Manager, Administration & Strategic Initiatives

McMaster University; Hamilton; On-site; CAD 71,000 - 94,000; Full time

Job summary

McMaster University’s Health Sciences faculty is seeking a Manager, Administration & Strategic Initiatives to lead the Central Administration team within HEI. The role oversees faculty experience, recruitment, retention, tenure, and faculty development, reporting to the Chair and Director of Administration.

The ideal candidate has an undergraduate degree and at least five years in academic administration, with strong leadership, project management, and policy coordination experience.

Qualifications

• Experience leading administrative teams in an academic environment.
• Strong collaboration with Chairs and Directors on policy and governance.

Responsibilities

• Lead all functions of the Chair’s Office related to the faculty experience.
• Provide leadership on strategic projects and other portfolios as directed.
• Train staff and advise faculty on procedures related to tenure and promotion.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Strategic Planning

Education

Undergraduate Degree

Job description

Manager, Administration & Strategic Initiatives

Regular/Temporary

Regular

Location

HSC- Central Campus

Open Date

2026/10/15

Job Type

Continuing

Close Date

2026/10/21

Employee Group

TMG

Favorite Job

Department

FHS Health Evidence and Impact

Full/Part Time

Full-Time

Salary Grade/Band

Band J

Salary Range

$71375.00 - $107063.00 (annual)

Job Code

10487

Hiring Range

$71375.00 - $93591.00

Existing Vacancy

Yes - Backfilling as Existing

Target Number of Openings

1

35

Schedule Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Education Level Undergraduate Degree

Career Level Minimum 5 years experience in an academic environment, including experience in a first level management position.

Job Description

DepartmentDescription

The Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) is an academic department over 250 faculty, 240 staff, and over 400 students, and one of the largest departments in the Faculty of Health Sciences in terms of research funding per year. The department is a large-sized, complex department with multiple functions. The Manager, Administration & Strategic Initiatives is part of the Central Administration team and leads all functions of the Chair’s Office related to the faculty experience. As a leader within the Chair’s office, the Manager, Administration & Strategic Initiatives also provides leadership on strategic projects as well as other portfolios as directed by the Chair or Director of Administration from time to time.

Job Summary

Accountable to the Chair, and to the Director of Administration, the Manager, is an integral component of the administrative structure of the Department in that this position oversees the administrative functions for the department and facilitates all aspects of a faculty member’s experience, including recruitment, retention, promotion & tenure, part‑time appointments and reappointments, engagement and recognition, annual review of faculty, faculty development, program development, and process review and implementation.

The Manager provides leadership in all aspects of the faculty experience, including appropriate, timely and effective communication to all faculty members through various mediums which may include the faculty page in the HEI Info Hub, faculty memos and the monthly newsletter. They provide input to the Associate Chair, Faculty Affairs, EDI-IR regarding faculty development initiatives , as well as to the Associate Chair, Education regarding faculty engagement and recognition.

The Manager acts as an advisor to the Chair and is responsible for ensuring all academic appointments within the Department are completed according to guidelines laid out by the Faculty Relations Office within the Faculty of Health Sciences. The manager is the primary contact for the Chair and all faculty related to human resources, faculty appointments, the faculty experience, promotion and tenure, and provides information and training regarding faculty appointments. The manager trains staff and advises faculty on procedures related to tenure and promotion, sabbaticals and annual reviews. The manager is responsible for the creation and maintenance of all departmental faculty files (both full‑and part‑time). The manager is the first point of contact for all queries related to faculty.

This position is guided by the values, principles and policies of the Department of HEI which are defined by a focus on research, teaching and supporting clinical care. The Manager, Administration & Strategic Initiatives shares responsibility for modelling and supporting policies and practices that are aligned with HEI’s commitment to truth and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and to creating and sustaining an equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace. The Manager, Administration & Strategic Initiatives must also perform duties in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Department of HEI McMaster University, and the McMaster University Faculty Association.

