Associate Director, TREC

Location – North campus. This role is a hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person

Department summary

Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC) is a research program in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. TREC is a pan-Canadian and international longitudinal health services and knowledge translation program of applied research. It is multi-disciplinary with approximately 30 researchers from 8 universities and 20 core decision makers; it is functions in an integrated KT or partnered model. We have long standing relationships with stakeholders, end users, policy makers and our citizen advisory group. TREC maintains a cohort of 94 nursing homes and has a world-class database that has been running continuously for 15 years. Additional information about the TREC research program is available at the following URL: https//trecresearch.ca/.

Position summary

TREC is on an innovation journey, working closely with partners, towards the spread and scale of its research and RCT and pilot tested interventions, all with a mission to improve the quality of life of residents and the quality of work life of staff in Long Term Care. As TREC moves on this journey, we are seeking an Associate Director to further build partnerships and coordinate TREC’s activities to enhance its impact. The Associate Director, reporting directly to the Scientific Director, is responsible for developing and executing TREC’s operational strategies to manage the complex research program which holds over 18 active grants from national and provincial granting agencies and provincial governments and to attain the goals of the Scientific Director, members and governance committees. The Associate Director oversees TREC’s financial performance of over $8 million in grants currently, and additional budgets as they arise, and is responsible for HR planning and managing more than 30 staff and trainees. The Associate Director initiates and develops partnerships and builds and maintains trust relationships with members, stakeholders, funders, and partners to ensure that TREC’s activities across Canada are fully integrated, its activities and members are fully supported, progress is monitored and communicated and deliverables are achieved.

Duties

This position works independently to oversee the operations of TREC and solves problems ensuring alignment with the vision of the Scientific Director and governance committees and university policies. The incumbent works directly with stakeholders to develop partnerships and resolve issues related to projects to ensure progress continues. TREC’s stakeholders include national and federal funding agencies, provincial governments in BC, AB, NS, and Manitoba, long term care owners/operators and managers and residents and their families.

This position supervises 13 direct reports and oversees a total staff compliment of 37. This position has a direct role in mentoring the staff and sustaining a positive environment supports the growth of the staff and which enables the projects to be completed on time and budget. The position oversees 18 projects totaling over $8 million and a longitudinal database which spans 15 years and 4 provinces. This position ensures that the staff have the right skills and tools to complete the projects.

This position supports the Scientific Director and investigator team in their efforts to undertake new and existing research and implementation projects which will have a long-term positive impact on the long-term care sector in Canada, on relationships with stakeholders and partners and a positive reputational impact for the University of Alberta.

More and more of TREC’s projects are in support of the scale and spread of interventions in the long-term care sector which have been initiated or evaluated by TREC. These projects are large and complex as they include working with leaders and team members within the health systems of multiple provinces and require a great deal of problem solving and relationship management to support their success. This position works closely with stakeholders, TREC investigators and staff to identify and resolve issues of varying complexity including managing expectations about the timing and impacts of intended results and ensuring role clarity within large and diverse teams of which some are outside of TREC. This position leads the establishment of new projects, positions, processes and guidelines which can mitigate future problems.

This position and the work evolve from the direction of TREC’s strategic plan which is developed by the Scientific Director, the investigators and stakeholders. There is a need to continually check in with the internal and external stakeholders with TREC to ensure that work is aligned with the vision and is meeting the changing needs of governments and the longterm care sector. In the near and medium term, the Long-Term Care standards, being developed at the federal level, the implementation of the Continuing Care legislation in Alberta and changes to government policy and direction across Canada are critical for the incumbent on which to remain updated as they serve as policy windows in which TREC can further advance the mission of advancing research to scale and spread initiatives across Canada.

Key duties will include:

1. Partner, Stakeholder and Member Relations.

2. Governance

3. Oversight of TREC Operations

Minimum Qualifications

• A minimum of an MPA/MBA and a relevant professional health degree and/or background or experience.
• 7-10 years’ experience leading a large team and/or network administration.
• Demonstrated successful experience working with researchers, health service leaders, provincial ministries and research funders.
• Demonstrated successful experience developing partnerships which align to strategic goals.
• Knowledge of the health research ecosystem.
• Experience supporting governance committees.
• Demonstrated experience in developing strategic and operating plans.
• Demonstrated superior skills in managing large distributed teams with limited budget flexibility.
• Demonstrated superior project planning and management skills.
• Demonstrated superior problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated superior communications skills (oral and written).
• Demonstrated superior interpersonal skills and experience interacting with a wide array of stakeholders, investigators, decision-makers, end-users and trainees
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills with the ability to adapt to routinely multitask and manage competing time lines.
• Comfortable with face paced environment and managing rapid changes.
• Accuracy and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently in a fast-paced, demanding work environment under conditions which require high levels of flexibility while maintaining a clear vision of desired outcomes and essential deliverables.
• Experience and knowledge of the long-term care sector preferred.

Preferred Qualification

• Knowledge of the Canadian Long-term Care system is an asset

In accordance with the Trust/Research Academic Staff Agreement , this position has an approximate appointment of one year with a possibility of extension and offers a comprehensive benefits package found at Faculty & Staff Benefits and annual salary range of $100,543 – $138,247.

Note: Online applications are accepted until midnight Mountain Standard Time of the closing date.