Manager, Facilities Advisory Services

University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Updated: 11 days ago
Location: Saskatoon, SASKATCHEWAN

The University of Saskatchewan is a world leader in water and food security, vaccine development and infectious diseases, and human, animal, and environmental health. The Shared Services portfolio provides innovative and disciplined support as an integral part of ensuring USask becomes the university the world needs. Shared Services is also committed to fostering a workplace culture that promotes diversity, collaboration, and professional growth. USask provides employees many benefits such as flexible work arrangements; access to the university’s recreation services; ongoing professional development and mentorship and a comprehensive benefits and pension program.

Primary Purpose: In support of the continued development of the shared services and strategic business advisor model, the Manager, Facilities Advisory Services leads the team of Facilities Strategic Business Advisors (SBAs) at Usask, focused on the University Plan 2025 in being the university the world needs (nīkānītān manācihitowinihk; ni manachīhitoonaan).

Nature of Work: The Manager, Facilities Advisory Services leads the Facilities SBA team in the Shared Services portfolio, while supporting the Associate Vice President, Services leadership team, which includes facilities management, protective services, procurement and transportation, consumer services, and planning, design and construction (PDC).

Reporting to the Director, Shared Services and under the direction of the Associate Vice-President, Services, the Manager is responsible for the delivery of client-focused, expert and strategic facilities advisory services to the campus community through the effective recruitment, development, integration and deployment of the facilities SBA network. A member of the AVP Service’s leadership team, the manager will work collaboratively with and take collective direction from the director team in the Facilities and PDC centres of expertise. The role requires careful and collaborative partnerships with stakeholders through the shared services delivery model to optimize service delivery, establish role clarity, and drive process efficiency.

Relationships are at the heart of what we do and it is critical that the Manager is comfortable and effective in working across multiple, diverse and, at times, challenging stakeholder groups. From academics to administration, research to operations, we work with all groups as well as provide leadership and mentorship to the facilities SBA team in identifying, planning and implementing best practices to advance the mission of the university. 

As a leader of a team with diverse backgrounds, the Manager will be tasked with maximizing resources to deliver excellent client service to campus partners. The Manager will work regularly to broker information between centres of expertise and campus partners, and will negotiate on behalf of facilities SBAs with respect to partner assignment, workload, and priority setting. The Manager supports the team to regularly address complexities in the delivery of services and will be required to manage emerging and unpredictable events in a sensitive and timely manner.

We regularly work with leaders when implementing difficult and challenging decisions, often during periods of change requiring well developed organizational, communication, negotiation, and project management skills. The University of Saskatchewan values diversity and Indigenous engagement is a strategic priority. The Manager will provide leadership and advocacy for a diverse, inclusive and equitable environment, and will lead the facilities SBA team in Indigenization and anti-racism initiatives.

Our success depends on our ability to demonstrate a combination of strong university acumen, facilities and space management functional knowledge and a strategic mindset to oversee the development and implementation of facilities and space strategies for colleges and units.

Specifically, key accountabilities of this role include:


Accountabilities

Decision Making and Strategic Orientation

  • Interpret and translate the objectives and strategic priorities of the AVP Services to the facilities strategic business advisor team, using these to guide unit priorities and work plans;
  • Provides regular facilities and space technical guidance and support to facilities SBA team members;
  • Participates as a member of the AVP Services leadership team, completing project based work as assigned by the AVP and leadership team;
  • Ensures facilities SBA service delivery is consistent and integrated across the portfolio and across campus;
  • Works collaboratively with the facilities and PDC centres of expertise, develops and recommends changes to policy and procedures to streamline resource utilization and improve quality (and timeliness) of service delivery;
  • Defines goals and targets for the facilities SBA team ensuring alignment to the university and AVP Services goals;
  • Interprets and translates the objectives and strategic priorities of the university to facilities SBAs, using these to guide unit priorities and work plans;  
  • Ensure that appropriate client service best practices are in place for all units supported by facilities SBAs, ensuring consistency with the direction provided by Facilities and PDC centre of expertise directors. 

Stakeholder Service Delivery

  • Establishes and manages collaborative relationships with internal university stakeholders to identify partnership opportunities including facilities and PDC centres of expertise, ConnectionPoint, etc.)
  • Fosters collaborative working relationships with college and unit senior leaders in the interest of delivery of client-centered service;
  • Partner with Facilities and PDC Centres of Expertise to of provide feedback on the services they offer to the campus community and to influence process alignment with client business needs;
  • Acts as the senior technical advisor to constituents of the facilities SBA model, offering support at the most senior level to leadership on strategic facilities and space issues, in partnership with the college/unit SBA and relevant centre of expertise resources;
  • Identifies key talent, creating an environment where talent can develop and deliver high value add services to clients;
  • Partners with the facilities and PDC centres of expertise to maximize the integration and customer focused capability within facilities and PDC functional areas through continual process improvement and the development and deployment of agile project-based teams.

