Assistant to the Director

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Posting Information:
This posting is for an existing vacancy.

The internal posting deadline for this position is October 22, 2026 at 11:59PM.

Job Description:

Primary Purpose

The Assistant to the Director provides efficient and effective administrative management to the Director, and co-ordinates and directs the day-to-day operations of the Director’s Office. The position autonomously manages or oversees faculty and non-faculty appointments, faculty hiring processes, tenure and promotion processes, annual reviews (merit) of faculty, sabbaticals, and other leave applications and provides independent advice and direction to all Computer Science Faculty in this regard. In addition, the incumbent supervises the Customer Service Coordinator and the Administrative Assistant. The position supports communications from the Director’s Office; as well as gathering appropriate background information to assist the Director in decision making processes. The position provides continuity through academic leadership changes.

Key Accountabilities

Executive Administrative Support

• Provides comprehensive executive assistance to the Director and carries out all duties as assigned to meet the teaching, outreach and research goals and objectives of the School. Is required to schedule appointments, arrange meetings, draft correspondence, and prepare confidential documents on behalf of the Director. The incumbent is also responsible for keeping the Director appraised of any School matters that require their immediate attention.
• Liaises with faculty, staff, students, alumni, external partners and employs appropriate protocol with dignitaries and international guests.
• Acts as the gatekeeper for internal and external contacts. Exercises judgement in determining whether issues or requests for meetings are urgent in nature.
• Handles difficult situations with discretion and confidentiality, including the need for urgent meetings and dealing with distressed students.
• Maintains confidentiality concerning details of the Director’s discussions and correspondence.
• Organizes agendas, support materials, and creates briefing notes for the Director prior to meetings.
• Organizes details for School Council, committees, and meetings, including but not limited to, supporting, and serving as a resource, maintaining meeting agenda and minutes, running election votes, follow-up on relevant business.
• Independently manages the Director’s correspondence, when requested.
• Provides technical writing and proofreading for the Director.
• Facilitate the collection of signatures required and prepare correspondence and confidential documents for the Director’s signature as required.
• Ensures the effective functioning of the Director’s office through meeting management, document creation (e.g., draft correspondence, briefs, presentations, etc.), and travel arrangements.
• Compiles statistical information on behalf of the Director for use in the preparation of accreditation briefs, annual reports, planning documents, etc. The incumbent is responsible for providing secretarial and administrative support for special projects and assists in the preparation and submission of same. This position provides direction to other administrative staff contributing to the preparation of accreditation and planning documents. The Administrative Manager, Office of the Director, maintains the permanent record for the School.
• Provides assistance to the Administrative Officer as needed.

Faculty Relations Administration

• Collects, compiles, and writes summaries of information about faculty for various reports and surveys required by internal committees and external agencies.
• Provides direction and guidance on policies and procedures related to tenure, adjunct appointments, overload, administrative appointments, leaves, retirement, etc.
• Tenure and Promotion
• The incumbent assists in identifying candidates, assists with establishing a School Tenure and Promotion Committee.
• Coordinates tenure and promotion proceedings as outlined in UW Policy 77 - Tenure and Promotion of Faculty Members - and in guidelines established by the Dean of Mathematics Office in consultation with the Director.
• Assists in identifying candidates, collecting all documentation, preparing files for the STPC, arranging STPC meetings, preparing briefs, and reviewing for accuracy and completeness.
• Coordinates the final tenure and promotion submission to the Dean of Mathematics Office. Continuous communication with Dean’s Office regarding FTPC Meetings and preparing the Director with the candidates’ dossiers for these meetings.

Annual Merit of Faculty Members

• Coordinates merit proceedings in consultation with the Director.
• Responsible for establishing School timelines for proceedings in conjunction with those set forth by the Dean of Mathematics Office.
• Specific duties include collecting year-end reports from faculty members, compiling data related to research grants, publications, teaching, and service activities from same, preparing summary forms, and packages for Merit Committee.
• Coordinates the merit proceedings of School’s faculty members in consultation with the Director.
• Responsible for preparing spreadsheets of final merit ratings for Dean’s Office.
• Prepares letters of evaluation for all faculty members in the School.

School Advisory Committee on Appointments (SACA)

• Works closely with the Director in the recruitment of new faculty hires as outlined in UW Policy 76: Faculty Appointments.
• Manages the faculty position opening advertisements for their correctness, seeks approval for their posting, and places advertisements in appropriate venues. This involves communicating with many external agencies, negotiating the costs, identifying the best options for advertising.
• Liaising with the Offices of the Vice President, Academic and Provost and Dean of Mathematics regarding advertising, preparing acknowledgement and refusal letters.
• Responsible for coordinating applications for new and vacant faculty positions.
• Delegates and maintains oversight on the scheduling visits, arranging meetings of the Appointments Committee.
• Advises and provides guidance on policies and procedures to the SACA in recruitment of new faculty hires.
• Maintains statistical database for the SACA chairs.
• In consultation with the Director, prepares final hiring packages for the University Appointments Review Committee (UARC), liaising with the Dean of Mathematics Office.
• Liaises with the university Immigration Specialist regarding immigration requirements for faculty and non-faculty appointments.

