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Job Description / Duties

Reporting to the Director, Student Housing & Residence Life, the Assistant Director, Business Services & Initiatives will lead a highly autonomous multi-disciplinary team to deliver expert advisory and integrated services to support a safe, caring, and welcoming living experience that contributes to student success. The following business services support the department’s operational and strategic activities: business development and partnerships, communications and marketing, research and assessment, technology and continuous improvement, budget and finance and project management.

The incumbent will lead with an entrepreneurial mindset and provide subject matter expertise on related topics not limited to business development, integrated planning, and innovative practices to enable student success and add value so the University can prosper. The Assistant Director directly supervises OPSEU and Exempt staff roles and indirectly supervises student employees in the unit. The incumbent will provide support and guidance to staff in the management of incidents in residence and is available by phone as part of an on-call rotation for the Peterborough and Durham campuses.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for leading the business services and initiatives unit, in Peterborough and Durham, including budget management, personnel, planning, project management, service delivery and assessment. This includes working collaboratively with the Colleges, Financial Services, Recruitment, Marketing & Communications, Facilities Management, Information Technology, Human Resources, and external university service providers.
• Provide high level advice to the Director and leads the annual business and planning processes. Identify systemic issues for consideration, improvement, and opportunities for strategic change.
• Work with students and stakeholders to identify initiatives that result in transformational change to achieve desired outcomes.
• Produce high quality reports, briefing materials, and presentations for internal and external stakeholder communications and engagement, conveying highly complex and sensitive information in an engaging way.
• Create a unit budget that accurately forecasts annual expenses within established departmental guidelines to fund the operation of the unit. Develop proposals for multiple year strategic budgets for the unit to align with long-term plans.
• Lead the Business Services team to provide expert, consultative support, and high-quality service to build capacity and support continuous improvement efforts across the department. Leveraging the team, develop a consultative framework to highly engage students in the research, development, and implementation of solutions to complex problems.
• In collaboration with the Communications, Marketing, and Recruitment management team, oversee the development of the departmental strategies, tactics, and assets to achieve targets.
• Lead the development and implementation of new business opportunities and partnerships that add value to the student living experience and university.
• Work with developers and commercial realtors to develop term sheets and negotiate financial matters to lease properties. Develop pro forma and analyze property metrics to meet student housing and space needs.
• Collaborate with lease partners to ensure lease terms are executed. Work with legal counsel to develop/renew leases and address any landlord tenant related matters.
• Under the general oversight of the Director, responsible for all departmental finances and budgets.
• Working with IT partners, providing technical leadership and plans to manage the effective delivery of technology support services and systems. Prepare and implement the department’s IT plan.
• Oversee the housing management system and a 3-year technology investment plan. Manage the contractual relationship with vendors and work collaboratively with IT and campus partners to employ technology solutions.
• Directly hire, train, and supervise staff under purview. Indirectly supervise student employees.
• Create an effective team with clear roles, responsibilities, and tangible goals.
• Serve as a contributing member on collaborative inter-departmental efforts and external relations.
• Is available and provides support and guidance to staff in the management of incidents and is available by phone as part of an on-call rotation for the Peterborough and Durham campuses.
• Provides support and instruction to the Durham campus related to residence emergencies. During on call rotations must be able to coordinate services to support campus responses if they cannot immediately attend. Responds to emergencies such as suicide, students emotional or physical crisis, safety threats to persons or buildings, and facilities emergencies, etc.
• Some evening and weekend work required.

Qualifications / Required Skills

Education and Experience:
• Graduate Degree in a related field (M.Ed., MBA).
• Certification in Accounting (CMA, CPA) from an accredited body preferred.
• Certification in Project Management, Change Management, Design Thinking, or Systems Thinking is considered an asset.
Knowledge and Skills:
• More than five (5) years full-time professional experience in student housing, business, ancillary services management experience in a post-secondary environment is required.
• A deep understanding of student housing (residence life, operations, off-campus housing, administration) and the delivery of broader ancillary services in a post-secondary environment.
• Demonstrated success in leadership and management.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and written/spoken communication skills, tact, and patience. Superior conflict management, mediation and negotiation skills, and political acumen.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise good judgement, creativity, initiative, and sound decision-making in managing business services.
• Tact, diplomacy, and empathy for multiple viewpoints are required. Strong conflict resolution skills are required.
• Demonstrated commitment to and understanding of diversity, equity, and accessibility issues with respect to post-secondary students.
• Demonstrated ability to lead business development activities and negotiate partnership agreements with internal and external parties.
• Experience developing and managing complex budgets.
• Demonstrated understanding of strategic planning and an ability to lead project teams in a complex environment that involves multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to consult extensively, solve complex problems and work with other units in the university to resolve difficult issues.
• Demonstrated ability to act as a change agent and experience with continuous improvement of business processes.
• Experience with supervision in a unionized environment is required.
• A demonstrated understanding of relevant legislation, including (but not limited to) the following: the Residential Tenancies Act, Ontario Human Rights Code, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Occupation Health and Safety Act, Ontario Employment Standards Act, Occupiers Liability Act, etc. In addition, is knowledgeable about strategic priorities of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
• Ontario drivers G class driver’s license with access to a vehicle to be able to attend events, meetings, and respond to incidents in Peterborough and Oshawa.

Additional Information

If you are intrigued and invigorated by the details of this opportunity to bring your experience to a new, important, and key role with the Trent University, we would love to have a conversation.

To express interest in this opportunity please apply online by clicking:
https://meridiarecruitment.ca/Career/17507

For more information about this exciting opportunity please contact Mark Gillis, Partner, at mgillis@kbrs.ca or Natalie Lagace, Recruitment Specialist, at nlagace@kbrs.ca. If you require accommodation to participate in the recruitment process, please let Mark or Natalie know.

Trent University and Meridia Recruitment is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research environments, and is essential to academic and institutional excellence. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals and encourage women, racialized persons, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQ+ persons to confidentially self-identify at time of application.

Salary: $95,500 - $120,668

Contact Information

For more information about this exciting opportunity please contact Mark Gillis, Partner, at mgillis@kbrs.ca or Natalie Lagace, Recruitment Specialist, at nlagace@kbrs.ca.

Additional information and full position description is available at https://www.trentu.ca/humanresources/careers/non-academic/assistant-director-business-services-initiatives-0

Applications should be submitted by no later than October 2, 2023 at 4:00 pm.

Employer Profile

As one of Canada's top universities, Trent University was founded on the ideal of interactive learning that's personal, purposeful and transformative. Trent has been Ontario’s number one undergraduate university 12 years in a row, according to McLean’s magazine and is ranked among the top 6.6% University in the World according to the Center for World University Rankings (2021).

Trent University respectfully acknowledges it is located on the treaty and traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishinaabeg. We offer our gratitude to First Peoples for their care for, and teachings about, our earth and our relations. May we honour those teachings. The University welcomes candidates who self-identify as Black, Indigenous or a person of colour with lived experience and expertise in incorporating EDI practices into teaching, research, and service.