Problem Solving

  • Proactively oversees and executes collaborative and cross-functional solutions to issues identified for their area;
  • Uses critical management analysis skills to identify issues and collaborative opportunities to enable the unit and the university to meet its goals;
  • Conducts performance analysis on existing strategies, procedures, and policies, identifying areas for improvement and developing actionable and sustainable solutions where needed, leading cross functional projects from idea conception to implementation

Leadership & Development

  • Provides all aspects of leadership to the facilities SBA team;
  • Ensures that facilities SBAs have the knowledge, skills and competencies to execute their duties, including ensuring offering of appropriate developmental opportunities;
  • Evaluates the performance of team members, enabling and supporting high performance through the application of Career Engagement;
  • Leads and creates a strategy for facilities SBA talent management including talent acquisition, onboarding, orientation, performance management, and succession planning;
  • Executes strategies and creates sustainable processes to advance employee engagement;
  • Identifies key opportunities to develop individuals that will enhance and align their skills and abilities to meet the organizational goals. 

Qualifications
  • A relevant university degree, along with ten or more years of experience working in a strategic client service focused leadership role, with a strong history as a business partner and/or familiarity in working in a shared service delivery model. 
  • A project management professional (PMP) designation is an asset
  • Experience in LEAN, Six Sigma, and/or other process improvement methodologies is an asset.
  • Demonstrated, progressive experience working in facilities and space management is required.

Skills
  • The ability to develop a shared vision of success and to engage a large and diverse team in the pursuit of this vision is a critical requirement. 
  • The manager will lead a team to strategically influence outcomes and provide guidance to business decisions, and excellent conflict resolution skills, negotiation skills, problem-solving skills, and communication skills including writing, verbal, and presentation are required. 
  • The successful candidate is expected to work effectively in a matrix-like reporting structure and will be required to exercise significant decision making authority.
  • Demonstrated experience and ability to influence senior executives without formal authority is required.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage ambiguity – dealing with issues that do not always have a process or system in place is required.
  • Must possess knowledge and understanding of issues, including cultural, socioeconomic and other factors affecting Indigenous Peoples and an awareness that Indigenous engagement is a strategic priority at the university.
  • Experience working with diverse communities and stakeholders in an organizational setting is an asset.

Department: SBA Facilities
Status: Permanent
Employment Group: Exempt
Shift: Mon-Fri, 8:00-4:30
Full Time Equivalent (FTE): 1.0
Salary: The salary range, based on 1.0 FTE, is $91,180.00 - 152,753.00 per annum. The starting salary will be commensurate with education and experience.
Salary Family (if applicable):
Salary Phase/Band: Salary Band 4
Posted Date: 5/17/2024
Closing Date: 5/24/2024 at 6:00 pm CST
Number of Openings: 1
Work Location: May be eligible for hybrid work under the terms of USask's Alternative Workspace Guidelines

The successful applicant will be required to provide the following current verification(s) where 'Yes' is indicated below. Further information is available at: https://careers.usask.ca/tips-for-applying.php

Criminal Record Check: Not Applicable
Driver's License and Abstract Check: Not Applicable
Education/Credential Verification: Not Applicable
Vulnerable Sector Check: Not Applicable


The University is committed to employment equity, diversity, and inclusion, and are proud to support career opportunities for Indigenous peoples to reflect the community we serve. We are dedicated to recruiting individuals who will enrich our work and learning environments. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. We are committed to providing accommodations to those with a disability or medical necessity. If you require an accommodation to participate in the recruitment process, please notify us and we will work together on the accommodation request. We continue to grow our partnerships with Indigenous communities across the province, nationally, and internationally and value the unique perspective that Indigenous employees provide to strengthen these relationships. Verification of Indigenous Membership/Citizenship at the University of Saskatchewan is led and determined by the deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin: Indigenous Truth policy and Standing Committee in accordance with the processes developed to enact the policy. Successful candidates that assert Indigenous membership/citizenship will be asked to complete the verification process of Indigenous membership/citizenship with documentation. The University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. We pay our respects to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another. Together, we are uplifting Indigenization to a place of prominence at the University of Saskatchewan.

Similar Positions