About the Role
Directly supporting the Manager, Innovation Projects, the Project & Operations Assistant takes an administrative role in all areas of the Innovation Hub. The Project Assistant coordinates Innovation Hub employees’ payroll, supports all project management, and communicates proactively about project statuses to ensure project milestones are met. The Project & Operations Assistant also maintains and updates all Innovation Hub process documentation, ensures the delivery of training and programming support, and leads community engagement to foster a dynamic and fun workplace culture that celebrates success.
The Project & Operations Assistant is a highly administrative role designed for a person with strong technical skills in MS Office 365, including working knowledge of Excel, the ability to design SharePoint websites effectively, fast typing skills with the ability to manage high volumes of emails, and coordinate busy calendars for team members with conflicting schedules. The Project & Operations Assistant also needs to be proficient in WordPress, Figma, Miro and Mural, and pick up new software applications with ease.
Strategic Leadership Support
- An active member of the core leadership team, directly working with the Manager, Innovation Projects, guiding the strategic and operational decision making at the Innovation Hub
Administration
- Provides direct day-to-day administrative support to the Manager, Innovation Projects and the Innovation Hub teams
- Coordinates payroll & timesheet deadlines, communicates with all individuals on payroll, and collects timesheets in a timely manner
- Supports hiring processes, workflows, and timelines
- Supports team members with administrative-related questions
- Supports the development of materials outside of the scope of design thinking projects, including presentations, professional development, or conference proposals
- Manages the Innovation Hub email inbox, providing support to community member inquiries within one business day
- Builds meeting agendas and ensures meeting follow up items are actioned in a timely manner
- Manages the Innovation Hub’s multiple shared calendars and coordinates team meeting schedules, documenting team members’ individual in-person hours
- Coordinates FOB access to rooms, completes room bookings and schedule coordination of the day-to-day operation of the Innovation Hub shared workspaces
- Manages the Innovation Hub’s MS Teams for team communication
- Maintains supply inventory and ensures supplies are ordered in a timely manner
- Leads all attendance tracking including employees’ time-off, vacations, sick time, and emergency leaves
Project Management
- Builds, maintains and updates project plans for every initiative at the Innovation Hub, supports building additional project plans as needed, and makes updates requested by the Manager, Innovation Projects
- Ensures that the Manager, Innovation Projects is aware of upcoming project deadlines, risks, and issues, and acts based on recommended next steps
- Communicates weekly project updates, team project needs, and upcoming project teams, following up with the leadership team as appropriate
SharePoint Process Documentation & Intranet
- Develops, maintains and updates all process documentation for the Innovation Hub, including multiple process guides in SharePoint to support various teams
- Updates and maintains the Innovation Hub’s SharePoint site and file system
- Ensures a streamlined UX/UI of SharePoint so that Innovation Hub team members can quickly and easily access needed information
Training & Programming Support
- Supports the delivery of Innovation Hub training for the teams and projects, including weekly teaching workshops, asynchronous training, and tailored team-specific training
- Assists in the delivery of any additional Design Thinking programs, workshops, or other programming
Community Engagement
- Supports the planning of fun and educational team building and skills-building events for the entire Innovation Hub team, such as team takeover events and group social events
- Contributes to creating a positive and fun culture at the Innovation Hub, supporting regular engagement opportunities between team members both in-person and virtually
- Supports the gathering of regular feedback from the broader Innovation Hub team and prepares reports for the Innovation Hub leadership team based on this feedback
Supporting Student Teams & Workplace Support
- Manages team member access to the Innovation Hub community space and digital sites, including Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, website(s), and more
- Writes and sends weekly reminders & updates to team members, and develops shared documents for weekly updates across all teams
- Supports access-related inquiries or tech-related issues in the space
Events
- Supports the administrative planning for Innovation Hub events, including developing comprehensive event plans to ensure events run smoothly
