City : Hamilton

Category : Other

Industry : Education

Employer : McMaster University

Housing and Conference Services (HCS) directly supports the University’s goal of advancing human and societal wellbeing and McMaster’s overriding vision of ‘educating for capability.’ We provide a distinctive living and learning experience for 3600 students focused on key educational priorities including community development, personal growth and wellness, academic excellence, and inclusion.

HCS concurrently drives a positive McMaster experience for guests, alumni, staff, faculty, and student by providing accommodation and event coordination, which meet the highest standards of service excellence. HCS is a proud and significant ancillary contributor to the financial health of the University and the core academic and research mission of McMaster.

HCS is currently in a time of significant expansion as capacity is expanding by 66% over the next several years. Moving from 3600 to 6000 bed spaces across 15 buildings. This expansion will diversify the housing operation dramatically, from a traditional focus on the housing needs of first year undergraduate students, to the introduction of upper year, graduate, and family housing, in addition to a constantly diversifying internal and external client base.

The annual budget for HCS is currently (pre-expansion) approximately $31 million and we employ 100+ full-time and 250 part-time staff. HCS reports directly to both the divisions of Student Affairs and Administration. HCS reports directly to both the divisions of Student Affairs, as well as Operations & Finance

The Senior Manager: Projects & Performance will be responsible for leading a team of managers, specialist, and coordinators that are responsible for managing multiple concurrent Housing and Conference Services complex operational and strategic projects to meet quality, budget and time objectives. They are also responsible for leading the departments efforts in evaluating, monitoring, and leading efforts to improve operational performance, continuous improvement, and assessment.  

The Senior Manager, is a member of the HCS Senior Leadership Team, and reports directly to the Director of Housing and Conference Services, will be responsible for leading both their team and the department’s strategic project & operational performance work using continuous improvement principles and practices. The Senior Manager will ensure that a full and robust project management framework and processes, change management and communication practices are undertaken to ensure the success of all projects. The Senior Manager will oversee and develop the HCS departmental assessment plan including business performance and analytics measures and ensure consistent and on-going reporting at all levels of the institution. HCS is expanding rapidly over the next four years, including growing its bed spaces by 66% by 2026. As such, scope of this role will include the creation and execution of a comprehensive roadmap for priority implementation through to 2026.

The Senior Manager will strive to build effective working relationships and develop collaborative partnerships with mutually beneficial results with campus, local, provincial, national and international stakeholders. As a service partner, the incumbent will model a client centric approach, building partnerships, working collaboratively on HCS and University initiatives, and effectively communicating with diverse communities of interest, while clearly demonstrating personal expertise. The Senior Manager will support HCS’ plans to introduce research partnerships with the academic community. Experience leading complex projects, managing vendor and stakeholder relationships, and implementing solutions are required. Such as negotiating multi-year contracts with external partners to expand Housing’s inventory and overseeing projects connected to opening new residence buildings and the expansion of the department. Experience specifically implementing projects within a Higher Education environment would be desired.

Project Management Oversight:

Leads the project management process for the department including governance, team leadership, monitoring, prioritization, communication, budget, and quality controls.

Responsible to ensure that all projects are managed in accordance with the agreed upon project scope and plan by providing guidance and leadership to the Project Management team.

Supports the resource allocation to ensure that the prioritization of projects is in line with the strategic objectives of HCS.

Deliver expert advice on both continuous improvement methodology and project management principles to employees and leaders

Leads team to provide expert advice on identifying potential risks and to inform business process owners on all impending risk implications.

Lead complex projects that have wide implications and risk such as campus residence move in weekend of up to 6000 students, involvement is pan university including facilities, hospitality, faculties, student affairs and the executive office.

Responsible to provide executive level communication on sensitive and large-scale projects that have financial and political impacts to the University.

Manages yearly budgets for unit and projects, work closely with Unit Managers and leadership team to establish and monitor all project budgets.

Business Analytics and Strategic Planning:

Responsible for the implementation of the priorities set out in the 5-year strategic plan that involve continuous improvement or project management work as well as the oversight of the tracking and reporting of all priorities set in the strategic plan document.

Manages the development, evaluation, monitoring, and reporting of analytics and metrics for all functional areas of the department to meet business requirements and to support evidence-based decision making. Functional areas include; Residence Life, Residence Building operations, Conference and Event Services, Residence Admissions, IT, Marketing, Finance and HR.

Lead the creation and implementation of dashboards as a tool used widely by business units to make informed decisions and to ensure goals and targets are met and manage department and operational performance management initiatives.

Responsible for the management of the HCS’ business process management (BPM) solution to map, analyze and monitor various business processes within the organization ensuring that they continuously reflect current state.

Lead the team to develop partnerships with Institutional Research and Analysis and with additional university offices gathering big data to inform and support both proactive and responsive interventions for student success.

Responsible for oversight of data governance and data privacy policies at the departmental level in alignment with existing university policies.

Manage Client and Vendor Relationships:

Model a client-centric approach to leadership of Housing and Conference Services. Seek out evolving needs of Housing and Conference Services and engage them actively in projects and service standards.

Lead the team and the business units to improve communication, facilitate change management, engagement, responsiveness, reporting and feedback based on Uniforum and other supporting data, and develop plans to improve functional productivity and service effectiveness.

Ensure proper setting of priorities, problem resolution and incorporation of changing events and conditions into the project from business, technical and political perspectives.

Support the department’s empirical research partnership with the academic community.

Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to gather feedback and insights, ensuring that assessment and performance measures are relevant and actionable.

Departmental Assessment & Business Performance Measures:

 Design and execute comprehensive assessment frameworks to evaluate departmental performance, ensuring alignment with departmental goals and objectives.

Work with Unit leaders to develop and oversee the team to complete compliance audits, program evaluations and reviews to drive results, ensuring change is permanent and performance maintains optimal levels of efficiency.

Lead the team to analyze and synthesize information required to understand issues, identify options, and facilitate the prioritization of projects and requirements among competing business interests.

Lead the collection, analysis and interpretation of data related to departmental operations and performance. Prepare detailed reports and presentations to communicate findings and recommendations to senior leadership.

Work with unit leaders to establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of departmental processes and initiatives.

Identify opportunities for process improvements and implement strategies to enhance operational efficiency and service quality within the department.Responsible for monitoring and measuring unit performance in alignment with the strategic plan.

Unit and HCS leadership:

Coach and mentor, all HCS staff on project management principles to ensure a highly motivated and technically competent team.

Provide feedback to direct reports and other leaders on work completed by project team members for inclusion in performance reviews and development discussions.

Evaluates, manages, and develops direct reports and provides mentorship for the team.

Identifies and facilitates training/growth opportunities to develop and supports staff in reaching their career goals. Develops a strong, dedicated and service-oriented team.

Sets performance goals, measures performance, and engages in recognition strategies for staff.

Demonstrates commitment to collaborative work environments by encouraging all members of the PMO team and great HCS team to bring forward ideas for continuous improvement.

Education: 

University degree with a focus in strategic management, project management, financial management & quality improvement.

Additional certification in process improvement methodology (such as Lean Six Sigma) and/or project management would be a significant asset.

Experience: 

7-10 years of relevant experience

In depth use of project management framework, including scope management, communication management, risk management and cost management.

Knowledge of Business Intelligence systems.

 Experience with contract negotiation and vendor management.

Extensive knowledge of student housing operations

Demonstrated ability to successfully lead a team on strategic projects

Detailed understanding of one or more institutional level applications and /or major business unit operations/requirements

Successfully delivered multiple projects using lean methodology.