Associate Director

University of British Columbia • Kelowna, BC

1d • CA$12,057 - CA$18,813

About The Position

The Planning, Analytics, and Institutional Research Office (PAIR) provides leadership and direction to enhance the coordination of institutional data and analysis across the UBC system, providing optimal support to UBC executive, Faculties, staff, government and to external partners. The PAIR office leverages data and analytics to guide university-wide planning and decision-making, to support integrated university planning, to strengthen student learning and experiences, and to promote a deeper understanding of the nature and quality of education at UBC. The Planning, Analytics, and Institutional Research (PAIR) portfolio encompasses two primary project streams: Integrated Reporting & Accountability and Strategic Intelligence & Advanced Analytics. The Associate Director oversees all work related to integrated reporting and accountability and directs a team of analysts within a project-based, matrix organizational structure. This role involves high-level strategic oversight, advanced data analytics, and cross-functional collaboration to support UBC’s strategic goals. The Integrated Reporting & Accountability team is central to advancing UBC’s educational mission by supporting university planning and decision-making through data-driven insights and mandatory reporting. The team is responsible for a range of deliverables, including the Audited FTE report, Campus Fact Sheets, Student Experience of Instruction deployment and reporting, Integrated Enrolment Planning and Faculty Budget Forecasts, Provincial and National projects, U15 Data Exchange submissions, Rankings and Benchmarking submissions, supporting the Institutional Accountability Planning Report, and more. The Associate Director provides strategic leadership and oversight of this functional area to ensure the delivery of these critical outputs while fostering a culture of service, quality, integrity, and collaboration. The Associate Director provides senior-level leadership in planning, analytics, institutional research and reporting, guiding data-driven decision-making, strategic planning, and policy formulation. This position leads and executes senior-level data analysis, reporting and institutional research in aid of university-wide planning, policy formulation, accountability reporting, and executive decision-making. This position is instrumental in designing and implementing complex data projects, interpreting findings, and delivering insights that support faculty, staff, student success, as well as the Chief Institutional Research Officer and institutional priorities. This position provides senior quantitative and strategic analytic support to the University’s collective bargaining and Faculty Relations functions, including complex cost analyses, market research, turnover and workforce trend analysis, and forecasting of long-range impacts to inform bargaining-related and strategic compensation decisions.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in a quantitative discipline such as economics, statistics, or applied mathematics.
• Minimum of nine years of extensive and varied relevant experience in applied institutional research, strategic planning, and policy matters associated with postsecondary education, or an 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

