OUR COMPANY BACKGROUND & CULTURE

UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario’s university sector, proudly serving over 44,000 members across six universities and eighteen sector organizations. Our purpose is to bring greater retirement peace of mind to the university sector by investing with integrity and serving members with care. As a sector-wide plan designed for growth, our doors are open to all Ontario universities.

UPP is recognized as one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for 2026. Together, we’re a team of progressive thinkers and agile doers operating within a fast-paced culture of collaboration and respect. We believe in bringing smart and capable people together to create, solve, and grow with a clear shared vision and values of integrity, inclusivity, ingenuity, and impact.

Our culture is intentionally welcoming and purposefully rooted in equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation (EDI&R). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace.

As a pension plan, UPP approaches investing through a long-term lens to generate and safeguard value. Our commitment to investing responsibly accounts for material risks that impact our investment portfolio to generate sufficient risk-adjusted returns to meet the pension needs of our members.

Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other.

THE ROLE

As the Managing Director, Service Experience, you are a senior leader within UPP’s Pension Services Division, reporting to the Chief Pension Services Officer. You are responsible for shaping how members and employers experience UPP’s services and for ensuring that service delivery reflects UPP’s commitment to quality, trust, and consistency. Through strategic leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and a strong focus on service excellence, you influence how experience considerations are embedded across Pension Services and how UPP builds and sustains strong relationships with its members and employers.

This role is based in downtown Toronto in a hybrid work environment, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and in-office (minimum two days per week in-office).

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES

The Managing Director, Service Experience will have responsibility for but not limited to the following:

• Define and lead UPP’s overall member and employer experience strategy that achieves UPP’s strategic goal of “Serve with Care”, working closely with CEO & CPSO.
• Translate organizational goals and service principles into clear experience priorities that guide how Pension Services engages with and delivers value to members and employers.
• Ensure all interactions, products and services deliver a consistent, high-quality experience aligned with UPP’s mission and brand.
• Hold accountability for the quality, timeliness, and consistency of initial service interactions with members, employers, and unions.
• Ensure that inquiries and requests received through front-line channels are addressed accurately and with a strong customer-focused approach.
• Maintain oversight of front-line service performance across channels, including adherence to established service standards.
• Act as a senior point of contact for employer leaders, maintaining close relationships to understand service needs, address issues, and support effective ongoing service delivery.
• Act as the primary experience representative in cross-functional discussions with Pension Services, Product, and Technology teams.
• Use data, insights, and feedback to assess the effectiveness of member and employer experiences across all channels.
• Identify experience-related trends, issues, and improvement opportunities and work with relevant Pension Services leaders to address them.
• Ensure experience performance informs decision-making, prioritization, and service improvement activities.
• Sponsor change management and adoption activities to support successful implementation of experience-related changes.
• Sponsor the development and maintenance of experience-related knowledge, standards, and guidance to support consistent service delivery.
• Partner closely with Communications to ensure service insights inform member education, with Communications leading education strategy, content development, standards, and final approval, and Pension Services co-developing materials for technical accuracy and delivering education sessions within that framework.
• Lead the planned transition of selected pension administration activities from Specialized Operations to the Experience teams over time, partnering closely with the Lead, Specialized Operations and Enablement & Controls to define scope, manage change, ensure appropriate training and knowledge transfer, and maintain accuracy, timeliness, and service quality.
• Ensure that member and employer experience requirements are incorporated into Pension Services initiatives, including service changes, product enhancements, and technology-enabled solutions.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Postgraduate degree (MBA, M.Sc., LL.B., or equivalent), or significant related education and experience.
• Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in pension administration, customer experience, service optimization, financial services, or a comparable regulated sector.
• Experience leading large-scale service or contact center operations, including the design and management of service performance measurement programs such as CSAT, NPS, or equivalent metrics.
• Demonstrated understanding of the impact of employer good and bad data quality on pension administration, service delivery, and member experience.
• Experience working with unions and in unionized environments, including navigating complex stakeholder relationships.
• Demonstrated leadership experience overseeing employer onboarding, client or member services, or similar large-scale service delivery functions.
• In-depth understanding of the university environment, including experience with institutional decision-making processes, governance structures, and complex stakeholder relationships within the post-secondary sector.
• Strong knowledge of defined benefit pension plans, plan conversions, and employer onboarding processes.
• Proven ability to lead, develop, and inspire cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams in complex and fast-paced environments.
• Advanced problem-solving, strategic thinking, and analytical capabilities, with a record of driving process improvement and innovation.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build consensus.
• Professional designations such as CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist) and PPAC (Pension Plan Administration Certificate) are considered strong assets.
• Experience with digital service transformation, risk management, and compliance is preferred.
• Bilingualism in English and French is considered an asset.

ATTRIBUTES

• Customer-focused mindset with empathy and service orientation.
• Strategic thinker comfortable with complexity and ambiguity.
• Strong relationship builder and influencer.
• Results-oriented with a strong sense of accountability.
• Inspiring and empathetic leader.
• Adaptable and agile in a changing environment.
• High integrity and ethical standards.
• Commitment to service excellence and innovation.

LIFE AT UPP

Do work that matters. We are duty-bound to serve our members’ interests, and it’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly. That’s why we’ve ingrained sustainability in our work from day one—to ensure our members have a resilient future to retire into, both today and for generations to come.

Stronger together. Collaboration is how UPP was born, and it’s how we work with each other and our partners day in, day out. No one at UPP is just a number (even if they are excellent at math) and every win is a shared win.

Grow every day. You’ll have the opportunity to work on unique, once-in-a-career projects that maximize your skill set and probably teach you some new ones—at any stage in your career.

Prioritize wellness. At UPP, wellness takes many forms. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring our people are cared for in the ways that matter to them. Check out some highlights of our inclusive employee-focused benefits program including:

• Defined benefit pension plan
• Flexible hybrid work model
• Paid time off – vacations, personal days and wellness days
• Work remotely up to eight weeks/year
• Comprehensive group benefits including medical, dental, vision, etc.
• Extended paramedical and mental health service coverage
• Health care and lifestyle spending accounts
• Fertility treatments, paid parental leave, and gender affirmation coverage
• Education Assistance program

This posting will remain open for a minimum of seven (7) days and will remain open until a sufficient number of qualified applications are received or finalist candidates have been identified.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may be used to support certain stages of the recruitment process, including sourcing, screening, and assessment. All hiring decisions involve human review and intervention by UPP employees.

UPP enthusiastically welcomes applications from all qualified applicants and especially invites people with lived experience as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or as a member of another Human Rights Code protected group that faces barriers to employment to apply. Our goal is to create a barrier-free experience for every candidate throughout the recruitment process.

UPP respects your privacy. For information on how UPP handles the personal information you provide during the application process, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Statement.