Business Center Operations Leader

Stantec Consulting International Ltd.; Markham; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Stantec Consulting International Ltd. is seeking a Business Center Operations Leader to guide the Infrastructure Land Services BC in the Ontario & Atlantic Canada Region. You will drive operational excellence, lead a 200+ professional team, and align financial performance with top-line strategy.

You will apply strategic thought, business acumen, and leadership to deliver outstanding work and continual improvement, partnering with regional leaders to ensure client satisfaction and growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• Minimum 15 years of leadership, financial management and/or consulting experience.
• Professional registration in a related field is an asset.
• Experience with Ontario & Atlantic Canada clients is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational areas and continuous improvement within the business center.
• Review monthly financial statements and manage discretionary spending.
• Monitor forecasting, EVA, WIP, AR, DSO, and utilization.
• Develop and oversee the business center budget and margins.
• Lead financially sound project delivery and risk reviews.
• Identify underperformance and implement improvement plans.
• Partner with leaders to drive collaboration across regions.
• Manage performance, compensation, and talent development.
• Ensure regulatory compliance and a safety culture.
• Communicate vision and progress with regional leaders.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Financial management

Strategic planning

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

PM software

Job description

Business Center Operations Leader

Your Opportunity

Whatever the distance, wherever the destination – our designs lead you there. Our “One Infrastructure” group provides comprehensive planning, design, and development engineering services for all phases of residential (low-rise and high-rise), industrial, commercial and institutional as well as civil engineering, stormwater management, landscape architecture and other technical services to also support transportation initiatives across the Region, including bridge, rail, airport, roadway, and transit projects.

We are actively seeking a Business Center Operations Leader to lead our Infrastructure Business Center for Land Services in the Ontario & Atlantic Canada Region.

You will be responsible for the Business Center’s leadership, resourcing, financial operations, health, safety and security, and office operations, for the business center comprised of more than 200 talented professionals. You will apply strategic thought, business acumen, and leadership to drive operational excellence in collaboration with leaders, project teams, functional service teams, and the collective multidisciplinary talent of the Business Center to deliver outstanding work that exceeds client expectations. You will inspire, motivate, and hold teams accountable for continuous improvement, ensuring bottom line financial performance and supporting top line strategy.

Reporting directly to the Infrastructure Regional Business Leader (RBL) for Ontario & Atlantic Canada.

Your Key Responsibilities

• Accountable for continuous improvement and effective management of operational areas within the business center.
• Review business center monthly financial statements, inclusive of discretionary spending and ensure issues and opportunities are proactively actioned by your team.
• Regularly monitor forecasting, backlog, earned value analysis (EVA), work in progress (WIP), accounts receivable (AR), day sales outstanding (DSO), and utilization to identify issues and ensure they are addressed.
• Responsible for development and oversight of the business center budget and achieving gross margin and contribution margin targets (by volume and by percent).
• Responsible for leading financially sound project delivery within the Business Center, participating in risk reviews, undertaking independent assessments, and supporting project corrective actions where required to improve project delivery.
• Responsible for proactively identifying underperformance against established targets and developing and implementing improvement plans for underperforming operations within the business center.
• Responsible for achieving utilization targets through backlog management and collaboration with other contributing business centers to drive overall utilization company wide.
• Responsible to partner with other leaders to drive collaboration and work sharing within the Infrastructure Business Line across North America and with other Business Lines within British Columbia.

People Leadership

• Responsible for managing performance and compensation in accordance with Stantec’s compensation philosophy within the business center through year end conversations, rate review, and STIP/bonus allocations for the business center.
• Responsible for developing, attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent resulting in increased engagement scores and decreased voluntary turnover.
• Responsible for maintaining the correct staffing level and workforce mix based on current and future workloads.
• Responsible for the overall talent management lifecycle including career development, employee engagement, succession planning, coaching and mentoring, inclusion and diversity, and leadership development for the business center in partnership with Human Resources.
• Responsible for ensuring compliance with the applicable employment legislation and Stantec’s people practices and policies by partnering with Risk Management and Human Resources.
• Direct reports include Team Leads and administrative staff, as appropriate.
• Partner with the Business Center Practice Leader by conducting quarterly office visits and business center wide meetings to communicate the vision, business strategy and progress against applicable action plans.