• Extensive experience in institutional research and strategic planning within a higher education environment.
• Proven leadership skills, including experience building and managing high-performing teams.
• Expertise in advanced statistical analysis, data visualization, predictive modeling, business analytics, and related quantitative methodologies.
• Proficiency with analytics tools and platforms, such as Tableau, R, SPSS, and SQL, and an understanding of how these tools contribute to a robust technical infrastructure in a large, complex institution.
• In-depth knowledge of higher education policy, accreditation standards, and governance structures.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to present complex data to diverse audiences, including senior leadership, and those with varying educational backgrounds and expertise.
• Experience with project management, process improvement, and quality assurance in analytics initiatives.
• Ability to navigate complex organizational structures and build consensus among partners with tact and diplomacy.
• Commitment to fostering a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion within the unit and across institutional projects.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and strategic direction to the Research and Analytics Leads and their analyst teams, ensuring high-quality outputs and fostering an environment of professional growth and development in alignment with the priorities of the CIRO.
• Navigate a matrix organizational structure to align analytical efforts with broader institutional goals, coordinating across diverse service and academic areas.
• Mentor junior analysts and project staff, promoting continuous learning and adherence to best practices in data management and analysis.
• Lead collaborative efforts with cross-functional teams, ensuring that project deliverables meet the diverse needs and expectations of internal stakeholders.
• Provide enterprise portfolio governance across the Integrated Reporting and Accountability stream, including establishing annual and multi-year priorities; commissioning and approving project scopes; allocating resources across concurrent initiatives; ensuring delivery against executive and accountability timelines.
• Provide strategic advice and consultation to the CIRO on strategic issues relevant to higher education, utilizing benchmarking data (e.g., U15 Canada Data Exchange, Statistics Canada, Provincial data, etc.), conducting market research and environmental scans, and long-term population forecasting to inform data-driven policy formulation and decision-making.
• Lead the planning, design, and execution of major data and analytics projects in areas such as mandatory reporting, enrolment reporting, student experience of instruction survey deployment and reporting, audited FTE process and report, and integrating enrolment planning with budget planning.
• Design and deliver presentations and comprehensive reports to senior leadership, translating complex data insights into actionable recommendations.
• Develop and oversee the implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to assess institutional performance and inform strategic initiatives.
• Advise on strategic enrolment management efforts, providing data-driven insights to optimize recruitment, retention, and completion-related activities.
• Stay abreast of trends affecting enrolment, such as changes in demographics, post-secondary education patterns, government policies, and other external factors.
• Approve analytical frameworks, research designs, and interpretive approaches for major studies; ensure the quality, defensibility, and policy relevance of findings; and sign off on key recommendations and executive-ready deliverables.
• Oversee the development and implementation of multiple and simultaneous complex reporting methodologies and analytics frameworks, ensuring accuracy, integrity, and reliability of data.
• Provide direction on data extraction, synthesis, and interpretation of data from multiple institutional sources to support decision-making and strategic planning.
• Lead PAIR initiatives and direct Research and Analytics Leads on projects focused on integrated reporting and accountability, including mandatory reporting, enrolment reporting, student experience of instruction survey deployment and reporting, audited FTE process and report, and integrating enrolment planning with budget planning.
• Ensure continuous improvement in research methodologies and analytics processes, incorporating emerging trends and technologies.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive research and analytics portfolio of work that supports broad strategic direction set by the CIRO.
• Provide management reporting for the Board of Governors, the University Executive, the two senates, Deans and Directors, committees and working groups with respect to strategy, planning and research.
• Serve as a liaison between the PAIR unit and senior leaders in other university departments, government agencies, and external organizations.
• Build and maintain relationships with internal data stewards and external stakeholders to facilitate data-sharing, collaboration, and the alignment of research and analytics initiatives.
• Coordinate with U15 Canada institutions and other higher education bodies to promote sector-wide research collaborations, best practices, and responses to emerging issues and initiatives.
• Facilitate workshops, presentations, and meetings to communicate project results and gather feedback from partners.
• Oversee the development and quality assurance of bargaining-related analytic products (e.g., costing, market comparators, turnover trends, and long-range impact forecasts), ensuring methodological rigour, audibility and appropriate confidentiality controls.
• Identify and implement best and innovative practices in institutional research, planning, data analytics, and reporting to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, and to position UBC PAIR as a leader in this field.
• Develop and refine robust systems and processes to uphold data governance protocols, promote quality assurance, and information dissemination on behalf of PAIR.
• Lead efforts to build a reliable platform for information dissemination, ensuring that information is accessible and meets the diverse needs of the university community.
• Stay informed about industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovations in data analytics to drive continuous improvement within the unit.
• Participate in the development of campus-wide systems related to students, HR, finance, and research, providing strategic insights and recommendations to ensure UBC data can be used for planning and reporting activities.
• Provide strategic leadership and innovation for reporting and systems development; represent PAIR in campus-wide initiatives related to student, HR, finance, and research systems, including committees and working groups related to enterprise system redevelopment and data management.
• Ensure that all research, analytics, and reporting activities comply with university policies, ethical standards, and relevant regulations.
• Maintain high standards of quality and accuracy in all data analyses, reports, and presentations.
• Develop and implement protocols for data management, analysis, and reporting to ensure data integrity and security.
• Ensure that bargaining-related analyses and deliverables are handled with strict confidentiality and appropriate data security controls, consistent with institutional policies and legal/ethical obligations.
• Advise senior university leadership on data, research and analytic issues, providing strategic insights into student, faculty, and staff activities to support strategic and operational decision-making.
• Recommend strategies to measure the university’s performance against ministry accountability targets, access and affordability, and performance measurement and monitoring activities.
• Provide leadership and guidance on policy development related to student transitions, financial aid, student participation, graduate outcomes, and other related areas of the student experience.
• Recommend strategies to measure UBC’s performance across key accountability and policy domains, including ministry accountability targets, access and affordability, transfer pathways and student transition, equity participation and outcomes, graduate outcomes, and student financial aid.
• Perform additional tasks as assigned, contributing to the achievement of the university's strategic objectives.

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.

What This Job Offers

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