Manager, Residence Life Jobs

Job Type:

Employee

Duration in Months (for fixed-term jobs):

N/A

Job Family:

Student and Campus Support

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service - Department:

Wellness, Student Experience and Support

Campus:

Main Campus

Union Affiliation:

N/A

Date Posted:

September 11, 2023

Closing Date:

September 25, 2023

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

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

Non-Union Grade NM1

Salary Range:

$95,745.00 - $116,554.00

About Student Affairs :

Student Affairs is at the very heart of the student experience at the University of Ottawa. Our large family of nearly 500 full-time employees, not to mention hundreds more part-time and student workers, works hard to provide students with the tools and support they need to choose their postsecondary education establishment, apply, enrol in their courses, eat, sleep, play, study, succeed, thrive, and graduate. We have a wide variety of career opportunities and professional development pathways. We hope you join our service and help us continue to help students reach their full potential and ensure the competitiveness and longevity of the University of Ottawa!

Position Purpose

Under the supervision of the Director, Student Experience and Support, the Manager, Residence Life is responsible for providing a healthy and safe living and learning environment for 4,200 students living in 11 residence buildings 24/7, 12 months of the year. They provide leadership and expertise in managing, creating, and reviewing programs, services and initiatives for students living in residence, to enhance the student experience and foster the development of personal, professional and social skills as well as provide supervision, support, and guidance to the residence life team, including professional staff and student staff living in residence. In the role you will help improve student recruitment and retention rates and academic success and lead the development and rollout of continuous improvement strategies and initiatives of programs and services for students in residence. The incumbent also develops internal and external partnerships and works in collaboration with partners, including the Counselling Service, Campus Activities, Student Support, the Academic Support Unit and other key campus and community organizations, faculties and services.

In this role, your responsibilities will include :

• Program and service development, delivery, and assessment: Ensures the development, delivery and assessment of programs and services offered to students in residence while considering current best practices and trends in the field and student interests and needs. Thoroughly assesses, on an ongoing basis, the effectiveness and impact of new programs, available resources and services delivered by the sector, and ensures continuous improvement of programs, services, and initiatives, including developing performance indicators and establishing effective measurement methods.
• Partnership Management: Works in cooperation with various partners and stakeholders (students, parents, Protection Services, Student Support, legal advisors, Academic Accommodations, Counselling Services, Health Services, etc.) to mitigate potential risks in certain situations for students and for the University. Develops and maintains effective and collaborative relationships with various stakeholders both on and off campus to effectively support the health and well-being of students living in residence. Supports other professionals who are working with students to create awareness and build on partnerships to grow community support network and capacity.
• Student Support: Provides support to staff dealing with complex cases while ensuring the use of appropriate response protocols, corrective measures, and follow-up mechanisms (including the application of Social Justice practices, probation, or eviction). Ensures best practices in suicide awareness, prevention, intervention and postvention are followed.
• Human Resource Management: Leads the Residence Life team in the delivery of programs and services to students living in residence. Promotes a positive work environment and encourages teamwork and collaboration. Recruits, onboards, trains, and assesses performance of the Residence Life team. Provides opportunities for personal and professional development. Manages performance and implements performance improvement plans up to, and including, making recommendations for dismissal. Fosters a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, where different backgrounds, experiences, and identities are appreciated and celebrated.

What you will bring:

• Skills needed to develop strong partnerships.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in conflict management, counselling, mediation, customer service and handling difficult and potentially litigious situations.
• High degree of independence and self-reliance with ability to work well under pressure and sometimes outside regular business hours.
• Experience in project management, continuous improvement, and change management.
• Experience in a higher education setting and knowledge of personal, social, academic, and systemic barriers impacting a student’s success.
• Master’s in Social Work, Psychology, Counselling, Education, Administration or a related field, or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills (written and verbal) in English and French.
• Experience using computer systems and software.
• Demonstrated ability to respect diversity and use inclusive behavior, responding with sensitivity and self-awareness to the unique needs of students, faculty, and staff, including visible and non-visible dimensions of diversity.
• Knowledge of student life, student development theory and life in residence.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence others.
• Experience analyzing, interpreting, and applying policies, procedures, regulations, and provisions of collective agreements.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience with progressively increasing responsibilities in a complex organization, decentralized in nature, and including multiple stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to relate to students, faculty and staff with diverse backgrounds, experiences and identities in ways that build trust and confidence.
• Strong ability to exercise sound judgement and discretion.
• Flexibility of working hours will be required to meet student needs which may arise outside of traditional work hours, including evenings and weekends. As this is a 24/7 service, the incumbent is expected to work on-call shifts.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in a management position with demonstrated skills in the management of human and financial resources and in the supervision of employees in a unionized environment.
• Strong concern for service quality and demonstrated problem-solving skills.

Key Competencies at uOttawa:

Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.

Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.

Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.

Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact [email protected] to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.