Assistant Director, Administration and Operations

Organization:

Museum of Anthropology The University of British Columbia

Deadline:

Mar. 16, 2025

Organization Description:

The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC is Canada’s foremost university museum. The Museum is unique not only because of its physical setting but because it has created unusually close relationships with cultural communities in British Columbia and around the world through experimental and collaborative research methods and exhibitions. Part of MOA’s originality comes from it being a public, research and teaching museum. The cutting-edge scholarship of the Museum makes possible a range of exhibitions and events that cut across traditional disciplinary divisions to provoke creative engagement and dialogue. It is also one of British Columbia’s most popular museums, welcoming over 180,000 visitors each year.

Website:

http://moa.ubc.ca

Job Description:

The Assistant Director, Administration and Operations is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of the Museum’s administrative, earned revenue, IT and facility operations to support its academic, research, teaching and public activities. The position oversees the Museum’s finances, human resources, public sector funding, and visitor services (admissions, shop, facility rentals, and membership) in such a way that enhances the Museum’s financial viability and operational stability and safety and public profile. The position serves on the Museum’s management committee, participating in strategic planning and operational goals. The position oversees MOA’s Administration and Operations Department.

Organizational Status
The position reports to the Museum’s Director. Together with the Museum’s Management Committee, is responsible for setting strategic and operational priorities of MOA’s major activities and initiatives and provides direction and supervision to the Museum’s project team. This position communicates directly with artists, curators, conservators, donors, and other institutions from all over the world. Works with a variety of UBC departments and units, faculty members and various internal stakeholders across campus. Works with multiple vendors, suppliers, contract designers and editors. Engages and builds reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities, cultural communities, artists, and other partners.

Responsibilities:

Worked Performed
Strategic
• Provides leadership, management and administrative oversight of the following areas of the museum’s operations: administrative, earned revenue, IT and facility operations to support its academic, research, teaching and public activities.
• Develops strategies to improve Museum operations, advance strategic priorities, and implement new initiatives;
• Develops business/financial plans to meet specific programming and operational initiatives.
• Acts as Deputy Director when the Director is unavailable
• Works with the Director and Management Committee to ensure institutional targets are being met.
• Provides authoritative administrative advice to the Director on finance, human resources, resources allocation, and implementation of strategic priorities.
• Aligns overall management and administrative functions of the Museum within its mission, vision and strategic priorities and those of the Faculty of Arts and UBC;
• Develops and implements changes to improve administrative efficiency and internal controls in support of new initiatives and priorities within the Museum, Faculty of Arts and UBC;
• Develops, implements and oversees organizational changes to meet objectives of new initiatives and evolving needs with the Museum.;
Financial
• Oversees all financial activity in the Museum and the development of financial models to manage Museum budgets, funding allocations, revenue and expense projection and analysis in support of business operations, strategic priorities and long term (5-10 year) planning; oversees the development of systems and processes to resolve problems and improve management of financial resources;
• Forecasts trends and salary commitments and trends in attendance and other earned revenue/
• Oversees the Museum’s operating budget, developing annual and multi-year budgets and projects, setting revenue targets, and monitoring expenses and revenue.
• Develops business plans, budget projections, statistical and financial reports. Prepares budgets for specific projects and grant applications.
• Authorizes all payments and expenditures, and ensures that all financial activities adhere to university guidelines and policies.
• Serves on exhibition and other major project committees, monitoring budgets, and negotiating and preparing contracts with consultants and service providers in accordance to university polices and guidelines.
• Liaises with UBC Legal on contract issues and with Risk Management on insurance issues.

Human Resources
• Oversees human resource management, providing leadership in a complex HR environment featuring faculty, a range of museum professional and unionized staff, students, Volunteers Associates and interns.
• Provides leadership and guidance by developing and implementing sound performance management practices, ensuring training needs are identified and opportunities are offered, and by developing and implementing practices to build a mutually respectful atmosphere within the museum.
• Works with museum staff to develop institutional hiring strategies and to ensure classification level and budgetary commitments are appropriate; ensures new positions support MOA’s goals; develops and oversees orientation program for all new staff.
• Works with relevant staff supervisors, the MOA director and Arts HR, as appropriate, to review performance, deal with workload issues, manage inter-staff conflict, and address staff issues.
• Provides information and advice to management and staff regarding the interpretation of agreements governing conditions of employment.

