Operations Manager, Registrar's Office

Conestoga College; Kitchener; Hybrid; CAD 75,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Conestoga College is seeking an Operations Manager to serve as the central operational resource for the Registrar’s Office. The role requires on-campus work in Ontario with a hybrid schedule and occasional travel between campuses.

The successful candidate will lead administrative management, budgeting processes, and project initiatives while supporting the Registrar, management team, and associate student services across Doon and other campuses.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, social sciences, or a related field.
• Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in operations, administration, project management, or a related field.
• Experience managing budgets, business processes, projects, and operational activities is required.
• Experience in planning and coordinating large-scale events is considered an asset.
• Supervisory experience within a post-secondary environment is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate operational activities and support the Registrar's portfolio.
• Draft, review, and edit reports, briefing notes, presentations, and confidential materials.
• Develop, implement, and maintain procedures and processes in line with policy and requirements.
• Coordinate meetings, agendas, research, and follow-up tasks.
• Plan divisional professional development and drive continuous improvement.
• Coordinate the academic appeals process and monitor related metrics.

Skills

Organizational skills

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Discretion

Time management

Education

Bachelor's degree in business administration, social sciences, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office

MS Project

SharePoint

Job description

Position Summary

Full-time Administrative, replacement position

Reporting to the Dean of Students and Registrar, the Operations Manager is the central operational resource for the Registrar’s Office (RO), supporting the Registrar, management team, and associate student teams and services areas across all campuses.

Successful candidates will be required to conduct work within Ontario and must be available to work on campus as required. It is anticipated that this position will meet the needs of the department through a hybrid work arrangement, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with 2-3 days on-site at the Doon campus located at 299 Doon Valley Dr. in Kitchener, and 2-3 days remote. Flexibility in scheduling for events and occasional travel to other campuses and event locations is required.

Operational leadership and administrative management

• Coordinate operational activities and provide support to the Registrar's portfolio
• Manage divisional correspondence, information flow, and documentation, ensuring matters requiring attention are identified and addressed appropriately
• Draft, review, and edit reports, briefing notes, presentations, correspondence, and other confidential materials
• Develop, implement, and maintain procedures, guidelines, forms, and processes in accordance with college policies, legislation, and departmental requirements
• Coordinate meetings and committees, including agenda preparation, background research, meeting documentation, and follow-up activities
• Plan and coordinate divisional professional development
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance departmental processes and service delivery
• Coordinate the academic appeals process, including intake, case tracking, decision coordination, committee administration, and communications
• Maintain divisional performance metrics and prepare reports, summaries, and trend analyses to support planning and decision-making

Budget administration and compliance coordination

• Assist with the preparation, management and maintenance of the central RO budget, including the convocation budget, ensuring appropriate financial targets and alerting Registrar as to any budget issues and anomalies
• Provide support and guidance to Associate Registrars in completing their department budgets
• Monitor the budget cycle calendar and key college planning processes to ensure compliance related to budget planning, capital submissions, strategic planning, and investment requests and coordinate timely submissions
• Budget management, including monitoring transactions, investigating discrepancies, approval of all expense claims, credit card expenses, replacement costs and interdepartmental transfer, processing changes via ‘upload sheets’, and producing monthly, quarterly and year-end reports
• Ensure timely processing of cheque requisitions, expense claims and review for accuracy of descriptions, account number and availability of funds
• Monitor requisitions and distribution of supplies and payment of accounts
• Create and maintain a division compliance calendar, listing all key activities and deliverables and their due dates to ensure all staff within each department are in full compliance with human resources, performance, training and similar college policy and procedure requirements

Special projects and convocation management

• Communicate project milestones, accomplishments, challenges, project outcomes and other information to various stakeholders via presentations, email and through project tools (Teams, MS Project, SharePoint, etc.)
• Lead the planning and execution of up to three Convocation ceremonies each year, including vendor coordination, logistics management, staffing, ambassador recruitment, and event operations
• Lead strategic and operational projects assigned by the Registrar
• Develop project plans, establish timelines, monitor progress, identify risks, and coordinate project deliverables
• Conduct research and analysis to support project planning and decision-making
• Provide leadership and direction to project team members and support staff

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in business administration, social sciences, or a related field
• Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in operations, administration, project management, or a related field
• Experience managing budgets, business processes, projects, and operational activities is required
• Experience in planning and coordinating large-scale events is considered an asset
• Supervisory experience within a post-secondary environment is preferred
• Ability to work independently while managing multiple competing priorities
• Excellent organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Strong interpersonal, communication, conflict resolution, and relationship-building skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage sensitive and confidential information with discretion
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and the ability to learn and utilize new technology systems
• Strong project management and continuous improvement skills
• Experience interpreting and applying policies, procedures, and institutional guidelines