Senior Director of Strategy At World University Service of Canada

POSITION TITLE

Senior Director of Strategy

POSITION LOCATION

Remote / Flexible – but preference for someone who based in the National Capital Region, where the WUSC global office is located

REPORTS TO

Executive Director

CONTRACT TERM

Indeterminate

SALARY LEVEL

MGT3 (95k-117k)

APPLICATION DEADLINE

July 15th 2022

EXPECTED START DATE

September 2022

Are you an experienced leader with a strategic, future-oriented perspective? WUSC is currently looking for a Sr. Director, Strategy to join our team and help advance our mission.

ABOUT WUSC

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization that works to build a more equitable, sustainable world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of professionals, volunteers, students, education institutions, governments and businesses who share this vision. We develop and implement initiatives that address inequality and youth exclusion, and that expand education, economic and empowerment opportunities for young people, particularly young women and young refugees.

We have an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million; 90 people working from our Ottawa office; and over 200 people working in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. We have a portfolio of 20+ initiatives funded by Global Affairs Canada, the UK government, multilateral organizations and financial institutions, and private foundations.

CONTEXT

WUSC is at an exciting point in its organizational journey, guided by its theory of change and strategic directions. WUSC’s theory of change embraces a systems approach to grappling with the challenges that affect opportunities for young people, including conflict, fragility, forced displacement, intersectional inequalities, climate change and technological change.

WUSC’s strategic directions are cross-cutting and provide a path to delivering on its work, from investing in people, to ensuring programs are future-relevant and impactful, reaching new audiences, securing resources for future programming, and ensuring our partnerships remain effective, transparent and mutually accountable.

RESPONSIBILITIES

WUSC is seeking a skilled strategic leader to join our team. Under the supervision of the Executive Director, and as a member of the Senior Leadership team, the Sr. Director, Strategy plays a leadership role in advancing WUSC’s strategic agenda, building relationships with a variety of stakeholders, securing resources and designing future-oriented initiatives for WUSC. This position will be cognizant of any new policy, programming or funding developments within our sector that could affect WUSC’s objectives. S/he will develop appropriate organizational strategies that respond to these developments as needed.

The main responsibilities are:

Organizational Strategy

Collaborate with leaders across the organization to develop plans and tactics that advance WUSC’s strategic directions
Drive strategic program development, WUSC’s organizational positioning efforts, and our durable solutions and theory of change agenda.
Lead WUSC’s annual planning and performance cycle

Partnership Development and Stewardship

Identify, cultivate and steward strategic partnerships that advance WUSC’s programming agenda

Coordination and Strategic Orientation of WUSC’s External Representation

Collaborate with the Executive Director to determine WUSC’s participation and representation in strategic events (i.e. who should attend, topic, supporting material)

Events

Conceptualize key events in WUSC’s annual calendar, including the International Forum and Roundtable
Ensure events are linked to organizational strategy (ie. Together for Learning Summit)

Stakeholder Relations

Work with relationship holders to think strategically about all of WUSC’s stakeholders
Support the Executive Director and others on government relations
Complete a membership review and support ongoing member engagement in collaboration with the Director of Communications and Sr. Advisor, Executive Office

Policy

Further develop WUSC’s policy agenda, in collaboration with subject matter experts and the Executive Director.
Translate program evidence into broader influence on the policies, programs, practices and investment decisions of donors, peer organizations, host governments and local organizations.
Strengthen the policy focus within specific projects – and across the organization
Strengthen internal reflections and provide greater clarity on how to use WUSC’s voice on social movements and broader policy issues

Future Oriented Program Design

Design new programming initiatives aligned to WUSC’s Theory of Change

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Education

Masters Degree in a relevant discipline or relevant work experience deemed as equivalent.

Experience & Competencies

Seven to ten years of experience in international development
Seven to ten years of experience in government and stakeholder relations
Two years of experience in leadership roles in intercultural contexts
Experience in policy development, interpretation, application and advice
Experience in applying an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, feminist, intersectional and accessibility lenses to international development issues
Strong relationship building skills, relevant experience in developing partnerships and networks.
Experience managing people
Experience in project development and project management including budget development and management
Experience developing winning project proposals for donors/funders
Excellent political judgment and intuition, tact and diplomacy
Excellent communication skills to advise, effectively engage and influence a wide range of stakeholders
Strong written and oral communication skills and succinctly articulate ideas and opinions that involve analysis, interpretation, and assessment in an engaging way
Work under tight deadlines, managing, and adjusting conflicting priorities
Knowledge in WUSC’s program areas of work: education, economic opportunities, empowerment.
Promote and maintain an organizational culture that advances gender equality, reduces power inequalities, and fosters trust, respect and safety – as embodied in WUSC’s gender equality and social inclusion principles
Foster a working environment that is free from sexual explotiation, abuse and harrassment (SEAH); and that adheres to WUSC’s high standards of prevention and response as embodied in WUSC’s safeguarding policies and Code of Conduct
Curious, enthusiastic and willing to innovate and adapt

Languages

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; French as an asset.

WHY WORK WITH WUSC?

Join Us. Our work is important, cutting-edge, and fast-paced. We encourage curiosity, innovation, and flexibility. And we provide a phenomenal learning experience.

WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference in the lives of youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, economic opportunities and empowerment.

We offer competitive benefits, safe and healthy working conditions, and fair compensation.

APPLICATIONS

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form. Successful applicants will be required to undertake an enhanced criminal record check where appropriate.

WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone calls please.