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Posting Reason:
Replacement of a regular position
Job Type:
Employee
Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments):
N/A
Job Family:
Business Strategy and Planning
# of Open Positions:
1
Faculty/Service - Department:
Office of the President
Campus:
Main Campus
Union Affiliation:
N/A
Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):
2026/06/25
Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD):
2026/07/06
Hours per week:
35
Salary Grade:
Non-Union Grade NM3
Salary Range:
$132,504.00 - $165,630.00
Position purpose
Plays a key role in Office of the President supervision, planning and management. Ensures the office’s high quality standards are met, oversees operations, and manages human and financial resources. Also supervises Ceremonies and Events Office operations, ensuring design and execution of formal and institutional events.
Ensures day to day management of the office, as well as optimal operations and activities, so that the president’s objectives are met and priority issues fully addressed.
Oversees planning and implementation for activities related to major, high-priority University projects, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and co-ordination among key actors.
Maintains ongoing contact with various stakeholders, both internal and external, particularly in the University’s local community. Develops and maintains long-term relationships with multiple stakeholders (academics, researchers, business and community leaders, industry partners, the diplomatic corps, government representatives, alumni and donors), while encouraging engagement with and philanthropy in support of the University.
Specific accountabilities
- Managing activities of the Office of the President: Plans and manages ongoing office operations and strategic files, ensuring maximum efficiency at all times. In collaboration with the chief of staff, manages the office’s finances by drafting budget forecasts consistent with established priorities, to fully meet the section’s needs and ensure continuity of activities.
- Team management: Provides leadership, supervision and mentoring for own team and determines HR needs and duties. Implements a rigorous, sustainable management framework for employees under own responsibility, to carry out institutional projects and strategies, including activities related to public relations, ceremonies and internal communication. Manages recruitment processes, and co-ordinates training development and planning, as well as performance evaluations for team members, Acts on disciplinary and administrative processes and decisions as required.
- Strategic advisement: Offers the president expert advice, analysis and recommendations on matters affecting office operations as well as on developing and implementing the office’s priority projects and initiatives, to assess impact, ensure alignment with strategic objectives and provide high-quality service meeting the standards expected of the office’s operations.
- Project management: Acts as main project manager for the office’s priority and emerging initiatives, including regularly liaising with the chief of staff to plan the budget, and manages human and financial resources related to projects. Conducts analyses, prepares recommendations and manages consultation processes needed to implement projects and initiatives, and assesses outcomes. Works closely with the president, chiefs of staff, chancellor, vice-presidents, chair of the Board of Governors and other senior University leaders on a wide variety of strategic files, priority projects, formal ceremonies and prestigious corporate events. Maintains ongoing communication and relationships with various actors and stakeholders, as outlined above.
- Executive recruitment and performance evaluation: Plans, leads and manages the recruitment and hiring processes required to hire certain University senior managers (mainly vice-presidents and deans), working with the relevant stakeholders. Develops onboarding programs and activities for these newly-hired executives, to ensure consistent, best practices that enhance the University’s image. Co-ordinates the objective approval and evaluation process concerning vice-presidents for the Board of Governors. Follows up as needed to ensure attainment of these objectives. Co-ordinates vice-presidents’ performance evaluations, ensuring that each vice-president’s objectives are closely tied to those of the president.
- Ceremonial and institutional events: Supervises the Ceremonies and Events team and offers strategic guidance regarding the president’s ceremonial and institutional events, to maintain and enhance the University’s reputation and forge or strengthen ties with various communities and partners. Makes recommendations regarding the president’s participation in events. Prepares briefing and speaking notes as needed.
- Communication: Helps develop and guide communication strategies and public relations activities, to raise the University’s profile and protect its reputation. Liaises among staff, executives and University leaders, ensuring smooth communication between the Office of the President and the University. Acts as main contact person for other senior University executives working with the president, to assist with strategy, problem-solving, process development and achievement of deliverables.
Knowledge, experience and skills
- Master’s in management or a related field, or equivalent experience
- Ten years’ experience in management, specifically in operations planning and management, project management, financial and human resources management, and public and ceremonial event management
- Meeting Professional International (MPI) certification (an asset)
- Experience in managing teams of professionals, organizational change management, and problem and conflict resolution
- Knowledge of generally-accepted social and university etiquette and protocol procedures
- Functional knowledge of the structure, policies and philosophy within the broader network of higher education
- Knowledge of university operations, governance, structures, bylaws and processes, as well as institutional policies and practices and administrative workings
- Ability to build consensus among teams and work with different groups, internal and external
- Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
- Excellent organizational and time management skills; ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, meet strict deadlines and closely follow up on files
- Ability to come up with creative ideas and to analyze, evaluate and negotiate details needed to complete a project or run an event successfully
- Strong leadership skills with ability to offer staff, volunteers and members of the University community a vision, and to motivate and guide them
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills for dealing with a diverse clientele, including spoken and written communication
- Integrity, reliability and good judgment, with initiative and teamwork skills
- Bilingualism — English/French (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 [email protected] 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.