- Supports all phases of an event: imagining, promoting, executing and following up afterwards
- Leads technical and logistical set-up and take-down for all events
- Supports in-person and virtual event planning and coordination (i.e., event set up, organization, facilitation, etc. as needed)
- Supports post-event follow-up materials, such as session recordings, materials, and more
QualificationsEducation & Experience:
- Bachelor’s Degree or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience
- Minimum one year of related experience in administration, project management, or design thinking in a fast-paced environment
- A high-capacity individual who can work quickly, balancing multiple tasks, working within tight deadlines and competing priorities
- Exceptional written communication skills, including plain-language writing
- A self-starter who takes initiative and is not afraid to fail early to succeed more quickly
- Ability to interact with multiple stakeholders, make routine decisions, and respond to inquiries with care and empathy
- High level of patience, strong conversational skills, takes a collaborative approach, enjoys working in teams with diverse members & perspectives
- Demonstrated oral communication and presentation skills with diverse audiences
- Excellent interpersonal, organizational, conflict mediation, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills
- Strong grounding in principles of equity, diversity & inclusivity – ability to take an equity-based approach to leading teams and projects
- Event planning skills: coordinating event plans, collaborating with event partners
Technical & Professional Skills:
- Strong MS Office 365 skills, including working knowledge of Excel
- Demonstrated ability to manage high-volume calendars and email inboxes in MS Outlook
- Ability to create professional and accessible presentations in PowerPoint
- MS Teams, SharePoint, Miro, Mural, Zoom, MS Forms
- Ability to pick up most software packages quickly
Mindset & Values:
- Strong grounding in principles of equity, diversity & inclusivity – ability to take an equity-based approach to leading teams and projects
- A keen desire to learn and keep up to date with the methodologies used in the Innovation Hub (i.e. design thinking, integrative thinking, collaborative methodologies, ethnography, etc.)
- An Entrepreneurial spirit—and a desire to work in an ever-changing and dynamic environment
- Positive attitude and desire to bring positive change to U of T
Work Style & Collaboration:
- Highly communicative and comfortable communicating with various stakeholders
- Enthusiasm for mentorship and collaborative learning over independent work
- Demonstrated ability to receive and implement constructive feedback
- Professional boundaries and understanding of appropriate workplace behaviour
- Ability to dedicate work hours fully to work responsibilities
Learning Experiences
In this role, you'll learn how to be proactive and check in with your team members and keep them motivated. You'll learn how to look ahead at tasks and gain a proactive approach that allows you to take more initiative in the workplace. You'll learn how to convey complex data and ideas in a succinct and compelling way that inspires those in leadership towards action. You'll exercise your creativity and learn how to design and deliver transformative learning experiences for different audiences. You'll become skilled at leading and facilitating workshops (even if you think you're a shy person) and you'll gain an understanding of optimal workflows for maximum productivity.
You'll learn to be comfortable with not getting things right on the first try—an essential workplace skill. You'll develop resilience in receiving feedback and making revisions. You'll start to see constructive feedback as a gift and develop professional maturity in workplace relationships and boundaries. In this leadership role specifically, you'll develop skills in curriculum design and program development, learn to facilitate workshops that genuinely shift participant mindsets, and gain experience translating research insights into strategic recommendations that drive organizational change.
Application Requirements
When applying, please submit:
- One PDF containing both your resume and cover letter
- Your cover letter should address: your experience with collaborative vs. independent work environments, how you typically respond to constructive feedback, your approach to balancing strategic thinking with operational management, and your experience as it relates to the role
- Responses should be thoughtful and specific (not generic or AI-generated)
Job Details
- $23/hr + 4% Vacation Pay – USW Casual. 6 mo contract beginning Sept 30, 2026
- Hours per week: 30 hours (9:00am – 4:00pm Monday – Friday with a 1-hour unpaid lunch)
- 100% in-person work at U of T Student Commons – 230 College St. Toronto
Questions
If you have questions about the role, email [email protected] for more information.
Pay: $23.00 per hour
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
