities. Anticipates potential problems and develops solutions needed to resolve them. Systemically analyzes relationships between apparently independent problems and issues. Reviews and cross-reviews reports. Identifies trends as well as isolated events. Translates analytical reports into management presentations, and provides guidance to resolve issues. Anticipates the possible outcome of potential solutions. Identifies areas of significant concern or opportunity. Probes and initiates research to identify critical problems.

Enterprise Knowledge - Directs and coordinates the development and implementation of process-based solutions that cross organizational lines. Creates business case for investment in process and technological enhancements. Sets clear explanations for the integration and alignment of technology and organization functions, focusing on the strategic value provided.