Senior Strategist, Program Expansion & Integration (term)

Description:

About us:

The University of Toronto’s President’s Advisory Committee on Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability (CECCS) was founded in 2017 to accelerate the university’s efforts to identify, facilitate, support, enable and promote sustainability in teaching, research, operational innovation and engagement across and beyond all three campuses.  The CECCS established the Sustainability Pathways Program which promises sustainability learning opportunities to all undergraduate students at the University of Toronto, as an early flagship soon after being established.
Sustainability Pathways are clusters of courses and co-curricular activities with a common theme of sustainability that allow students to explore sustainability from various disciplinary, methodological, and practical perspectives regardless of their chosen discipline, department or core academic focus.  Students can engage in one or more of the three pathway tiers to become a Sustainability Citizen, Scholar or Leader.  At the core of the program is an intent to “reach the rest” of students not currently enrolled in conventional sustainability degree programs. Following the launch of the culminating (Leader) tier in 2025, U of T has created an exciting new position within the CECCS Secretariat aimed at deepening the reach and impact of the program across all three tiers.  
This high-impact position will contribute directly to U of T’s institutional excellence on sustainability.  Over the last four years, U of T has consistently ranked in the top two universities in the world for sustainability by the QS World Sustainability Rankings owing to its dual focus on operational and academic excellence in sustainability, including through programs like Sustainability Pathways. 

Your opportunity:

Reporting jointly to the Director, CECCS, with a dotted reporting line to the Vice-Provost Academic Programs (VPAP), the Senior Strategist, Program Expansion & Integration plays a critical and leading role in shaping and advancing co-curricular and curricular sustainability programming and outreach across the University of Toronto’s tri-campus.  
As a new position geared towards next-level integration, the Senior Strategist is primarily responsible for driving an institution-wide effort to accelerate the integration and growth of the flagship Sustainability Pathways Program. Exercising significant initiative and facilitative oversight, the incumbent will work closely with the CECCS Director and others towards setting out and initiating an ambitious and achievable vision for expanding Sustainability Scholar offerings (in FAS, FASE, FALD, UTM, UTSC and other divisions) and outreach and uptake across all tiers. 
The incumbent will be a consultative and influential strategist capable of delivering compelling presentations to institutional stakeholders, establishing cooperative relationships, and in tandem with the CECCS Director, cultivating support among senior divisional, decanal and departmental leaders. Working at multiple levels, the Senior Strategist will assess integration and expansion needs and opportunities in different divisions and departments and provide direction to the conversion of these into targeted curricular, program, and systems interventions that align with institutional priorities and address shared goals. The Senior Strategist will serve as an authoritative resource to stakeholders seeking development and design advice, and work with others at CECCS to provide enhanced backbone support and insight towards effective positioning of the program in outreach across central and divisional outlets. 

Major responsibilities will include:

• Oversee and lead consultation and strategic planning processes for flagship co-curricular and curricular Sustainability Pathways flagship program with senior and divisional leaders
• Provide high level support to Director and Vice-Provost on matters concerning Pathways
• Design and facilitate sessions with senior leaders to develop actionable recommendations
• Deliver presentations to institutional stakeholders, establishing cooperative relationships
• Assess integration and expansion needs and opportunities in different divisions and units
• Authoritative resource to stakeholders seeking development and design advice
• Provide enhanced support and insight towards effective positioning of the program across central and divisional outlets
• Manage a portfolio of strategic initiatives and special projects with significant impact
• Create and implement reporting process to monitor the implementation of the plan
• Support program communications and outreach
• Design and deliver strategic and operational plans

Qualifications:

Education

• Master’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent in education and experience. Degree or certification in sustainability, education, project and/or change management are assets.

Experience

• Minimum of eight to ten years experience, preferably in a large, distributed organization or university environment and in progressively senior roles
• Demonstrated leadership in developing, driving, and delivering institutional and/or programmatic strategies, proposals, or plans
• Proven ability to oversee complex, cross-divisional partnerships and initiatives with high institutional visibility and impact
• Experience working with and advising senior executive leaders on contributions to institutional strategy and priorities
• Practiced capabilities in building and maintaining effective relationships with diverse stakeholders

Skills

• Competent and confident leader able to operate at the highest strategic levels to foster respect and responsiveness among senior leaders
• High degree of political acuity and tact and the skills to build professional rapport and effectively manage complex, confidential, or political issues with discretion
• Demonstrated superior written, interpersonal, and oral communication capabilities, including strong public-speaking skills and the power to persuade
• Sound judgement, negotiation, and decision-making skills, including the capacity to work under pressure, and to navigate complex challenges and difficult outcomes
• Collaborative leader able to deal with colleagues in a manner that facilitates cooperation and consensus building
• Ability to analyse, interpret, evaluate and synthesize different types of information and incorporate the relevant level of detail without losing accuracy
• Creative problem-solver with proven organizational skills in planning, project management, and task coordination to advise and/or co-develop opportunities that align with institutional policies, practices, and procedures
• Confident self-starter and creative problem-solver who can anticipate challenges and exercise sound judgement in the absence of perfect information or detailed instruction
• Strategic vision with the practical orientation required to translate strategy into relational, programmatic, technical and promotional tactics
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams), Internet, Acrobat, and scheduling software
• Supervisory & management skills

Other:

• Experience in curriculum development and design; familiarity with program structures, standards, and governance expectations across the full range of diverse undergraduate programs within a university environment
• Strong understanding and experience with relevant enterprise infrastructure and systems related to academic programming such, as student information systems (e.g., U of T’s ROSI) and with Power BI
• Knowledge of, or experience with, enhancing co-curricular and curricular programs and offerings in one or more U of T divisions Commitment to advancing institutional sustainability and positive outcomes for student leaders
• Familiarity with or background in educational and pedagogical best practices and innovation
• Experience in change management

Please note:

• This is a 2 year term role with the possibility of extension
• Interviews are antipcated to take place the last 2 weeks of September 

Closing Date: 08/08/2026, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Salaried
Personnel Subarea: PM
Appointment Type : Budget - Term
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: PM 4 -- Hiring Zone: $106,705 -  $124,491 -- Broadband Salary Range: $106,705 -  $177,843 
Job Category: Communication/Media/Public Relations