Executive Director, Centre For Business And Climate Solutions

Staff - Non Union
Job Category
M&P - AAPS
Job Profile
AAPS Salaried - Administration, Level D
Job Title
Executive Director, Centre for Business and Climate Solutions
Department
Operations | Business Ethics Centre | UBC Sauder School of Business
Compensation Range
$7,278.33 - $11,372.33 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
May 3, 2023
Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above.
Job End Date
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 Sauder School of Business is one of the world’s leading business faculties. The school consistently ranks among the top 100 in the world and is recognized internationally for excellence in research and learning, an outstanding faculty and unmatched global partnerships. A collaborative and respectful culture within which all members of our community can thrive is a key principle in our strategic plan, and one that underpins our educational mission.
We acknowledge that UBC Sauder at the Vancouver Campus is situated within the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam. We acknowledge that UBC Sauder at the UBC Robson Square is situated on the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh.
UBC Sauder’s Centre for Business and Climate Solutions will provide a central hub for research, education and innovation, and will support a creation of a range of programs, research initiatives and connections with First Nations, industry and campus stakeholders to create an experiential, applied and action-focused approach to accelerate climate solutions. The Centre’s vision is to use business solutions in transformative ways to address the climate crisis with scale and urgency.
The Centre will engage with climate tech incubators, knowledge hubs, government and private agencies across British Columbia, Canada and globally to ensure that relevant trends and intelligence are brought back to UBC, and to share our best practices with a wide range of external stakeholders.
In collaboration with the Senior Associate Dean, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability and the Academic Director, the Executive Director will set the vision and strategic direction, and will provide comprehensive strategic and operational oversight and management in all areas of administration for a new Centre.
A key function of the Executive Director is to ensure the Centre’s high visibility and outreach in both academic and business communities, and to advance its mandate to develop a climate innovation ecosystem, curricular materials and related educational materials relevant to delivering content on climate solutions, sustainable business and responsible business at the university level and for corporate outreach.
The Executive Director will work to create a dedicated industry advisory board to ensure the development and scaling of the curriculum necessary to ensure that our graduates can support efforts to decarbonize our economy and manage climate risks.
Organizational Status
The Executive Director reports to the Senior Associate Dean, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability and works closely and in collaboration with the Academic Director, Centre for Business and Climate Solutions.
Works with the school’s senior leadership, management, Division Chairs, faculty, employees, alumni and students.
Forms relationships and partnerships with key stakeholders across UBC, including UBC Sustainability Hub, UBC Centre for Climate Justice, UBC’s Campus as a Living Lab initiative, other UBC faculties, Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Vancouver as well as relevant business, government and institutional representatives.
Work Performed

