Associate Director, Atkinson Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

University of British Columbia • Vancouver, BC

2d

About The Position

UBC Sauder School of Business is one of the world’s leading business faculties, consistently ranking among the top 100 globally and recognized internationally for excellence in research and learning. The Robert and Barbara Atkinson Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UBC Sauder is a central hub for all innovation and entrepreneurship activities at the school. It supports current initiatives, defines new ones, and enhances research, teaching, student experience, and external engagement in innovation and entrepreneurship. A key function of the Associate Director is to ensure the centre’s high visibility and outreach in both academic and business communities. The Associate Director provides operational oversight and management in all areas of administration for the centre.

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline.
• Minimum of five years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Nice To Haves

• Master's or other advanced degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., business, entrepreneurship, innovation, or related field) is preferred.
• Passion for and demonstrated knowledge in entrepreneurship, venture creation, innovation ecosystems, and scaling early-stage ventures.
• Experience in a management position involving strategic planning, program development, and execution, ideally within an entrepreneurial or innovation-focused environment.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in startups, high-growth ventures, venture capital, or entrepreneurial support organizations (e.g., incubators, accelerators).
• Experience working in a large complex environment, preferably within a post-secondary or innovation-driven setting.
• Self-motivated with a proven record of accomplishment leading and managing complex projects.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships throughout the organization and liaise with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience and skills in writing grants and proposals.
• Proficiency with basic MS Office applications.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and strong presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Works with the academic director to implement the vision and strategic direction of the centre.
• Responsible for developing strategic goals for the business operation.
• Conceptualizes and implements the short- and long-term strategies and objectives for the centre.
• Establishes and maintains systems and processes.
• Continually evaluates the effectiveness, offers suggestions for improvement and implements continuous improvement initiatives.
• Leads the development and implementation of UBC and UBC Sauder strategic plans as they relate to entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives.
• Manages and leads the centre’s activities, develops action items and deliverables to centre success.
• Develops processes to monitor, evaluate and report on the centre’s activities progress with specified KPIs and OKRs, and makes linkages between operational commitments and the university-wide strategies.
• Provides leadership to the centre in the areas of strategic planning, project management, human resources, administration, finance, IT/IS, marketing and communications, as well as the functional activities linked to education, research and outreach.
• Develops, implements and monitors the operating/capital budget annually.
• Meets regularly with executive leaders and affiliates to provide/obtain reports on activities.
• Provides meaningful support for other entrepreneurship initiatives at UBC Sauder (and relevant leaders).
• Develops and implements plans relating to new initiatives and expanded programs.
• Undertakes planning for and implements further programming in partnership with faculty members to create specialized curriculum and to advance exposure by UBC Sauder students to entrepreneurship.
• Develops and oversees internal programming for the centre (e.g., case competition coaching program, speaker events for UBC Sauder community, etc.).
• Creates opportunities for hands-on engagement by UBC Sauder students and increases students’ connection to entrepreneurship by supporting academic programming and educational activities in UBC Sauder, across the university, and across a network of educational, business, government, and non-governmental institutions.
• Works closely with select student leaders, clubs and activities including coordination to leverage existing opportunities, advance field-based engagements and raise awareness.
• Plans and hosts events to raise the profile of the centre and focus attention on each of the centre’s strategic goals.
• Collaborates and engages with the business community, policy makers and the public to advance discussion, disseminate new research and share best practices related to entrepreneurship.
• Develops and maintains a deep working knowledge of relevant research and current theoretical and applied scholarship relating to entrepreneurship.
• Contributes to building UBC Sauder’s reputation by serving as a national thought leader on entrepreneurship topics.
• Serves as an expert participant to local, national and international initiatives advancing values-based business practices.
• Establishes, deepens and nurtures strong, collaborative relationships and partnerships with internal and external partners and engages stakeholders to promote the centre through networking and sponsorship opportunities.
• Develops a network of entrepreneurship leaders and experts for the benefit of the UBC Sauder community including faculty, students and alumni.
• Oversees the development of communications strategies, communications materials and messaging to effectively promote programs and increase centre’s and UBC Sauder’s external presence in academic and practical context on topics related to entrepreneurship.
• Manages all aspects of partnerships and projects, especially those focusing on business development, project management, deliverables and quality outcome.
• Responsible for the public relations for the centre and fundraising strategies in conjunction with the UBC Sauder Development Office; engages with donors, manages major gifts and endowments and provides fundraising and relationship management support to achieve goals.
• Ensures communication of the centre’s activities and thought leadership by reporting to the Senior Associate Deans and Dean, contributing to UBC Sauder communication for external audiences, and through public reporting such an annual report for the centre.
• Performs other duties as required.
• Delegates and reviews the work of employees, research affiliates, interns and volunteers.
• Supervises and mentors project team members including research assistants and graduate students.
• Identifies staffing and volunteer requirements.
• Makes decisions related to recruitment, evaluation, termination.

Benefits

• The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position.
• The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position.
• In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.
• UBC supports inspired students, faculty and staff on their journey of discovery, and challenges them to realize their greatest potential.
• New ideas, changing infrastructure, innovative technology, and fresh approaches are opening up possibilities for the future of research, teaching, and work.
• Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence.
• An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged.
• Accommodation or accessibility needs during the job application process can be met.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level