Accountabilities:

Faculty Development and Engagement

The Manager offers strategic insight and planning regarding the future of faculty engagement and faculty development opportunities and ensures quality in all areas of responsibility. They provide leadership and oversight of operations in the design and development of faculty engagement tools, faculty development resources (e.g. e-modules and other learning assets) and relationship management tools, in communicating with broadly distributed and diverse faculty using different mediums, and in organizing conferences and seminars. This includes the following responsibilities:

• Designs, maintains, supports and sustains tools and technologies to optimally support the faculty experience across the department;
• Creates and continually improves processes and guidelines related to faculty engagement and recognition;
• Defines and facilitates ongoing enhancements and maintenance of faculty database;
• Ensures that faculty data is accurately captured within the HEI Faculty Database
• Responsible for the ongoing development and maintenance of the Faculty page in the HEI Info Hub, a source of information and training materials for all faculty within the Department of HEI;
• Creates training materials related to recruitment, tenure & promotion, annual review documentation, sabbatical process
• Creates training materials for staff working with faculty to help assist with faculty engagement and recognition.
• Continue and implement initiatives informed by faculty engagement survey results
  

Administration of Faculty Recruitment, Appointments and Promotion

The Manager, leads the department’s faculty recruitment, appointment, reappointment, and tenure and promotion processes, which run continuously throughout the year with fixed deadlines across full‑time, part‑time and joint appointments with affiliated clinical departments. The work is complex in nature, requiring considerable independence, policy interpretation, analysis, and judgement on confidential matters. This includes the following responsibilities:

• Collaborates closely with the Faculty of Health Sciences FR office throughout recruitment process, ensuring timeliness and accuracy of all information as well as compliance with all related requirements;
• Acts as advisor to the Chair on faculty recruitment policies, contracts, licensing, and other associated processes and procedures;
• Oversees faculty processes in the following areas orientation of new full‑time faculty and effective onboarding of all part‑time faculty; Faculty recognition, merit processes and related reporting; Mentorship program for full‑time faculty; Faculty leaves (research, administrative, other);
• Management of all statistical information related to faculty (e.g. numbers in appointment categories, ranks, sabbatical eligibility, non‑clinical faculty merit increases);
• Prepares reports relating to faculty for Chair and Executive Committee review;
• Oversees the handling of highly private and confidential issues related to faculty within the Department, ensuring issues are dealt with in a discreet and professional manner.
• Acts as Employment Equity Facilitator in terms of recruitment and provides advice and guidance regarding recruitment of equity‑seeking groups in the following ways:
  • Provides guidance and advice regarding search committee composition;
  • Offers training to search committee members regarding EDI;
  • Works with the office of Equity & Inclusion to ensure departmental recruitment policies follow all established guidelines;
  • Participates in Employment Equity Facilitator Community of Practice to ensure recruitment best practices;
• Reviews and continually improves policies related to role renewals and ensuring accurate data in terms of salary, term, etc.;
• Monitor and advise on salary commitments for CAWAR faculty, assess risk and provide updates to Chair and Director of Administration
• Advises on issues related to interpretation of agreements such as MUFA or CFA;
• Ensures confidentiality and comprehensiveness of, and ease of Chair’s access to, faculty files;
• Lead renewal of part‑time faculty process in the department
• Prepares information and reports as required; and
• Provides guidance and mentorship to team members.

Strategic Initiatives

• Creates an annual strategic plan for discussion with the Chair or delegate, and Faculty Relations faculty leadership, which includes suggested program offerings and technology enhancements, faculty and staff training and development opportunities, team goals and risk assessments;
• Leads and manages projects at the request of the Chair and/or Executive Director that leverage knowledge of HEI Team, and strong relationships within the Department and its partners including the university;
• Demonstrated knowledge of joint faculty relations within both HEI department and affiliated clinical departments, including the ability to strategically forecast and plan potential joint appointments to align with departmental and institutional priorities
• Identifies the need for various resources required in order to complete special projects, and leads processes to ensure needs are met;

Ensures all relevant records within scope of leadership responsibilities are managed and archived in accordance with departmental policy.

