Manager, Enterprise System

Location

Waterloo, ON | Canada

Job description

The Manager, Enterprise system is responsible for strategic planning, execution and maintenance of the department’s Enterprise system to support Campus Housing’s business operations. Reporting to the Assistant Director, Shared Services, this position leads and develops a diverse team in the day-to-day operations of the system, which includes collaborating with stakeholders to gather and fulfill requirements, modifications and enhancements including design, development, and user acceptance testing.

The position plays a key role by providing leadership and technological infrastructure necessary to provide Campus Housing student touchpoints related to (1) applications, (2) room bookings, (3) housing offers, (4) contract acceptance and (5) reporting. Additionally, working with the Assistant Director, Shared Services, the Manager will carry out the strategic direction of the Enterprise system, including the ongoing assessment of the system roadmap and development of key performance indicators in order to meet and optimize the mission, vision and values of the department.

This position is contingent on funding.

Client Relationships and Support

• Partner with Campus Housing functional areas to understand and integrate their business processes within the Enterprise system. Collaborate with these areas to set termly and yearly operational targets
• Understand the end-user (student and staff) experience of the system to ensure their needs are met. Represent these needs when working with internal and external stakeholders and the Enterprise system vendor
• Build strategic relationships and be able to solicit and communicate system requirements, capabilities and outputs with University Stakeholders, including, but not limited to Registrar’s Office, Food Services, IST, Finance etc.
• Manage the relationship and service support provided by Information Systems Technology (IST) business partner to the Enterprise System. Provide direction, guidance and regular feedback to the Information Systems Analyst Advisor (assigned from IST) and the IST
• Manager of Systems Development and Operations, to ensure the service is meeting Campus Housing’s system support needs and UW security standards
• Be a key resource for the management team to report on system capabilities, dependencies, value and progress towards the systems roadmap
• Understand the management team’s utilization of the system to advise and support them to extract data for their planning and program requirements
• Under the direction of the Assistant Director, Shared Services, bring forward status updates, issues, information and recommendations to senior management to enable them to make strategic decisions and allocate resources.
• Act as the primary contact with the Enterprise System vendor

Ensure the effective utilization, development and deployment of people and financial resources

• Recruit, hire and develop staff, which includes Information Systems Analysts and may include supervision of work-study or co-op students. The position may also utilize other Shared Services staff (e.g., Business Process Analyst, Finance staff) to solicit input to make informed decisions for the Enterprise system
• Provide oversight and ongoing development of Information System Analysts so that they can function as an effective team with cross functional skills to configure, test, deploy, and maintain the system
• Provide day-to-day management and prioritization of tasks amongst the team, while working within an Agile environment. Ensure appropriate back up and service coverage during critical times of the year (e.g. student move-in)
• Work closely with the Information Systems Analyst Advisor (from IST) to seek technical advice, prioritize and scope operational tasks, and support their mentorship of Enterprise system staff
• Ensure onboarding, ongoing training and professional development of team members; coach staff in goal setting and achievement of goals. Facilitate opportunities for cross-training and team building
• Lead a collaborative team, set clear and reasonable expectations and ensure delivery of results as measured against key performance indicators and continuous improvement metrics of the department
• Manage performance through formal (performance appraisals) and informal methods such as regular feedback, coaching and one-on-one meetings
• Accountable for annual budget management, including dollars paid to the external vendor for software maintenance and continuous improvement work that ensures value to functional areas of the department

Project Management of the Enterprise System operational tasks and deliverables

• In collaboration with stakeholders, create and maintain an Enterprise system operational plan, including calendar of deliverables and deadlines. Utilizing an Agile project management approach, ensure Enterprise system activities, deployments and sprint cycles align with targets of the functional areas they serve
• Create a product backlog of well-defined, prioritized user stories, including acceptance criteria
• Define sprint tasks and actions (through Jira) so that team members have clarity of operational tasks and can act with purpose
• Ensure appropriate triaging processes of work requests and self-organization of the team for distribution of work
• Identify and remove impediments or obstacles that hinder the team's progress, enabling them to work without interruptions
• Manage the product backlog while continuously reviewing the business needs of Campus Housing, redefining priorities, and outlining milestones and deliverables based on changing requirements or circumstances
• Act as a facilitator for the Agile team, ensuring that scrum processes and ceremonies (e.g., Daily Standup, Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective) run effectively and on time
• Work with Assistant Director, Shared Services and other members of senior management to define a 2-3 year product vision and roadmap. Align the operational and strategic work to the product roadmap goals
• Identify the impact of any system changes to students and staff and employ a change management approach with respective stakeholders to manage/mitigate

