Staff - Non Union Job Category M&P - AAPS Job Profile AAPS Salaried - Student Management, Level C Job Title Senior Manager of Academic and Special Programs Department Administrative Management | School of Biomedical Engineering | Faculty of Medicine Compensation Range $7,502.25 - $10,788.33 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. Posting End Date July 12, 2026 Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date. Job End Date Ongoing At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. Job Summary The Senior Manager of Academic and Special Programs has both key strategic and operational roles for the planning and delivery of the accredited undergraduate and graduate programs, which include MASc, MEng, PhD, and Engineers in Scrubs (EiS), within the School. Programs must meet or exceed national accreditation standards. The Senior Manager of Academic and Special Programs also provides strategic leadership and direction in relation to admissions at the School of Biomedical Engineering and acts as an advisor on the academic procedures and policies for the undergraduate (BASc) and graduate programs (MEng, MASc , PhD and EiS) in the School, navigating the complexities of the School being a partnership between two faculties, the Faculties of Medicine and Applied Science.. In close consultation with the Directors of the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, the Senior Manager of Academic and Special Programs supports the academic and professional development of undergraduate and graduate students. This is accomplished through student support systems, including admissions, academic scholarships and awards, student records and graduation requirements, course scheduling and timetabling, advising and mentoring, recruitment and retention, and student development. The incumbent will also be responsible for leading special projects, such as the School’s Indigenous Engagement Program and will work closely with the School’s Partnerships Manager on summer undergraduate research opportunities and coordinator the Vancouver Summer Program. The Senior Manager will oversee the development and implementation of effective admissions and recruitment strategies to ensure recruitment and admissions policies are effective and competitive. The Senior Manager is also responsible for evaluating the School’s admission and recruitment program and procedures and developing new strategies to ensure competitiveness, effectiveness, and success in attracting, and retaining highly qualified prospective students. This position will also be responsible for overseeing community outreach activities and career development networks. The Senior Manager will be responsible for ensuring a balance of all priorities as well as directing overall workflow in an effective and systematic manner. The position also develops programs and projects for the academic programs and contributes to the implementation and tracking of the strategic direction of the School of Biomedical Engineering student services by identifying best practices and improving efficiencies across programs. In addition, the incumbent is responsible for the synthesis of and reporting on student academic information and statistics related to the academic programs of the School. Organizational Status The School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is a partnership between the Faculties of Applied Science and Medicine, established in 2017. The school is a nucleus for education and training, research, and innovation in biomedical engineering, creating new knowledge, new academic and training programs, and fostering translation and innovation. Its vision is to transform health and healthcare for all, achieved through innovative research and education at the convergence of engineering, medicine and biology. Through collaborative, innovative, and interdisciplinary approaches and building on UBC’s academic and research excellence, the School of Biomedical Engineering aspires to be a global leader in biomedical engineering research, education and translation. The SBME has two locations on Vancouver’s campus, the Gordon B Shrum building and the Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). For more information about the School of Biomedical Engineering, please visit https://www.bme.ubc.ca/ The Senior Manager of Academic and Special Programs reports directly to the Director of Strategic Planning and Operations, and to the Director of the Undergraduate Program and the Director of the Graduate Program for strategic direction. This position supports the School Director on academic matters as needed and works cooperatively with other staff, faculty and students to ensure that common goals are established and achieved. The incumbent will act as the primary liaison with student management personnel across UBC departments, schools and faculties. The incumbent also provides day-to-day management of four support staff and an Assistant Academic and Special Projects Manager. Work Performed Plans and develops both short and long-term strategies for the School’s admissions and recruitment program. Leads operational implementation and assessment of the School’s admissions and recruitment strategies to ensure competitive recruitment and retention of prospective students. Responsible for providing oversight and management of the accreditation process and ensuring student programs meet accreditation requirements as laid out by Engineers Canada. Provides day-to-day leadership and managerial direction to the School’s academic team and develops, facilitates, and evaluates training programs for staff. Evaluates the effectiveness of admissions policies and evaluation criteria for the selection, enrolment, retention, student engagement, graduate outcomes and recommends changes to the School Director, and Directors of the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. Evaluates