Associate Director, Decision Support

University of British Columbia•Vancouver, BC

About The Position

The Associate Director, Decision Support is a key member of the VPFO’s Transformation & Strategy division at UBC. This role is responsible for advancing a portfolio of high-impact, complex, and cross-functional initiatives that accelerate the VPFO’s strategic priorities and drive business transformation across UBC. The Associate Director conceptualizes, develops, and oversees the implementation of strategic initiatives, providing strategic advice, analysis, and recommendations to senior executives for institutional decision-making and engagement with university governance. The role involves close collaboration with the Transformation & Strategy team, VPFO leadership, and partners across UBC to lead and coordinate multi-partner initiatives with institutional-wide impact. Given the scale and complexity, the position requires a broad understanding of organizational financial and operational considerations, as well as the ability to establish effective governance, foster engagement, resolve competing priorities, and build consensus. The Associate Director communicates and works with Vice-Presidents, administrative and academic leaders, and senior staff, developing materials and briefings for leadership, Executive, Senior Leadership, and Board committees. This role oversees the full lifecycle of strategic initiatives, acting as a senior project lead to establish and manage project teams, define governance and delivery structures, prepare and monitor budgets, and organize logistics and procurement. The Associate Director also provides direction and quality oversight of project work, managing stakeholders, engagement, risk, communication, and change activities to ensure initiatives are delivered on time, within scope and budget, achieving intended outcomes and sustainable business improvements.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline.
Minimum of eight 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.
Experience leading large-scale, cross-functional strategic initiatives in a complex organization.
Demonstrated ability to develop business cases, feasibility studies, and financial and non-financial analyses.
Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, including the ability to navigate sensitive issues and resolve conflicts.
Exceptional facilitation, written, and verbal communication skills, including executive-level communication.
Ability to manage multiple priorities with accuracy and attention to detail.
Demonstrated decision-making skills in ambiguous and high-pressure situations.
Strong collaboration and stakeholder engagement skills to drive alignment and outcomes.
Advanced MS PowerPoint and Excel skills.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred.
Professional designation (e.g., PMP, PROSCI, IAP2, CPA) is required.
Cumulative ten years of related experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the planning, development, and execution of strategic initiatives and transformative programs driven by the portfolio strategic plan.
Provide senior project leadership and delivery oversight, ensuring initiatives are effectively governed, resourced, and executed to achieve intended outcomes.
Lead business transformation-related strategic initiatives with end-to-end accountability for delivery, while ensuring alignment with the portfolio strategic plan and UBC’s Strategic Directions.
Develop business cases, project charters and supporting documentation to secure resourcing sponsorship and executive approval.
Establish and lead project governance structures, including defining decision authorities, escalation paths, and assurance mechanisms.
Determine appropriate project delivery models and assigning, directing, and overseeing project management resources as required.
Develop and oversee stakeholder engagement and communication strategies to support change and adoption.
Provide senior-level oversight of project execution, monitoring progress against plans and recommending course corrections to maintain scope, schedule, cost, and risk tolerances.
Oversee and manage initiative budgets, including forecasting, variance tracking, and financial reporting.
Ensure operational readiness, sustainability, and benefits realization are incorporated into initiative design, with effective transition to operational owners.
Act as the delivery lead, guiding initiatives from inception through implementation and closure.
Lead project definition and planning from inception to completion, develop recommendations and proposed solutions, and execute on approved goals and priorities in alignment with the wider portfolio strategy.
Lead engagements and communications with senior leadership across the university to advance initiatives, identify opportunities, and support decision-making.
Set delivery priorities, approve plans, and negotiate resources and timelines to ensure that the initiatives are completed on time, within scope and budget—with maximum impact.
Provide direction and oversight to cross-functional project teams and assigned project managers through influence and collaboration as necessary.
Ensure project teams have access to required tools, data, training and guidance to meet delivery expectations.
Identify delivery risks and dependencies early and escalate issues appropriately to maintain momentum and confidence.
Lead strategic decision support for the Executive Director, Transformation & Strategy, as well as VPFO senior leadership.
Enable the VPFO’s transformation efforts by translating strategic intent into sequenced implementation strategies and delivery roadmaps.
Design and lead engagement strategies to build understanding, surface insights, and support change and transformation.
Advise leadership on cross-functional alignment, integration opportunities, and institutional readiness.
Identify and build on linkages between strategic goals and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance value, including cost efficiency and service improvement.
Communicate strategy and initiative progress to senior leaders, governance bodies, and key stakeholders.
Partner with data and analytics resources to support insight generation and reporting.
Develop executive-level briefings, presentations, and reports for various stakeholder audiences, including governance bodies.
Represent the VPFO on committees or working groups, as appropriate.
Perform other related duties as required.