Manager, Reporting and Communications, Office of Sustainability

Position Overview

UCalgary is one of Canadas post-secondary education leaders in sustainability and is currently ranked in the top 5% globally for advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, we are seeking a Regular Full-time Manager, Reporting and Communications for sustainability.

As Manager, Reporting and Communications you will develop and execute reporting and communications strategies and practices to advance UCalgary’s Institutional Sustainability Strategy (ISS). The ISS spans research and partnerships; teaching, learning and student experience; community engagement; and campus operations. The Manager Reporting and Communications plays a key role in connecting people and information to energize UCalgary’s sustainability culture and practice.

The ideal Manager will have:

• An advanced understanding of sustainability.
• Demonstrated experience in sustainability reporting strategy and data governance best practices, preferably in the context of the post-secondary education sector.
• Demonstrated experience in translating sustainability data into organizational strategy.
• Demonstrated experience in sustainability communications strategy and high-impact storytelling, preferably in the context of the post-secondary education sector.
• Excellent verbal/written communication and presentation skills, exceptional partnership-building and interpersonal and skills. 
• An ability and desire to work in a fast-paced agile environment.

The Manager, Sustainability is a member of the Office of Sustainability senior leadership team and will work at a strategic and operational level with managers in units across the university. You will work closely with partners from across the university to grow sustainability engagement and culture.  The successful candidate will have strong leadership and interpersonal skills and the ability to productively engage and collaborate with a diverse range of stakeholders in academic and operational support units. The Manager leads and supervises a small team and is responsible for recruitment, hiring, goal setting, recognition, and performance management. The work of this position is highly collaborative and the ability to foster meaningful and productive partnerships is foundational to program and position success. This position also supports the Associate Vice President (AVP), Sustainability with the development of institutional strategies and with materials for members of the executive administration.

If this sounds like you, please see below for some of the exciting and challenging work involved in this role and the qualifications we are seeking for this position.

Position Description

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

Leadership:

• Support the Associate Vice President, Sustainability in developing 
  • Institutional level sustainability policy, strategies, and planning to meet UCalgary’s sustainability aspirations
  • Briefing notes and reports for executive administration, the Board of Governors, General Faculties Council, and other senior internal and external bodies.
• Participate in, and where appropriate chair, cross-functional committees as required in support of the sustainability reporting and engagement.
• Represent the University of Calgary and the Office of Sustainability on external committees, and through public presentations on and off-campus.
• Direct, motivate, and manage the activities of a small departmental staff group and student interns, including recruitment and hiring, development of annual work plans, and ongoing performance management and recognition, and discipline up to and including termination.
• Develop and execute annual work plans, operating budgets, and human resource responsibilities in alignment with institutional policy and protocols.
• Identify partnership and revenue generation opportunities to support sustainability reporting and communications capacities.

Sustainability Reporting:

• Lead the development and execution of a multiple year sustainability reporting framework to support continuous improvement in institutional sustainability performance, external rankings, and high-impact sustainability reporting and storytelling.
• Create and maintain a sustainability data management strategy that employs data to inform institutional strategy and practices, and ensures consistent high standards in data collection, analysis, governance and disclosure practices.
• Lead the development of the annual institutional sustainability report spanning research; teaching, learning and student experience, and campus and community impact.
• Lead annual external sustainability ranking and awards submissions including the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking for the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Liaise with and form communities of practice to strengthen sustainability reporting and communications. 
• Develop partnerships and leverage enterprise-level resources to access comprehensive and high confidence data in a time effective manner.
• Maintain knowledge of best practices in sustainability reporting, ranking, and practices in the post-secondary education sector.

Sustainability Communications:

• Lead the design and execution of a sustainability communication framework and annual workplan in support of the university’s sustainability strategy and diverse sustainability programs, in partnership with key internal stakeholders and the central Strategic Communications team. 
• Lead program and content development to engage students, faculty and staff in sustainability, build awareness the university’s sustainability goals and progress, and strengthen sustainability literacy and behavioral change.
• Identify and support opportunities to communicate university sustainability impact through storytelling in creative formats across diverse platforms and institutional channels.
• Write and/or edit blog posts, newsletters, press releases, web content, and material for social media platforms and conventional media sources.
• Create communications of all kinds (print, web, video, media) for diverse campus audiences spanning students, faculty, and staff as well as for external audiences.
• Translate key messages into strategic communications in a compelling and authentic manner.
• Manage interaction with media and coordinates responses to requests, as needed.
• Manage special projects, including tracking status, communicating timelines, and meeting deadlines.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• A graduate degree in a related discipline is required; preference for degree combinations that include communications and media studies, sustainability, environment and business; specialization in social change theory, community based social marketing, etc. are desired. 
• Must currently be eligible to work in Canada.
• 4+ years of experience in sustainability reporting, data governance, and disclosure with preference for experience in a post-secondary education context, AND 4+ years of experience developing and executing sustainability and social impact communications strategies.
• A strong understanding of sustainability and social-ecologic systems with a demonstrated ability to effectively communicate sustainability concepts. 
• Demonstrated passion and interest in supporting sustainability research, teaching and learning, student experience, and campus engagement. 
• An ability to achieve positive outcomes by engaging, motivating, coaching and mentoring staff to excel despite obstacles and challenging situations.
• Demonstrated capacity to foster meaningful and productive partnerships with diverse partners; proven leadership and team building experience towards a common goal through formal or informal channels.
• Understanding of sustainability reporting and disclosure trends in the post-secondary education sector, and demonstrated experience leading sustainability reporting, data governance, and analytics strategy and practices.
• Experience and familiarity with sustainability-related reporting frameworks including the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, GRI, and TCFD. Experience with the GHG protocol and reporting is an asset. Familiarity and experience with data analytics and communications tools e.g., Tableau.
• An ability to distill substantial and complex data and information from multiple sources into key insights and relevant takeaways for lay audiences.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing sustainability and climate change communications strategies grounded in social change theory.
• An ability to clearly communicate complex ideas for lay audiences, anticipate potential objections and positively engage others in exploring differing points of view and finding common ground.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills and demonstrated experience with storytelling and the authorship of concept-based reports including briefings for executive administration, and confidence in public speaking and engaging diverse audiences.
• Creative thinker and problem-solver with strong conceptual thinking, organizational and analytical skills
• Tolerance for ambiguity, shifting priorities and complex situations with an ability to work positively under pressure and an ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.

Application Deadline:  November 17, 2022

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

Additional Information

This position is classified in the Manager Career Band, Level 2 of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework.

To find out more about management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary and all we have to offer, view our Management and Staff Careers website.

The University strongly recommends all faculty and staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

About the University of Calgary

The University of Calgary is Canada’s leading next-generation university – a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude. Located in the nation’s most enterprising city, the university is making tremendous progress on its Eyes High journey to be recognized as one of Canada’s top five research universities, grounded in innovative learning and teaching and fully integrated with the community it both serves and leads. The University of Calgary inspires and supports discovery, creativity and innovation across all disciplines. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy in line with the foundational goals of Eyes High, committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources ([email protected]).

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.