Chief of Staff
City : Ottawa, ON, Canada
Category : Full time
Industry : Higher Education
Employer : University of Ottawa
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Job Type:
EmployeeDuration in Months (for fixed-term jobs):
N/AJob Family:
Business Strategy and Planning# of Open Positions:
1Faculty/Service - Department:
Office of the Vice-President, Finance and AdministrationCampus:
Main CampusUnion Affiliation:
N/ADate Posted:
April 22, 2024Closing Date:
May 11, 2024Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above
Hours per week:
35Salary Grade:
Non-Union Grade NM4Salary Range:
$130,390.00 - $158,729.00Position Purpose
The Chief of Staff serves as a strategic partner to the Vice-President, Finance and Administration (VPFA), providing essential support to maximize the VPFA's effectiveness and the organization's overall success. This senior leadership role involves collaborating closely with the VPFA and other key stakeholders to streamline operations, manage priorities, and drive strategic initiatives forward. The Chief of Staff acts as a trusted advisor, gatekeeper, project manager, and liaison across the organization, ensuring alignment with the VPFA's vision and goals.
In this role, your responsibilities will include:
Strategic Partnership: The Chief of Staff serves as a strategic partner to the VPFA, offering insights and recommendations on key decisions and initiatives. Plans, organizes, leads and monitors all initiatives under the Office of the VPFA facilitating collaboration among stakeholders and driving decision making. This involves engaging in regular strategic discussions, brainstorming sessions, and planning meetings to align organizational goals with the VPFA's vision. Collaborates to set strategic priorities and define metrics and updates to dashboards to track success. Designs and evaluates various projects and programs in key areas to advance the University’s strategic goals. Leads the annual strategic plan process ensuring alignment. Take part in the hiring process for leadership roles reporting to the VPFA, collaborating with HR teams and onboard top talent.
Priority Management: Working closely with the VPFA, the Chief of Staff helps identify and prioritize strategic objectives and initiatives. This includes assessing the urgency and importance of various tasks and projects, allocating resources effectively, and ensuring that the VPFA's time is focused on high-impact activities that advance the organization's mission. Manage the VPFA's time effectively, coordinating external opportunities and assessing their alignment with priorities.
Information Management: The Chief of Staff plays a central role in managing information flow to and from the VPFA. This involves synthesizing complex information into concise summaries, briefing materials, and presentations to facilitate the VPFA's decision-making process.. Conducts research, analyzes data, and makes recommendations to support strategic initiatives. Proposes and implements new systems and processes to improve operational efficiency.
External/Internal Governance and Leadership Meeting Oversight: Takes a proactive role in establishing the cadence and identifying files to bring forward to leadership and Board/Board committee meetings. This includes assessing the urgency and pertinence of items as they arise, understanding the governance requirements for matters to bring forward, and assuring the quality and completeness of documents being submitted. The Chief of Staff also regularly prepares the VPFA for meetings, provides relevant background information, prepares agendas, materials and talking points. During meetings, the Chief of Staff may take notes, track action items, and follow up on decisions and commitments to ensure timely execution. Post-meeting, the Chief of Staff assists in consolidating feedback, documenting outcomes, and communicating the next steps to relevant stakeholders. Represents the Vice-President on various committees and with numerous organizations, occasionally acting as the Vice-President’s spokesperson with government officials and stakeholders.
Communication Support: The Chief of Staff assists the VPFA in managing internal and external communications, including drafting speeches, presentations, and correspondence on behalf of the VPFA. Additionally, the Chief of Staff may liaise with the communications team to ensure consistent messaging and branding across various channels. Organize sector retreats, conferences and special events to foster collaboration and engagement.
What you will bring
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. A Master's degree in Business Administration would be an asset.
Fifteen (15) years’ of management experience, more specifically:
experience in creating business plans and planning documents
experience in developing organizational performance scorecards (objectives, targets, strategies, performance indicators)
experience in project management
experience in organizational change management
Proven ability to deliver results and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Strong strategic mindset with analytical and problem-solving skills.
Demonstrated loyalty, discretion, and selflessness in supporting executive leadership.
In-depth experience in managing financial and human resources.
In-depth knowledge of university culture and of how a university operates is an asset.
Exceptional emotional intelligence, with the ability to build rapport and foster positive relationships.
Inspirational leadership illustrating the ability to foster collaboration and motivate stakeholders and colleagues through innovation and excellence.
Outstanding communication and organizational skills, with attention to detail, to present and explain a complex ideas and issues to various audiences, both inside and outside the University.
Excellent skill in writing reports for senior management and various decision-making bodies.
Ability to evaluate and address complex issues in a clear, thoughtful manner, to quickly resolve them without compromising events or relationships.
Fluency in French and English (spoken and written)
Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:
Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.
The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.
If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.
Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.