President and Vice-Chancellor, Laurentian University

President and Vice-Chancellor, Laurentian University

Sudbury, Ontario

 

Pour la version française de cette annonce, cliquez pour accéder au site Web de KBRS https://www.kbrs.ca/Career/16755

Laurentian University is seeking a visionary and relational leader to take on a unique opportunity as President, building a lasting legacy by guiding the institution's transformation.

The Organization

Laurentian University is located within the territory of the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850 and recognizes its placement on the traditional lands of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, as well as its proximity to Wahnapitae First Nation.

The University serves over 8000 students and is one of two bilingual universities in the province of Ontario. Committed to its bilingual, tri-cultural mandate, Laurentian University offers an outstanding university experience in English and French with a comprehensive approach to Indigenous education. Laurentian’s beautiful, forested campus is surrounded by fresh-water lakes, conservation lands and hundreds of kilometres of cross-country and hiking trails while situated in the geographic centre of Greater Sudbury, northern Ontario’s major urban centre (population 160,000). Laurentian University has close and productive ties to Science North, Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Lab (SNOLAB), Health Sciences North and multiple post-secondary institutions.

Recently celebrating its 60th anniversary, Laurentian’s vision for the future is as a university focused on the needs of the north and the communities it serves. The University prepares its graduates to be the next generation of leaders who bring innovative solutions to local and global issues, recognizing that experience is essential to the success of our graduates entering the workforce.

The Role

Reporting to the Board of Governors, the President and Vice-Chancellor is the chief executive officer of Laurentian University and provides leadership for all academic, administrative and financial programs in keeping with the university's mandate, board-approved policies, and other appropriate legislation and regulations. The President is responsible for overseeing the university's policies, procedures, strategic planning and development activities. They act as the primary public face of the institution and represents the university to governments, academic agencies and other relevant organizations. They are ultimately responsible for the development and implementation of the University’s next strategic plan, and transformation plan.  As leader of the University’s Senior Executive Team, they provide inspirational and strategic vision, ensuring long-term sustainability, community engagement, and confidence in the Laurentian brand, while supporting its tricultural mandate.

Key areas of oversight and responsibility are:

Vision and Transformative Leadership – Providing creative and strategic leadership at senior-level decision-making tables during the next phase of Laurentian’s transformation and inspiring reconnection with the University’s unique identity.

Strategic Communications and Representation – Acting as an internal and external face for the institution, ensuring proactive, transparent, and audience-tailored communication with all key audiences.

Cultural Stewardship – Models healthy and positive cultural leadership, rewarding positive efforts and successes, and creating an environment that holds people accountable for their work and behaviours.

Organizational Management – Ultimate responsibility for all university operations relating, ensuring that all reporting areas are human-centred, performing smoothly, and focused on EDI, accessibility and decolonization.

 

The Ideal Candidate

As the ideal candidate, you are an experienced and effective administrative leader who is highly relational and dynamic. You are an outgoing person, who is capable of energizing and inspiring people, while building a foundation of trust with constituents and are invested in the success of the community and the University. You have demonstrated success in managing change, building policies and procedures, and making sound decisions in a complex organization, preferably in the public sector.

 

Qualifications and Experience

While the Search Committee recognizes that no one candidate is likely to meet all qualifications in equal measure, those listed below are desirable and will be used to compare candidates.

 

  • Preference will be given to candidates with an advanced graduate degree, with a doctoral degree or a relevant terminal degree in your field of study.
  • An experienced academic administrative leader with background in research and teaching.
  • Demonstrated skill in strategic financial management and long-term planning.
  • A demonstrated track record of success in managing change, organizational transformation and rebuilding in a unionized environment.
  • Demonstrated success developing and executing on a vision and strategic plan in a complex organizational setting is critical.
  • Experience in the development and/or review of policies, procedures, practices, and processes related to finances, human resources, information technology, and facilities.
  • Experience fostering and maintaining positive relationships and partnerships with community, business, government, and other institutions and organizations.
  • A deep understanding of the higher education landscape and contemporary challenges facing universities.
  • Demonstrated experience applying equity, diversity, and inclusion lenses to senior-level decision-making.
  • Experience acting as a media spokesperson is a strong asset.
  • Ability to communicate in both official languages is required; as an inclusive university with a tricultural mandate, Indigenous candidates need to be fluent in one official language.

You are someone with:

  • A deeply authentic leadership style, capable of building trust through empathy and helping constituents move forward through organizational healing.
  • Exceptional communication skills, and the ability to collectively inspire and motivate large groups of people.
  • Superior skill in financial analysis and planning with a keen ability to establish strategic priorities.
  • The ability to build and lead a high-performing team and engage with internal and external partners to achieve goals and outcomes.
  • Outstanding relational skills, able to quickly build trusting relationships with the entire Laurentian community and its partners.
  • Integrity and creativity, with sound judgment combined with diplomacy and discretion.
  • A credible, collaborative, and consultative leadership style with the ability to empathetically manage change.
  • Decisiveness with the ability to effectively explain decisions and bring clarity to complex issues to a variety of audiences.
  • A high energy level and the capacity to balance multiple priorities while being responsive.

Salary
If you are interested in this opportunity, contact Debra Clinton at dclinton@kbrs.ca, Kyle Steele at ksteele@kbrs.ca, or Dr. Jennie Massey at jmassey@kbrs.ca or submit your full application package online at: https://www.kbrs.ca/Career/16755.

Employment Equity at Laurentian

Laurentian University is an inclusive and welcoming community committed to employment equity. Applications are encouraged from members of equity-seeking communities including women, racialized and Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.

Laurentian University is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free experience to applicants with accessibility needs. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage during the recruitment process. Please contact accommodations@kbrs.ca to request accommodation.

All qualified persons are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

To comply with federal laws, the University is obliged to gather statistical information as to how many applicants for each job vacancy are Canadian citizens / permanent residents of Canada. Applicants need not identify their country of origin or citizenship; however, all applicants must include one of the following statements: “I am a Canadian citizen / permanent resident of Canada”; OR “I am not a Canadian citizen / permanent resident of Canada” in their cover letter. Applications that do not include this information will be deemed incomplete.