About CareNext

CareNext is building the future of connected, people-powered healthcare through real-world innovation and co-development. Established by the Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) in partnership with the University of Waterloo, CareNext integrates human-centred design, applied research, and structured delivery to accelerate improvements in care, experience, and system performance.

POSITION VACANCY: Innovation / CareNext

POSITION: Manager, Innovation - CareNext Coalition

LOCATION: WRHN @ Midtown

HOURS OF WORK: Monday to Friday; Days; Hybrid work schedule

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Manager, Innovation supporting the CareNext Coalition, leads the planning, coordination, and execution of CareNext projects and initiatives, ensuring strategic priorities are translated into clear, actionable, and measurable outcomes. This role drives both the operational system (delivery cadence, standards, workflows, resource allocation) and the engagement system (UW partnership coordination, ecosystem alignment, program operations like the Graham Seed Fund, and internal convening support). In addition, this role is responsible for maintaining operational discipline across innovation projects, managing timelines, risks, dependencies, and documentation, and fostering effective collaboration among multidisciplinary teams, including design, clinical, operational, and external partner stakeholders. Serving as the central coordination point for delivery, the Manager, Innovation, works closely with the VP and Chief Innovation Officer to sustain the operating rhythm of the Co-Creation & Delivery Cell, supporting workflows, reporting practices, and standards for execution. Through structured planning, proactive communication, and disciplined problem-solving, the role ensures that insights generated through co-creation and user-centred design activities are translated into implementable solutions within the WRHN ecosystem. This position contributes to continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and strengthening organizational knowledge sharing, with decisions and actions directly influencing project outcomes, team effectiveness, partner confidence, and the credibility of CareNext initiatives.

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities:

Planning, Execution & Delivery: Lead the planning, execution, and delivery of assigned innovation initiatives, ensuring disciplined progress from concept through completion. This role is responsible for developing and maintaining project charters, sprint plans, RAID logs, decision logs, and supporting documentation, while establishing a shared source of truth for timelines, dependencies, risks, actions, and decisions. The position applies Agile, Lean, or hybrid project management methodologies to promote transparency, adaptability, and accountability, and tracks milestones while preparing clear progress reports, dashboards, and summaries for leadership, funders, and external partners.

Engagement & Partnerships: This role will maintain and strengthen engagement with ecosystem partners—including Communitech, CAN Health, Ontario Health, industry collaborators, and community organizations—preparing materials, organizing touchpoints, and ensuring follow-through on VP-level commitments. The Manager will also oversee the operational cycle of the Graham Seed Fund (GSF), providing administration, coordination with UW counterparts, and support for funded teams while ensuring alignment with program objectives and reporting requirements. Additionally, the role provides operational support for CareNext convenings such as the CareNext Collective, the Innovation Community of Practice, partner workshops, showcases, and co-development engagements, managing logistics, materials, and facilitation as needed. Finally, the Manager will develop and coordinate internal and external storytelling, case studies, communications, and visibility activities to amplify CareNext’s strategic narrative under the guidance of the VP Innovation & CHIO.

Co-Creation, Strategic Alignment & Value Creation: Coordinate and sequence the work of clinicians, designers, vendors, and internal partners during scoping, prototyping, testing, and evaluation. Prepare and organize inputs for design activities (session planning, stakeholder alignment, background materials, scheduling). Support required approvals and operational enablers — including privacy reviews, ethics submissions, procurement pathways, and data-sharing agreements — ensuring documentation is complete and timely. Translate design outputs into operational documentation, including implementation requirements, workflow implications, while ensuring innovation efforts are strategically aligned with WRHN’s enterprise strategy, planning processes, and financial decision frameworks. Translate strategic priorities into actionable work plans and milestone paths, supporting the development of impact measures, evaluation approaches, and performance storytelling to demonstrate system value, and identifying opportunities for scale, spread, or further investment based on evidence and organizational readiness.

Portfolio & Learning Infrastructure: Support the CareNext portfolio intake and prioritization process by developing scopes, assessing readiness, and aligning timelines. Capture lessons learned and contribute to case studies, playbooks, process maps, and scale-up frameworks. Coordinate the operational aspects of innovation events (design sprints, challenge activities, showcases, demo days), ensuring logistics and sequencing are well supported. Support the Director in maintaining the operating rhythm of the Co-Creation & Delivery Cell (stand-ups, planning cycles, retrospectives, documentation).

Stakeholder Management: Maintain proactive communication with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring alignment, transparency, and readiness for next steps. Examples: Prepare materials and updates for partners, clinical teams, and design staff; coordinate meetings, touchpoints, and follow-ups; escalate alignment issues as needed.

Team Leadership & Culture: Provide mentorship, performance coaching, and clear expectations across the Co-Creation & Delivery Cell, fostering a psychologically safe, learning-oriented environment grounded in disciplined experimentation and user-centered practice. Ensure alignment, maintain effective communication flow, and cultivate a shared purpose across design, project management, and partner-facing work. Strengthen team capacity for co-creation, applied research, workflow redesign, evidence generation, and real-world implementation, supporting both individual growth and collective excellence.

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum 8 years’ experience leading initiatives in innovation delivery, project / program management, healthcare transformation, or applied design environments.
• Project & Program management experience
• Ability to anticipate risks, manage dependencies, and maintain clarity for teams and partners.
• Ability to operate effectively in cognitively demanding environments; multiple concurrent projects, evolving priorities, and tight deadlines, requiring sustained attention, sound judgment, and adaptability.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and interpersonal skills

APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL THE POSITION IS FILLED.

EMPLOYEES OF LEGACY GRAND RIVER HOSPITAL ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT THEIR APPLICATION ELECTRONICALLY USING THE EMPATH SYSTEM.

Where required, as per the collective agreement, the internal recruitment process will be completed prior to the consideration of external applications.

Waterloo Regional Health Centre is committed to fair and equitable employment and in our recruitment and selection practices. We strongly believe in inclusion and diversity within our organization, and welcome all applicants including, but not limited to racialized communities, all religions and ethnicities, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, Indigenous people, and all others who may contribute to the further diversification of our Hospital community. We are committed to providing and fostering a respectful workplace for all employees, free from violence and harassment.

Accommodations are available during all stages of the recruitment process in accordance with the Human Rights Code. WRHN is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) to provide an inclusive, barrier free workplace. We will accommodate the accessibility needs of individuals with disabilities to support participation in all aspects of the recruitment process. Should you require this accommodation, please contact Human Resources.

If you are seeking employment on a temporary work or study permit we recommend reviewing work permit restrictions as it applies to healthcare organizations in Canada. Individuals holding a work or study permit seeking employment in the healthcare sector may be required to complete additional steps in the process. This may also apply to current employees seeking renewal of their work permits. It is the accountability of the applicant and/or employee to ensure they are adhering to their specific work permit restrictions.