Faculty HR Management

• Responsible for the administrative aspects of the faculty and sessional hiring process, including but not limited to, posting advertisements, maintaining, and preparing records for the online application system, maintaining shared database for viewing of application files and short-listed candidates, maintaining schedule of deadlines, meetings, and interview schedules, preparing draft UARC memo.
• Provides faculty members with information on sabbatical application deadlines; reviews and ensures Request for Leave of Absence applications are complete prior to submitting to the Director and Dean of Mathematics Office for approval.
• Provides oversight and direction on the interview process for prospective Faculty interview candidates. This includes ensuring travel, meals, accommodations, scheduling and meeting space has been arranged.
• Handles and prepares all part-time and definite term appointments for postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, research associates and research professors. The School has a significant amount of research funding and, therefore, generates a large number of appointments. This process includes working with the faculty members and visitors to prepare appointment forms for submission to the Dean of Mathematics Office, working with the Administrative Supervisor to determine space requirements, checking academic qualifications, processing Labour Market Opinions (LMO) for foreign workers and providing information on benefits and other related university procedures.
• Ensures and oversees all appropriate documentation is completed for visitors to the School. This includes the Visitor Invitation and where appropriate Immigration requirements. The invitation covers items such as the purpose of the visit, financial implications, timelines of the visit and any requirements the visitor needs to complete prior to the visit.

Immigration Administration

• Responsible for immigration matters pertaining to hiring or inviting non-Canadians as part of the school’s business, including submission of foreign academic recruitment summary to the University’s immigration specialist.
• Provides guidance to the School and Administrative staff on international hiring requirements. Is the point of contact for Immigration Legal Services.
• Works with the immigration specialist to ensure compliance with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada rules and regulations to reduce potential liability and risk to the school, Faculty, and University.
• Research rules and regulations to ensure immigration compliance for atypical appointments.
• Provides immigration guidance to the Administrative Officer as it relates to student and staff hires.

Staff Management

• Provides direct support and supervision for the Customer Service Coordinator and the Administrative Assistant.
• Delegates work to these roles such that these positions can provide back-up and support to this role. Provides training as required for these roles.
• Ensures the resource management of this role is maintained in an efficient and effective manner.
• Provides direction with respect to Faculty recruitment, hires, visitors, etc. for these roles.
• The position has oversight on the financial management of budget areas, such as office supplies, Faculty recruitment expenses, as they relate to this role.
• Provides guidance and direction on the staff use of their P-card to make purchases, donations, etc. and completes the associated monthly financial reconciliations, in accordance with university policy.

Other Administrative Duties

• Provides direction on HR matters to the Administrative Staff in the absence of the Administrative Officer.
• Ensures the main Administrative Offices for the School present a proper image and decorum for the School.
• Uses P-card to make purchases, donations, etc. and completes the associated monthly financial reconciliations, in accordance with university policy.
• Maintains procedure manuals for this position and implements changes to procedures and processes as directed by the Faculty or University.
• Based on first-hand knowledge, independently edits school website information.
• Manages committee mailing lists and SharePoint sites.
• Assists the Associate Directors as needed.
• All other duties as assigned by the Director and/or Administrative Officer.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Postsecondary education in a discipline related to business administration or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Experience

• 5+ years administrative support experience in progressively responsible positions, preferably in an academic environment.
• Experience with the application and interpretation of policies and procedures is necessary, preferably within an academic environment.
• Experience with faculty hiring, appointments, tenure and promotion policies and procedures would be an asset.
• 3+ years supervisory experience.
• Experience transitioning and guiding senior leadership changes.
• Financial and human resources experience is required.
• Experience with research grants and granting agency eligibility and documentation requirements is preferred.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Well-developed organizational, analytical, problem-solving, customer service, and communication (oral and written) skills.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain high levels of confidentiality and deal with sensitive matters with discretion.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills with a demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with professionalism, tact, and diplomacy.
• Must possess cultural awareness, sensitivity, and patience to communicate and interact effectively with a wide range of people whose first language may not be English.
• Willingness and ability to adapt to changing administrative and financial systems with a commitment to process improvement.
• Problem-solving skills, sound judgment, and initiative with the ability to make decisions independently.
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team in a busy and varied environment with conflicting deadlines and a large volume of work.
• Willingness to adapt to changing priorities and schedules with flexibility.
• Demonstrated experience with taking minutes.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and demands with a high level of initiative, accuracy, and detail.
• Advanced computer skills and knowledge of software applications used in an office setting, including virtual meeting platforms, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, internet web page editing, online forms, and financial and human resource management.
• Ability to work with little supervision.

Equity Statement

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion.  As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at hrhelp@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.