Senior Officer, Major Initiatives

Competition 1952

This position is part of the Association of the Academic Staff of the University of Alberta (AASUA).

In accordance with the Administrative and Professional Officer Agreement, this position has a comprehensive benefits package and an annual salary range of $71,557 to $119,269.

Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person. Work primarily takes place at North Campus, Edmonton.

Working at the University of Alberta

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all FirstPeoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.

The University of Alberta is a community of knowledge seekers, change makers and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to over 14,000 faculty and staff, more than 40,000 students and a growing community of 300,000 alumni worldwide.

Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross-section of people — from our students and community members, to our renowned researchers and innovators, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger and more just. Learn more.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director, Research Partner Network, the Senior Officer, Major Initiatives is a strategic planning expert, tasked with supporting the expansion of the research capacity at the University of Alberta and engaging and supporting major research initiatives, while proactively positioning the University to meet its institutional strategic research priorities.

This position demands in-depth knowledge of the broad research landscape; established and strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders; ability to work in a high-paced environment, and a passion for action, agility and lateral thinking. Metrics of success are linked to expected outcomes outlined in our institutional Strategic Research and Innovation Plan, research funding success, increasing relevance and value of the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) to stakeholders, and increasing partnerships, academic reputation, and competitiveness.  

Responsibilities:

Strategic Initiatives

• Supports the Vice President, VPRI with implementation of the institutional Strategic Research and Innovation Plan, including conducting background research for performance metrics, conducting environmental scans of research trends and opportunities to update the institutional Strategic Research and Innovation Plan, and supporting reporting.
• Identifies, develops, and implements research-related strategic goals and large-scale research grants and initiatives with guidance from the Director, Research Partner Network, and in collaboration with Associate Deans (Research), Vice Deans (Research), and other members of the institution’s research community.
• Develops collaborations with researchers in other departments (interdisciplinary), other universities (inter-institutional) or government organizations and industry (inter-sectoral), sometimes at an international level.
• Identifies and works with the Director, Research Partner Network to develop new research funding strategies. Identify new funding sources and opportunities with the goal of developing long-term sustainability for research initiatives and supporting our aspirational goal of $600M in annual research funding. 

Support for Grant Applications

• Working with Research Partners and others in the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) portfolio to help set and implement the vision for strategic grant application support that will augment current activities at the University of Alberta.
• Working with other research administrators to help mobilize investigators for both large-scale, multi-investigator funding proposals, including team grants.
• Provides mentorship and counsel to researchers regarding large-scale funding grant applications.
• Assists with the coordination of activity around major multi-million-dollar grant competitions.

Leadership

• Directly supervises two full-time positions. Provide guidance, support, and development opportunities to foster a high-performing team.
• Assigns tasks, manages workloads, and ensures timely delivery of team objectives aligned with organizational goals.
• Promotes inclusivity, teamwork, and open communication to encourage innovation and problem-solving.

Project Management

• Ensure initiatives are completed across all partnerships; develop schedules and timelines, establish milestones and deliverables; maintain metric spreadsheets; participate in teleconferences and face-to-face meetings to discuss results and review quantitative performance data with stakeholders.
• Leads some meetings for large-scale initiatives, reports on progress of the initiative, develops agenda and implements any action items arising from the meetings.

Innovation

• Searches beyond the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and the University for new methods, trends and innovative approaches. Challenges the status quo. Develops, tests, and delivers new methods or approaches.
• Champions change and innovation; anticipates barriers to the flow of new ideas; proactively addresses issues and resistance.

Issue Resolution

• Analyses complex situations to find solutions. Gathers, interprets, synthesizes, and evaluates information from a wide range of sources and perspectives. Reasons critically and thinks conceptually based on a thorough understanding of the context.
• Champions innovative and novel solutions to support client needs. Creates practical and pragmatic solutions that are reasonable to implement. Engages others, including functional experts (i.e., operational or subject-matter experts), in collaborative problem-solving when necessary.

Communication

• Acts as a liaison, providing advice, feedback and recommendations to individuals and groups involved in major initiatives.
• Demonstrates persuasive, engaging, clear and credible oral and written communication to gain support and commitment in varied situations from a wide variety of audiences and stakeholders.
• Assisting and advising potential external collaborators regarding building new research relationships.
• Skillfully handles complex, on-the-spot questions from audiences. Addresses any conflict with well-considered responses.
• Communicates strategically, considering optimal timing, style, channel, medium and form of communication.

Relationship Building

• Develops, improves, and enhances partnerships and engagement to facilitate collaborative research funding and activities with federal, provincial, and local organizations and agencies.
• Develops partnerships with research user groups (e.g., community organizations, industry, Policy makers, managers) to help shape research directions and ensure effective research transfer.
• Contributes to the development of a research strategy and tactics to promote transparency and collaboration among faculty members, research institutes and other facilities. 
• Identifies key influencers and creates internal networks. Uses networks to shape objectives and build support for ideas, initiatives and directions.

Qualifications & Experience:

• A research Graduate Degree (Masters or PhD) in an academic discipline ideally supplemented by formal education or other training in management.
• At least 5 to 10 years of experience in a research or technology development environment with a demonstrated track record of contributing to complex and ambitious grants or funding initiatives.
• Experience in working on grants, projects, and budgets.
• Experience supervising other employees
• Results-oriented achiever with an excellent track record for identifying opportunities, creating partnerships and delivering outcomes.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience leading and implementing strategic and business planning processes.
• Professional-level project management skills including planning, development, implementation and evaluation.
• Keen ability to understand complex information and environments.
• Energetic contributor with demonstrable detail orientation and multi-tasking / organizational proficiency.
• High level of professionalism and confidentiality; ability to deal with sensitive information and issues.
• Strong interpersonal, community and public relations skills.
• Strong communication (verbal and written) skills.
• Strong analytical skills to formulate, track, and distill performance metrics and synthesize research trends and funding opportunities.
• Ability to work independently and to think creatively, laterally and critically.
• Commitment to principles and practices of equity, diversity, and inclusion, with a willingness to grow in this area, as needed.