Biodiversity Project Coordinator Jobs

Staff - Non Union

Job Category

M&P - AAPS

Job Profile

AAPS Salaried - Administration, Level A

Job Title

Biodiversity Project Coordinator

Department

Research Support | Biodiversity Research Centre | Faculty of Science

Compensation Range

$5,063.67 - $7,294.50 CAD Monthly

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.

Posting End Date

July 9, 2023

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above.

Job End Date

Jul 31, 2025

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary

UBC's Beaty Biodiversity Centre (BBC) includes the Biodiversity Research Centre (BRC) where scientists investigate the ecology, evolution, and conservation of biological diversity, and the Beaty Biodiversity Museum (BBM) which houses over 2.1 million natural history specimens, presents educational programs and exhibits and includes a teaching lab, auditorium, and a museum store.

The Biodiversity Centre will be undergoing a significant expansion in 2023-2024 with the construction of a $45 million 6 storey annex. This position will be a key addition to the operational team in the research centre and museum to support the needs of the project as it progresses as well as and the increased workload and continuing operation of the units while they undergo this significant change. This includes the temporary relocation of 40 people into swing space for 24 months, and then planning for and executing return move into new space as well as managing the change for those that remain in the buildings.

The Biodiversity Project Coordinator is responsible for managing Biodiversity Research Centre projects, and the ongoing and successful museum operations throughout the construction period. This position is also responsible for managing the successful relocation of Beaty Biodiversity Centre members offices and labs into the expanded Centre at the conclusion of the project.

This is a new and evolving position. The incumbent hired into this position must be comfortable working in areas of ambiguity and change.

Organizational Status

Reports to the Research Centre Administrator and consults with the Museum’s Senior Operations Manager. Interacts with Properties trust, external service providers, campus planning, faculty and staff in Departments

Work Performed

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Expansion Project

This will gradually consume more time as the project progresses. Coordinates with the expansion project teams to minimize the impact of construction disruptions on faculty, students, staff, volunteers and visitors to the BRC and Beaty Biodiversity Museum.

Duties include:

• Developing mitigation measures for construction disruptions on usual operations by gathering and sharing information from users and Properties Trust, tracking progress of work/schedules, preparing documentation, managing communications, and logistics as required.
• Develop plans with the BRC lab and BBM groups, administrators, movers and Properties Trust to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the move schedule including equipment/furniture lists for each laboratory, office and other space relocating to the Centre. Negotiate purchasing of equipment and services to be used in the new building.
• Provides project status updates to the department administrators and project manager and advise to movers as required.
• Developing and implementing the move schedule and updating the Departmental Administrators, move consultants, research groups and other groups/facilities relocating from swing buildings to Beaty Biodiversity Centre as required.
• Identifying and resolving deficiencies of the new labs and spaces.
• Developing positive and productive working relationships and liaising with faculty, staff, consultants, contractors and UBC service units to ensure transition to Centre is completed.
• Ensuring the move activities are performed in a safe manner and safety practices are followed.
• Responsible for final space allocation and maintaining the Faculty's academic space inventory in conjunction with UBC Infrastructure Development and providing annual inventory reports as required.
• Initiating and participating in move and furniture meetings with various stakeholders, to keep them informed of project status, scope changes, resource allocation and milestone achievements.
• Managing swing space exit protocols, which will include human, financial and facility management responsibilities while transitioning and decommissioning.
• Managing the planning, implementation and close-out activities for the project.
• Preparing regular progress reports at least once monthly to share construction progress and upcoming activities of special interest with the BBC community
• Implementing internal communication processes; through a proactive approach to communications, pre-emptively informing the BBC community of the possibilities of disruptions, delays, and/or sudden cancellations to programming or special closures.

General Coordination

Responsible for the coordination of research projects in a manner consistent with the established vision of the Centre. Duties include:

• Planning, developing, promoting and managing special projects and events that celebrate, promote and facilitate Centre interactions within the unit and within UBC.
• Managing and developing budgets for events and programs, and curating centre program data and information.
• Generating and posting content for the Research Centre website, with a primary focus on research and members’ achievements, events and science education.
• Preparing reports on activities and productivity for the Advisory Board and the public.
• Using various media to reach out to audiences to provide information and promote the work of the Centre via Twitter, Instagram and other social media outlets as appropriate.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

This position is critical to the success of the project and its timely completion. The position requires a high degree of coordination with staff, faculty, students, and project partners. Delays could have significant budgetary consequence and may put the Beaty Biodiversity Centre at risk financially and negatively impact reputation with project partners. Poor performance in this position could jeopardize the reputation and well-being of the Beaty Biodiversity Centre, the Faculty of Science and the University of British Columbia.

Supervision Received

Works independently with supervision and direction from the Administrators of the Research Centre and Museum. Performance is evaluated against set goals and expectations.

Supervision Given

Manages relationships with external consultants as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of two 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

Preferred Qualifications

Proven experience in successful project management. Demonstrated experience working with a range of diverse audiences including faculty, students, researchers, community groups, consultants etc. Exceptional interpersonal, organizational, analytical skills as well as effective oral and written communication skills. Ability to work in a complex and demanding environment with a high level of attention to detail. Ability to effectively prioritize, organize and schedule workload, work under pressure, meet budget limitations and deadlines. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of internal and external contacts. Ability to exercise tact and discretion. Ability to working independently and as a member of a team. Proficient in the latest edition of Microsoft Office Suite. Webpage experience (e.g., Drupal) is an asset. Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail. Ability to anticipate problems and issues and plan ahead. Ability to efficiently and effectively coordinate tasks. Ability to conduct needs analyses, plan, organize, manage, monitor, complete, and evaluate projects within allocated time and resources. Ability to review, analyze, and synthesize complex information into summaries and reports. Ability to deal effectively with a diversity of people. Ability to work effectively independently and in a team environment.