• Develops consistent, open channels of communication within the school and consults with UBC Sauder and UBC senior leadership and community partners with respect to climate- and sustainability-related programming and initiatives.
• Plans and hosts events to raise the profile of the Centre and focus attention on each of the Centre’s three pillars.
• Manages all aspects of partnerships and projects, especially those focusing on business development, project management, deliverables and quality outcome.
• Provides overall 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.
• Provides leadership, expertise and advice on approaches to “climatizing” curriculum.
• Engages with leading researchers and industry experts to facilitate the development of new courses on contemporary climate challenges, offered to both UBC Sauder and to non-UBC Sauder students through existing campus partnerships.
• Responsible for planning and designing the physical space for a new Centre in consultation with architects.
• Establishes, deepens and nurtures strong, collaborative relationships and partnerships with internal and external partners and engages stakeholders to promote activities of the Centre through networking and sponsorship opportunities.
• Performs other duties as required.
• Develops and maintains a deep working knowledge of relevant research and current theoretical and applied scholarship relating to business, climate change and sustainability.
• Undertakes planning for and implements further programming in partnership with faculty members as they seek to “climatize” curriculum and programs, to create specialized and intensive climate curriculum and to advance exposure by UBC Sauder students to business and climate solutions.
• Engaging with existing programs (UBC Sustainability Hub and UBC’s Campus as a Living Lab initiative), promotes a stronger commercial understanding of climate opportunities and supports more robust, timely and frequent pathways to commercialization.
• Creates opportunities for hands-on engagement by UBC Sauder students, including supporting their initiatives; recruits and coaches student teams for sustainability-related case competitions.
• Develops, implements and monitors the Centre’s operating/capital budget annually.
• Creates opportunities for researchers from across academia to engage with business scholarship around strategy, innovation, leadership, and finance in ways that would catalyze novel research solutions in this space.
• Works with Dean’s Office to set broader strategic plan for the school around climate and sustainability.
• Leads the development and implementation of UBC and UBC Sauder strategic plans as they relate to the school’s sustainability initiatives and supports the implementation of UBC’s campus-wide sustainability plans and policies, including the Climate Action Plan, Zero Waste Action Plan, Transportation Plan, and Engagement Strategy.
• Establishes and implements the vision, mission and strategic direction of the Centre, in collaboration with others. Ensures their alignment with UBC and UBC Sauder strategic plans, as well as the UBC Climate Action Plan.
• Determines the organizational structure of the Centre and builds its human resource capacity.
• Develops a network of experts at the intersection of climate, sustainable business, innovation, and finance for the benefit of the UBC Sauder community including faculty, students and alumni.
• Ensures communication of the Centre’s activities and thought leadership by contributing to UBC Sauder communication for external audiences and through public reporting such an annual report for the Centre.
• Serves as an expert participant to local, national and international initiatives advancing climate-focused business practices.
• Engages with global university networks around climate action, climate solutions and climate curriculum. Supports existing networks (e.g., Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) and new emerging networks that share best practices around climate and sustainability.
• Works closely with select student leaders, clubs and activities including coordination to leverage existing opportunities around climate and sustainability, advance field-based engagements and raise awareness.
• Develops and implements plans relating to the design, costing, promotion, positioning and marketing of new initiatives and expanded programs.
• Responsible for developing strategic goals for the business operation. Conceptualizes, designs and leads the implementation of short- and long-term strategies and objectives for the Centre. Establishes and maintains system and processes. Continually evaluates the effectiveness, offers suggestions for improvement and implements continuous improvement initiatives.
• Contributes to building UBC Sauder’s reputation by serving as a national thought leader on climate solutions, sustainable business, and responsible business topics.
• 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.
• Designs behaviour change campaigns, engagement and outreach with internal and external partners for employees, faculty and students to address UBC’s priority climate and sustainability goals, including reviewing and researching engagement and behaviour change best practices, liaising with other institutions, and incorporating best practices into program design and management.
• Oversees the development of communications strategies, communications materials and messaging to effectively promote programs and increase Centre’s and UBC Sauder’s external presence among thought leaders in academic and practical contexts on topics related to climate solutions, sustainable business, and responsible business.
• Develops processes to monitor, evaluate and report on the Centre’s activities progress with specified KPIs, and makes linkages between operational commitments and the university-wide strategies.
• Facilitates the creation of a culture of sustainability in the school; encourages adoption of high impact carbon reduction and resource conservation behaviours amongst employees, faculty and students.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
The extensive outreach by the Executive Director significantly affects the business and academic communities’ perception of UBC Sauder and UBC as a leader in climate solutions, sustainable business, and responsible business topics. Poor decisions will impact the short- and long-term goals of the operation, as well as the reputation, and the financial position of the units involved. Errors in judgement would immediately and significantly affect the administration of the unit, and the contractual obligations and reputation of the Faculty and the University.
Supervision Received
The Executive Director reports to the Senior Associate Dean, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability. Works independently under the guidance of the Centre’s Advisory Board. Work is reviewed for attainment of objectives and effectiveness of results.
Supervision Given
Manages a team directly and indirectly through subordinates.
Minimum Qualifications
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of seven 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

• Passion for and demonstrated knowledge in the areas of climate science, sustainable business, innovation, and/or finance.
• Experience in a senior management position involving strategic business planning.
• 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.
• Demonstrated leadership in a for-profit business or non-profit environment, with oversight of climate solutions, education, and/or innovation programs.
• Strong and extensive professional network in the climate solutions and business communities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and strong presentation skills.