Finance

The Manager independently manages the overall Faculty Relations budget, including tracking Faculty Development expenses, specifically:

• Provides support and guidance to new full‑time faculty related to payment of travel and moving expenses;
• Provides support and guidance regarding eligible faculty development expenses
• Determines budget for a variety of faculty development events and initiatives.

Manage and review salary commitments for CAWAR faculty, providing ongoing financial forecasting to ensure salary sustainability; collaborate with senior leadership to support faculty retention and ensure appropriate funding is in place to maintain faculty positions

Operations Management

• Provides operational management, program management and project oversight for the departments Central Administration team’ Driveschangeandinnovation through process review and quality checks.byperformingqualitychecks through process review and revision.
• SupervisestheAdministration team (consistingofaminimum2full-timeadministrativeassistant, withpossibilityof1-3casualadminroles,andoverseesandensurescontinuityofprocessesinthe team’sinteractionswithotherareasofdepartment(e.g.Education,Chair’sOffice Executive,Clinics, FHO, etc.)
• Ensuresprovisionofservices,establishesquality andquantitystandards,coachesandmentors, provides performance management as needed, and deals with work‑related issues.
• ReviewingandupdatingTermsofReference,recommendingchangesandactioningrequiredupdates to membership
• Providingadviceondepartmentgovernancebodiesandactionrecommendations
• Develops administrative processes and guidelines by documenting procedures and training staff to improve operational efficiency across the department.
• Leads process improvement by reviewing faculty‑facing workflows, identifying inefficiencies, revising procedures, and monitoring outcomes.
• Monitors space utilization by conducting regular audits and reporting findings and recommendations to the Director of Administration.
• Initiates,developsandmaintainspartnerships with collaboratorsand relevantparties;
• Identifies and creates opportunities to raise awareness of the Department of HEI and its major initiatives;
• Collaborateswithothermembersofthe CentralAdministrationteamtohelpdeterminethebest strategies for communication of issues and information to faculty and staff;
• Develops, implements and supervises a process of collecting relevant information for the improvement of Department policies and operations to be provided to the Chair; and

WorkswiththeCentralAdministrationteamtoestablishqualitystandardsfortheDepartmentof HEI requiring a great attention to detail and the coordination of communications and logistics across multiple research teams in various sitesacross Ontario encompassing 200 faculty, 240 staff, and over 400 students.

Pay Transparency Statement

The posted hiring range represents McMaster's typical hiring range for this position. Actual starting salary will depend on factors such as relevant experience, qualifications, internal equity, and market conditions.

Individuals with extensive experience, deep specialized expertise, and/or those who can demonstrate exceptional past performance, as applicable, may be hired at a higher rate within the full range, in accordance with the University compensation policies.

Employment Equity Statement

McMaster University is located on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Mississauga Nations and within the lands protected by the “Dish With One Spoon” wampum agreement.

The diversity of our workforce is at the core of our innovation and creativity and strengthens our research and teaching excellence. In keeping with its Statement on Building an Inclusive Community with a Shared Purpose, McMaster University strives to embody the values of respect, collaboration and diversity, and has a strong commitment to employment equity.

The University seeks qualified candidates who share our commitment to equity and inclusion, who will contribute to the diversification of ideas and perspectives, and especially welcomes applications from indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) peoples, members of racialized communities, persons with disabilities, women, and persons who identify as 2SLGBTQ+.

As part of McMaster’s commitment, all applicants are invited to complete a confidential Applicant Diversity Survey through the online application submission process. The Survey questionnaire requests voluntary self-identification in relation to equity‑seeking groups that have historically faced and continue to face barriers in employment. Please refer to the Applicant Diversity Survey - Statement of Collection for additional information.

Job applicants requiring accommodation to participate in the hiring process should contact:

To ensure an ongoing and vibrant University community that meets the needs of our students, staff and faculty and supports the University mission, ability to work on-site continues to be a requirement for most University positions. The University is supportive of exploring flexible work arrangements that effectively balance operational needs and employee interests.

AI Statement

McMaster and its third‑party partners may use AI tools to screen, assess, or select applicants during the hiring process. Please note that currently our recruitment platform does not use AI nor is it part of our current recommended recruitment process.