Health, Safety, Security and Environment

• Responsible for leading our Safer Together culture within the business center as measured through achievement of our different health and safety performance metrics.
• Responsible to lead communication of health, safety, security and environment expectations, best practices, and learning.
• Responsible to ensure compliance with company safety procedures and regulatory and legal requirements including the Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) management system.

Provide Broad Leadership Influence

• Act as a highly regarded leader, thought partner and a source of counsel and advice for the business center.
• Proactively identify opportunities to reinforce and further develop Stantec’s high-performance culture with a focus on talent, productivity and financial performance.
• Foster a success-oriented, accountable environment within the business center.
• Uphold a corporate culture that promotes ethical practices, encourages individual integrity, and focuses on the client and service delivery.
• Provide support through ongoing interface with leaders, regarding diagnosis and resolution of operational issues within the business center.

Your Support Functions

Client Focus

• Provide support to Regional Business Leader and Regional Delivery Leader where appropriate for compliance with the ISO-certified Integrated Management System and Project Management (PM) Framework.
• Supports the Regional Delivery Leader in holding the team accountable for the delivery of innovative design solutions aligned with disciplinary best practices for project excellence.
• Support Regional Delivery Leader by ensuring the right people are in the right roles to facilitate the delivery of excellent work to our clients that exceeds expectations and grows our market position.
• Support Business Center Practice Leader(s) and Regional Growth Leader with thorough personal involvement where appropriate in key client relationships, strategic project pursuits and major project leadership within the business center.
• Where appropriate, be a key member or lead account manager for major clients of the business center or business line.
• Achieve individual target utilization of 30%.
• Support Regional Growth Leader and the Regional Delivery Leader in promoting collaboration with a focus on cross-selling to consistently win new work with clients within the region.
• Support Business Center Practice Leader(s) by sharing information on business center related macroeconomic trends, market intelligence, competitor intelligence, market pricing and compensation rates, and compliance with local labor laws and regulations.
• Support Business Center Practice Leader(s) with marketplace reputation by maintaining Stantec’s Integrated Practice in the region through client development, local market engagement, and community relationships.

Growth and Business Development

• Support Regional Growth Leader and the Regional Delivery Leader in promoting collaboration with a focus on cross-selling to consistently win new work with clients within the region.
• Support Business Center Practice Leader(s) by sharing information on business center related macroeconomic trends, market intelligence, competitor intelligence, market pricing and compensation rates, and compliance with local labor laws and regulations.
• Support Business Center Practice Leader(s) with marketplace reputation by maintaining Stantec’s Integrated Practice in the region through client development, local market engagement, and community relationships.

Education and Experience

• A Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Engineering, Business, or a related field with a minimum of 15 years’ related work, leadership, financial management and/or consulting experience; or an equivalent combination of education and related experience.
• Professional registration in a related field is an asset.
• Experience working within a consulting practice is an asset.
• Experience with Ontario & Atlantic Canada based clients is an asset.

Typical office environment working with computers and remaining sedentary for long periods of time. Field work may include exposure to the elements including inclement weather.

This description is not a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that may be required of the employee and other duties, responsibilities and activities may be assigned or may be changed at any time with or without notice.

About Stantec

Stantec is a global leader in sustainable engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting. The diverse perspectives of our partners and interested parties drive us to think beyond what’s previously been done on critical issues like climate change, digital transformation, and future-proofing our cities and infrastructure. We innovate at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships to advance communities everywhere, so that together we can redefine what’s possible.

Pay Transparency: In compliance with pay transparency laws, pay ranges are provided for positions in locations where required. Please note, the final agreed upon compensation is based on individual education, qualifications, experience, and work location. At Stantec certain roles are bonus eligible. Actual compensation for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on the agreed number of working hours per week.

Benefits Summary: Regular full-time and part-time employees (working at least 20 hours per week) will have access to health, dental, and vision plans, a wellness program, health care spending account, wellness spending account, group registered retirement savings plan, employee stock purchase program, group tax-free savings account, life and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, short-term/long-term disability plans, emergency travel benefits, tuition reimbursement, professional membership fee coverage, and paid time off.

Temporary/casual employees will have access to group registered retirement savings plan, employee stock purchase program, and group tax-free savings account.

The benefits information listed above may not apply to union positions because benefits for such positions are governed by applicable collective bargaining agreements.