the operational plan for the School's academic programs through the development, coordination, management, and monitoring of policies, procedures, and systems. Determines deadlines, schedules and priorities for several overlapping areas of responsibility, balancing operational requirements, strategic considerations, and equity between projects. Provides strategic direction in the evaluation of the academic programs for recruitment, admissions and academic advising by making recommendations for improvement in these areas. Provides leadership in establishing admissions policies and procedures that foster equity, diversity and inclusiveness in the School’s community. Develops and oversees the implementation and assessment of a communication strategy aimed at keeping current students informed of progress throughout their degrees and of the services available to support them throughout their time in SBME. Acts as the academic advisor, to undergraduate and graduate students, and as a key resource person for faculty members, providing subject matter expertise, advice and knowledge of complex academic policies and administrative procedures, and influences student decision making. Leads the process of student appeals at the School level, working closely with the Directors of the Undergraduate and Graduate programs, and the Director of Engineering Student Services. Identifies opportunities for improvements in curriculum and co-curriculum/extracurriculum activities and the overall student experience. Expands and implements targeted support programs for students. Supervises, assigns work to and performance manages the Academic Program Assistants as appropriate. Responsible for working with staff to review performance and determine appropriate professional development. Evaluates and interprets unique and non-standard application criteria and provides relevant advising and counselling to students. Oversees and directs support staff in the processing of applications and identifies situations that may require special adjudication or consideration (i.e. international students, students with disabilities). Responsible for the daily operations in support of current and prospective students, ensuring effective service while achieving program and institutional objectives. Provides advice, together with the undergraduate and graduate advisors, to students experiencing academic and/or personal difficulties and identifies students in crisis, either personal or academic, and advises on available academic options and personal support services. Refers to appropriate campus units including Counselling Services, Engineering Student Services, Student Health Services, Centre for Accessibility, tutoring, and mentoring. Works with Early Alert to both report concerns and offer reach outs, tracks all student interactions in OAMS, and follows upon student cases as required. Acts as a resource for the School Director, Director of Strategic Planning and Operations, Academic Program Directors, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues related to teaching, courses, and students, including the interpretation of University, School, and Program policies and action in situations not covered by existing policies. Manages admissions to the biomedical engineering academic programs, including application process, onboarding and registration process, awards processes, resource allocation. Admission management involves complex assessment of various criteria including academic excellence, supervisory capacity, work experience and funding. Develops, writes and continually updates comprehensive manuals, templates, and documents used for various processes across the academic programs including comprehensive student and administrative manuals. Oversees the distribution of these manuals/documents. Provides advice to the Director of Strategic Planning and Operations on decisions related to expense allocation for each program area. Monitors student progress, including meeting timelines, program requirements, student supervisory issues and academic appeals, ensuring that all graduation requirements have been completed. Designs and develops new and innovative offerings to meet the educational needs of the School’s graduate students by researching issues, working with UBC graduate students and faculty and staff in other units, networking, and creating curriculum. Works with the curriculum committees of both the graduate and undergraduate programs and writes and manages, including consulting with other departments the curriculum changes in both programs. Serves as the single point subject matter expert and works as a key resource to complete the undergraduate program accreditation process working closely with SBME leadership, SBME faculty, APSC staff and other stakeholders across UBC. Collaborates with the Partnerships Manager in developing a mentoring program for the School’s students, working with the School’s students and faculty to develop a more organized portfolio of outreach. Prepares reports related to recruitment, admissions, scheduling, evaluations, and student advising services. Liaises with Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to manage graduate student academic progress. Responsible for the administrative processes related to instructional and course coordination of the academic programs. Liaises with the Faculties of Applied Science and Medicine and other programs across UBC as necessary to organize course offerings in the undergraduate and graduate programs. Liaises with the School's HR team in identifying Teaching Assistant needs and training requirements. Coordinates student recruitment events locally, nationally and internationally, in collaboration with other staff. Evaluates and analyzes effectiveness of events and strategies for the future. In consultation with Communications & Engagement Manager and School Leadership, develops, implements, and assesses an effective strategic marketing and recruitment plan for academic programs that will result in recruitment and retention of high caliber and diverse students from BC, Canada, and diverse regions around the world. Responsible for developing content for the program websites and ensuring the School's academic programs online content accuracy, working with the Communications & Engagement Manager to ensure the program web pages are accurate and current, and newsletters to students are published in timely manner. Manages and assists with the development of special projects related to academics assigned by the Director of the Undergraduate Program, the Director of the Graduate Program, the School Director and the Director of Strategic Planning and Operations. Supports program quality assurance and evaluation by compiling and analyzing reports/metrics on historical enrolments, grade and student data related to the academic programs as needed by School Leadership. Carries out any other related duties as necessary. Consequence of Error/Judgement The Senior Manager of Academic and Special Programs exercises considerable judgment upon a thorough knowledge of procedures, guidelines and regulations, and must demonstrate tact and discretion in their communication with fellow staff, faculty and students. Failure to use good judgement, organize work, or provide accurate information regarding the School's academic programs, key activities, and related communications would have a serious direct or indirect impact on overall operations, development, financial stability, accreditation and extending to exposure to legal action for the School. Inappropriate management of confidential documents and information could have an adverse effect on faculty, staff or students, or on UBC or affiliated hospitals. Supervision Received This position reports to the Director of Strategic Planning and Operations and supports the portfolios of and takes directions from the Directors of the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. Must be highly self-directed, take initiative, and work independently under the general direction of the assigned Director(s) and as part of a team environment. Supervision Given Provides day to day management and responsible for the hiring, training and supervision of Academic Program Assistants (four positions) and an Assistant Academic and Special Projects Manager. Allocates and supervises work assignments. Works cooperatively with other staff, faculty and students to ensure that common goals are established and achieved. May oversee the work of temporary staff. Minimum Qualifications Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of four to five years of related experience, or an 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 Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of four to five years of related experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience with university student management environment preferred. Proven supervisory and interpersonal skills with the ability to develop a strong cohesive unit. Experience using student administrative and advising systems including Student Information Service Centre SISC, eVision, Canvas, Scientia, Faculty Service Centre FSC and OAMS preferred. Strong written and oral communication skills are required, including persuasive writing, writing for publications, and communication with major stakeholders. Proven ability to support, engage and lead an inclusive work environment where diversity is valued. Ability to deal with a diversity of people in a courteous, calm, and effective manner. Ability to approach interactions with an awareness of sensitive issues. Ability to be sensitive to the needs of diverse constituents and to recognize and respond effectively to physical and mental health issues in the workplace. Ability to exercise tact and discretion when handling sensitive and/or confidential matters with both domestic and international students. Ability to address and moderate interpersonal conflict by confronting issues and taking appropriate action. Ability to analyse and interpret data, determine implications, and provide recommendations. Ability to adapt to changing priorities and work effectively in a multi-tasking environment under pressure with a high volume of work and critical deadlines. Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail. Strong organizational, planning, and time management skills. Ability to work both independently and within a team environment. Ability to exercise good judgment and initiative in handling non-routine matters. Ability to analyze and interpret university policies and regulations related to programs and students. Ability to learn new technology quickly via self-exploration and experimentation. Ability to work flexibly on weekends or weeknights at certain times. The University of British Columbia is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities globally. A large part of what makes us unique is the community of engaged students, faculty, and staff who are collectively committed to shaping a better world. Recognized as a leading employer in British Columbia and Canada, UBC supports inspired students, faculty and staff on their journey of discovery, and challenges them to realize their greatest potential. New ideas, changing infrastructure, innovative technology, and fresh approaches are opening up possibilities for the future of research, teaching, and work. Are you ready to embrace the future together? Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, and/or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. If you have any accommodation or accessibility needs during the job application process, please contact the Centre for Workplace Accessibility at workplace.accessibility@ubc.ca.