Senior Manager, Research Programs & Operations

Senior Manager of Research Operations

About OSCIA

The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) is a unique not-for-profit farm organization whose diverse membership has a significant presence in all agricultural areas of the province and across all major sectors. The mission of OSCIA is to facilitate responsible economic management of soil, water, air and crops through development and communication of innovative farming practices. OSCIA is a leader in agricultural program delivery, including cost-share funding distribution, educational workshop offerings for farmers, and administration of on-farm applied research and knowledge transfer opportunities.

Job Summary

The Senior Manager, Research Programs & Operations is the people and operational leader for OSCIA's Research department. The role ensures a portfolio of concurrent, externally funded research programs is effectively planned, resourced, managed and delivered.

The Senior Manager provides day-to-day leadership to staff and establishes the systems, processes and accountability required to keep programs on track, manage budgets and risks, meet contractual and reporting obligations, and maintain strong partner relationships. Working with the Director, technical staff and external experts, the role translates organizational and funding commitments into clear operational plans and ensures appropriate scientific and technical expertise is engaged.

Key Responsibilities & Duties:

People Leadership & Team Management

Lead, coach and manage Research department staff, including performance management, goal setting, development and succession planning.

Establish clear roles, priorities and expectations; monitor workload and progress and hold team members accountable for results.

Build a collaborative, solutions-oriented culture and lead the team through change, competing priorities and staffing transitions.

Identify capacity and skill gaps and support recruitment, onboarding and training of new team members.

Research Portfolio & Program Operations

Provide operational oversight for OSCIA's research portfolio, maintaining visibility into objectives, deliverables, timelines, budgets, reporting requirements and contractual commitments.

Establish practical workplans, dashboards and review processes that provide timely visibility into program performance and emerging issues.

Coordinate priorities and resources across programs, direct staff as required and ensure agreed actions are completed.

Adapt the level of direct involvement based on program complexity, risk and staff capability, escalating significant issues and decisions to the Director with recommendations.

Support annual and multi-year planning and the development of research opportunities aligned with OSCIA priorities and sector needs.

Financial Management

Oversee Research portfolio budgets in collaboration with the Director and Finance team, including annual and project-level forecasting.

Ensure each program maintains accurate budget tracking for commitments, expenditures and remaining funds and reconcile trackers to financial actuals regularly.

Identify underspending, overspending and other financial risks early and implement corrective actions.

Ensure expenditures comply with approved budgets, contribution agreements and organizational policies.

Operational Systems & Continuous Improvement

Develop and continuously improve practical systems, processes, procedures, templates and Standard Operating Procedures that support consistent and efficient research operations.

Strengthen department-wide approaches to project management, documentation, reporting, data management, knowledge management and quality assurance.

Identify inefficiencies and implement improvements that reduce risk, duplication and administrative burden, including appropriate use of digital tools.

Risk, Compliance & Quality Management

Maintain a proactive view of operational, financial, contractual, staffing, scheduling, stakeholder, data and delivery risks and ensure mitigation actions are in place.

Oversee compliance with contribution agreements, contracts, organizational policies and applicable research requirements.

Maintain visibility of key deliverables, milestones and reporting deadlines and coordinate timely preparation and review of required submissions.

Support funding proposals and program development with operational plans, staffing assumptions, budgets, timelines and risk considerations.

Communicate significant risks and issues to the Director in a timely manner with recommended actions.

Stakeholder & Partner Management

Build and maintain effective relationships with funders, government agencies, academic institutions, research organizations, producers, industry partners and other collaborators.

Ensure stakeholder commitments and expectations are reflected in program plans and support staff in resolving complex partner or delivery issues.

Represent OSCIA professionally in meetings, working groups, workshops and industry events and collaborate across OSCIA to support program delivery and knowledge translation.

Research Quality & Data Oversight

Ensure appropriate scientific and technical expertise is engaged in research design, implementation, analysis and interpretation.

Establish accountability and quality processes that support research integrity, data quality, documentation, reproducibility, data governance and confidentiality.

Work with technical staff, researchers and external experts to ensure research activities meet appropriate standards. The Senior Manager is not expected to be the technical expert in every research area.

Qualifications & Skills:

Education:

Post-secondary education in project/program management, business or public administration, organizational leadership, agriculture, environmental science, natural resources, research administration or another relevant discipline. Equivalent combinations of education and significant relevant management experience will be considered. A graduate degree, project/program management credential, leadership credential or relevant professional designation is an asset.

Experience:

Candidates should demonstrate success in several of the following areas:

Directly managing, coaching and developing professional staff, including performance management and accountability.

Managing a portfolio of multiple concurrent projects or programs and translating agreements or strategies into workplans and staff priorities.

Managing budgets, forecasting expenditures, monitoring financial performance and addressing variances.

Establishing project-management systems, dashboards, SOPs, workflows and operational controls.

Managing grants, contribution agreements or other externally funded programs, including deliverables, reporting and compliance requirements.

Identifying operational risks and implementing practical mitigation strategies.

Leading teams through change, staffing transitions or periods of significant workload.

Managing relationships with government, funders, external partners and other stakeholders.

Leading technical or subject-matter experts without needing to be the technical expert and improving organizational systems and processes.

Experience in agriculture, applied research, environmental programming, science, government-funded programming or another technical environment is an asset.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities (KSAs):

Knowledge:

Program, project and portfolio management principles, including planning, scheduling, resource allocation, performance monitoring and reporting.

People leadership practices, including performance management, coaching, staff development, team building, succession planning and change management.

Financial management principles, including budgeting, forecasting, expenditure monitoring and financial reporting.

Risk management, internal controls, complian