Responsible for the effective customization, deployment and maintenance of the Enterprise system technology

• When working with stakeholders and functional areas of the department, provide guidance and expertise on the technical feasibility and appropriateness of proposed solutions to integrate their business processes within the system. Evaluate solutions using technical expertise based on effort, ongoing maintenance and complexity
• Oversee Enterprise system technical requirements and infrastructure. Manage priorities and put processes in place for design, development, maintenance and analysis of the system
• Oversee administration of the Enterprise system to ensure appropriate access controls, security, privacy, service levels, business performance and readiness for the future
• Be a hands-on technical leader and contributor; maintain and improve the team’s high standards; identify opportunities for and lead improvements in our products, processes and services
• Coach and provide guidance to the Information Systems Analysts to ensure the business requirements collected from stakeholders are properly translated into functional and technical design solutions that bring long term value to students
• Support the acquisition process of any future enterprise systems (including RFI/RFP). This may include representing the technical needs of the system when meeting with vendors and stakeholders during the procurement process

Manage the strategic planning and continuous improvement of the Enterprise System

• Accountable for delivering end-results of the Enterprise system to Campus Housing stakeholders and clients (e.g. students). This includes oversight of every aspect of the software development lifecycle: gathering business specifications and requirements, developing and testing new and existing functionality, and supporting the team to troubleshoot and respond to production issues
• Ensure the delivered product (e.g. applications, room booking etc.) meet quality standards and are aligned with the defined acceptance criteria
• Support team members to develop and follow standards, processes and tools to gather business specifications and requirements, and document configurations and test plans. Where appropriate, work with senior management to consult and/or provide advice on improving standards and processes that will help serve the work of the Enterprise system
• Utilize end-to-end analyses to identify potential system enhancements and the development of options and recommendations. Apply strategic planning and continuous improvement principles and tools (e.g. effort/value matrix etc.) to prioritize enhancements
• Identify, collect and regularly assess Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics to inform Enterprise system decisions and resources. Report back to Assistant Director, Shared Services and other members of senior management and business units for continuous improvement opportunities
• Keeps abreast of industry standards, pockets of innovation, and emerging trends in housing software systems. Work closely with campus partners and external vendor(s) to research and provide technology solutions to support current and future business unit needs

• Bachelor’s degree in information systems technology, computer science, software engineering or related field. Master level education is preferred
• Certification in Project Management (PMP), Lean (Green Belt), or Product Owner (Agile), or demonstrable project management experience in the software development and/or information systems technology field
• 5-10 years hands-on experience in software development, including design, debugging, testing and querying databases
• Minimum of 2-3 years of experience with information systems technology project management
• Minimum of 2-3 years of experience effectively developing and managing a team of information systems technology professionals
• Experience in post-secondary education environment is an asset
• Ability to translate strategy into well thought-out action plans and tactical execution plans to ensure the best use of resources and management of deliverables
• Demonstrable in-depth knowledge and skills in data analysis, visualization and reporting (e.g., sql, MS Excel, Power BI, Tableau)
• Strong communication, organizational and problem-solving skills
• Successful people management skills and experience managing diverse teams
• Competencies will include stakeholder management, information systems tools, products, development frameworks, as well as interpersonal, organization and communication skills
• Must demonstrate curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving
• Strong report-writing, presentation and facilitation skills
• Familiarity with various project management tools such as Jira, Confluence, as well as staying up-to-date on techniques and best practices
• Knowledge of software engineering practices and best practices for software development life cycle including coding standards, code reviews, testing

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations .

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion. As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at  [email protected] or 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.

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