Public Funding
• Oversees MOA’s public funding activities.
• Is the primary liaison with MOA’s major museum funders including Canadian Heritage, Canada Council and the BC Arts Council and is responsible for overseeing the submission of annual operating grants and all accompanying financial data and statistics.
• Oversees the financial management of operating and project grants and is responsible for ensuring all interim and final reporting including financial reporting is completed.
• Oversees the updating of financial information with the Canadian Arts Database as required. Prepares statistics for outside agencies (e.g. Council for Business and the Arts in Canada, Museum Assistance Programme, Statistics Canada, various museum directories, etc.).
Earned Revenue
• Oversees MOA’s earned revenue activities including the Shop, Admissions, Membership and Facility Rentals, to ensure that these areas support MOA’s mission and mandate and provide excellent service to MOA’s public.
• Chairs the administration department meetings to ensure appropriate coordination between the various business operations.
• Oversees outside service providers such as the MOA Cedar Café handling contractual issues and ensuring service standards.
• Ensures that all earned revenue operations have the necessary resources to function effectively including systems, staffing, and facilities.
Infrastructure Oversight
• Provides leadership in the oversight of MOA’s physical and IT infrastructure to ensure they are maintained in ways that meet MOA’s overall research, teaching and programming goals.
• Oversees the IT Manager to ensure that IT systems are robust and issues addressed in a timely way.
• Oversees the Facility Manager to ensure that the facility is properly managed. Negotiates with UBC custodial, building operations and other departments to ensure appropriate service levels.
• Manages space use and assignments within the museum building and related areas.
• Oversees MOA’s relationship with UBC Security and UBC Risk Management Services to ensure MOA’s needs are met and the collections are secure.
• Researches and develops safety and security procedures within the Museum considering the museum as a workplace and public facility and repository of collections
• Oversees the museum’s Disaster Emergency Response plan to ensure that all staff are aware of procedures, ensures yearly training takes place, ensures relevant manuals are up to date, and that debriefing sessions and actionable items are compiled after each incident.
• Provides oversight to MOA’s Health and Safety Committee, and is responsible for ensuring MOA’s Incident Response documents are updated regularly and annual staff training is conducted.
Department Head
• Leads the Administration and Operations Department.
• Develops policies and procedures relevant to the Department and the Museum.
• Provides leadership through the development and dissemination of the values, objectives, and vision of the Museum
• Ensures the effective management of personnel and resources within their department by:
• Setting and monitoring annual work plans for each departmental member
• Ensuring the annual work plan corresponds to adequate budgetary support, and making adjustments as required
• Developing and submitting departmental budgets to the management committee Coordinating the work of their department with other departments (through the Management Committee)
• Tracking department and individual work plans and budgets throughout the year against ongoing plans, timelines, and financial concerns
• Prepares and conducts annual performance reviews of relevant department members and makes recommendations to the Director for merit increases where appropriate and when available
Provides end-of-year departmental report and collates all necessary information for the Museum’s Annual Report and any other reports or documents as required
• Advocates for the department and the Museum in public and private meetings and events as appropriate
• Represents the Museum in university, civic, regional, national, or international levels as required
Ensures optimal communication between the Management Committee and the members of all departments
• Intervenes, arbitrates, and resolves work or personnel-related conflicts among or between departmental members.
• Ensures open and constructive communication; encourages respect and support between colleagues, and models positive attitude to staff.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of seven years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Preferred Qualifications
Graduate degree in Business Administration preferred. Administrative experience including supervisory experience. Excellent organizational, oral and written communication skills. Able to work well under pressure. Completion of the CPA accounting program (CA, CGA or CMA) is an asset.

Skills: Ability to work in a highly organized and independent manner, following policy guidelines, without supervision. Ability to efficiently organize many projects within the same time frame. Knowledge of budgeting and finance. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of internal and external contacts. Ability to efficiently work under deadline pressures and budget limitations. Demonstrated skill in oral and written communication. Ability to foster a diverse and inclusive environment in the workplace. Ability to Mentor and develop critical talent for the museum.

A high degree of independent decision-making in situations calling for independent judgment and ability to interpret museum policies, philosophy, complex organizing and problem solving, (e.g. VIP requests, First Nations/community relations, consultative services for museum professionals, etc.) is required. Ability to effectively lead committees and plan meetings. Ability to identify, obtain, and effectively manage organizational resources (e.g., people, materials, assets, budgets). Ability to develop and implement policies and procedures. Ability to motivate employees. Ability to manage complex financial arrangements. Ability to design and implement financial models. Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing. Ability to effectively market, promote, and sell products and services. Ability to work effectively independently and in a team environment.

How to Apply:

All applications must be made through the UBC Career portal - JR20185.

https://ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcstaffjobs/job/UBC-Vancouver-Campus/Assistant-Director--Administration_JR20185

Remuneration:

$8,305.08 - $12,952.33 CAD Monthly The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.