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Manager, Research Services

Employer
Vector Institute
Location
Toronto (City), Ontario (CA)
Salary
Competitive
Closing date
Jun 10, 2022

View more

Role
Manager / Director
Industry
Other
Hours
Full-time
Contract Type
Permanent

Job Details

Position Summary 

 

The Vector Research Operations & Academic Partnerships team is seeking a dynamic and action-oriented individual in the role of Manager, Research Services to manage the implementation of the Vector Institute’s Canada CIFAR AI (CCAI) Chair program, which is part of the Government of Canada’s Pan-Canadian AI Strategy administered by CIFAR. The incumbent will play a pivotal role in the recruitment, onboarding, and support of Vector Faculty Members and will spearhead institutional agreements to enable faculty hiring across multiple Canadian universities. In addition, the Manager, Research Services will develop and implement initiatives that strengthen the researcher community at Vector, such as establishing a Visiting Researchers Program

 

The ideal candidate will have effective administration, communications, project management, and relationship management skills, including conflict management and dispute resolution, with the ability to link corporate and research objectives with practical operations in collaboration with other work streams. 

 

To be successful in this role, you will need to simultaneously balance a sophisticated understanding of the organization’s broader strategic goals as well as implement operational programs to successfully deliver on those goals. You are an excellent listener and detail-oriented with the ability to draft institutional, stakeholder, and researcher agreements and translate contract requirements into both operational programs and services. 

Candidates with experience in managing research partnerships, projects, and talent within an international context will be given strong preference. 

 

Key Responsibilities 

Faculty Member Recruitment and Support

  • Manage research talent recruitment and acquisition activities by planning and executing strategies to identify potential faculty and postdoctoral fellow candidates in collaboration with Vector’s Recruitment and Hiring Committees, the Research Director, Human Resources team, and other stakeholders. 
  • In concert with external university partners and internal stakeholders, ensure a strong positive experience during the faculty and postdoctoral fellow recruitment and onboarding. 
  • With the Research Director, ensure the annual faculty review process is seamlessly executed and core metrics are captured for institutional reporting.
  • Support the Research Director to foster a strong culture of collaboration and dialogue among faculty and researchers, as well as initiatives to enable professional development among faculty. 

 

Inter-Institutional and Stakeholder Relationships 

  • Draft, manage, and renew formal Affiliation Agreements with partner institutions.
  • Develop and implement a Visiting Researchers Program through partnerships with other research institutions globally and support the recruitment and onboarding of Visiting Researchers to Vector.
  • Manage effective relationships to support inter-institutional processes e.g., hiring, contracts, and immigration. 

 

Contracts Administration and Documents Management 

  • Ensure the Vector Institute’s formal agreement with CIFAR is executed, and accountability requirements and reporting metrics are delivered in an accurate and timely manner.
  • Liaise and work closely with CIFAR on faculty member nomination and CCAI Chair reporting requirements. 
  • Work with faculty members to ensure their annual reporting requirements to CIFAR are met. 
  • Serve as a primary point of contact for researchers requiring financial and administrative assistance, validating transactions and requests against applicable requirements and corporate policies. 
  • Identify and support opportunities for faculty participation in competitive research funding programs and support nominations for national and international awards and honours. 
  • Provide support to facilitate successful grant applications and program funding requests by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and ensure that all required criteria are met. 
  • Develop, track, and maintain documentation related to various services provided to researchers. 

Partner with Internal Teams 

  • Share researcher insights with various work streams to help with both program development and researcher time management. 
  • Partner with HR to ensure all research talent recruitment and hiring processes are both transparent and accountable. 
  • Liaise with the Marketing & Communications team to support various engagement and communications efforts related to research. 
  • Ensure that the Finance team is adequately supported with timely and accurate information to process financial transactions related to research activities including audit and records retention requirements.

 

Why you should apply: 

  • You are passionate about growing Canada’s global leadership in AI research; 
  • You have a range of experiences in either a research institute or university setting as well as experience in program implementation and project management; 
  • You are highly organized and motivated to work with diverse perspectives and ideas to foster a creative and collaborative research environment for world-class AI researchers; 
  • You believe good ideas are important, but execution is key, and you hold yourself accountable for delivering results; 
  • You are curious and eager to challenge your comfort zone on an ongoing basis; 
  • You are entrepreneurial and thrive in a solutions-oriented environment. 

 

Success Measures: 

  • Prompt and thoughtful actions support research operations and business requirements at Vector, including management of inter-dependencies between legal agreements and fulfillment of contractual obligations; 
  • Productive relationship management with Vector Faculty Members and its researcher community;
  • Ability to exert influence over various stakeholders without direct authority in many cases;
  • Effective and timely resolution of issues, ensuring alignment on matters by all affected stakeholders; 
  • Coordinated information flow to facilitate informed decision-making in line with the broader strategic goals of the organization. 

 

Profile of the Ideal Candidate: 

  • Strong leadership and management skills, high emotional intelligence with discretion and tact and a familiarity with HR issues; 
  • Ability to effectively collaborate with a diverse range of individuals and perspectives across a broad range of sectors and stakeholders; 
  • Exceptional communication and organizational skills as you work across multiple work streams with multiple concurrent priorities; 
  • High attention to detail as it relates to contract oversight and complex reporting requirements;
  • 5+ years of strong, practical real-world experience in roles that have included complex project delivery, program implementation, policy analysis, and stakeholder management; 
  • Experience that provides strong knowledge of an academic research environment is a strong asset; 
  • Experience gained either within an international context or highly sensitive stakeholder relations environment is preferred; knowledge of and/or experience with managing administration for graduate students, international talent recruitment and/or immigration matters is a strong plus;  
  • Graduate degree in management/business administration or equivalent experience in developing highly actionable solutions for complex problems and driving implementation across the organization; 
  • You have a data-driven mindset and the ability to translate data into actionable insights with a keen eye for detail and an ability to quickly identify and troubleshoot problems that arise.

 

HOW TO APPLY

 

Please address applications (cover letter and resume) to Richard Haldane, Talent Acquisition Specialist, using the link provided. The deadline for submission is May 25, 2022. 

 

At the Vector Institute, we are committed to driving excellence and leadership in Canada’s knowledge, creation, and use of AI to foster economic growth and improve the lives of Canadians. We strive for greater inclusion in the programs and culture that we build by welcoming and encouraging applications from all qualified candidates. This includes but is not limited to applicants who are Indigenous, LGBT2Q+, racialized persons/visible minorities, women, and people with disabilities.

If you require an accommodation at any point throughout the recruitment and selection process, please contact hr@vectorinstitute.ai and we will happily work with you to meet your needs.

Company

The Vector Institute is an independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), excelling in machine and deep learning.

The Vector Institute launched in March 2017 with generous support from the Government of Canada, Government of Ontario, and private industry, and in partnership with the University of Toronto and other universities.

The Vector Institute will work with institutions, industry, start-ups, incubators and accelerators to advance AI research and drive its application, adoption and commercialization across Canada.

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