Partnership Development Manager

Classification & Regular Hours

Hours per Week: 35

Salary Grade 16: $73,520 - $86,500, commensurate with experience.

Please note, this is a temporary full time contract opportunity with an expected end date of June 5, 2026.

Secondments are Welcome

Click here for more details on secondment opportunities.

About Western

With an international reputation for success, Western ranks as one of Canada's top research-intensive universities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western also provides an exceptional employment experience, offering competitive salaries, a wide range of employment opportunities and one of Canada's most beautiful campuses.

About Us

The office of the Vice-President (Research) fosters a culture of research excellence by promoting a globally minded approach to curiosity, discovery, creative activity, and innovation. The Vice-President (Research) also provides strategic leadership of Western Research, which allocates resources, aligns strategies, and provides services and programs to ensure Western is a leading research-intensive university. Together, they advance collaborative and cross-disciplinary scholarship, connect Western’s work to community, implement inclusivity initiatives, and recognize and celebrate research successes. The lead initiative as part of this position, Carbon Solutions at Western University, will provide funds and administrative support for initiatives with Western academic and external partner collaborators to address carbon reduction and replacement to address climate change.

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Director, Strategic Partnerships and the Director, Carbon Solutions, the Partnership Development Manager will lead, develop and implement strategies related to the operations of key research partnership initiatives, in particular Carbon Solutions at Western University, a new research initiative focused on sustainability and addressing climate change. The role proactively seeks out and encourages the development of meaningful research partnerships and collaborations between the university and external stakeholders and will work with key Western and regional leaders to facilitate interaction with the university and between synergistic initiatives. The Manager will support internal and external research funding processes related to Carbon Solutions, including the identification of internal and external opportunities for funding, opportunity dissemination, grant crafting, and proposal development. The role will establish and maintain relationships and seek out opportunities with government, industrial and not-for-profit partners (including post-secondary institutions) external to the University in order to develop proposals for Carbon Solutions at Western and other key priorities. The role will connect Western's researchers, its local affiliates, and other national and international peer institutions, by initiating projects, identifying resources and expertise and serving as a liaison between stakeholders with the goal of facilitating the success of research proposals, including Carbon Solutions at Western University and other initiatives, and to reinforce and advance the reputation of Western locally, nationally and internationally.

Qualifications

Education:

• Master’s Degree in environment and sustainability or relevant field
• Project Management certificate or completion of courses is preferred

Experience:

• 5 years’ experience leading large complex projects and working with major government research programs and/or experience in an academic research administration environment or related field
• Experience preparing government infrastructure proposals
• Experience in a complex organization with responsibility for managing community, not-for-profit and industrial partnerships
• Experience in an academic institution would be an asset

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Ability to identify, develop and steward partnerships both internal and external to the university
• In-depth knowledge of the regulations and guidelines governing research in an academic environment
• In-depth knowledge of best practices for reviewing and writing grant proposals and of Canadian peer-review granting systems, processes and procedures
• Familiarity with intellectual property management, including copyrights and patents
• Ability to research new avenues of funding from federal granting agencies, industry and other funding sources
• Ability to collaborate across internal and external boundaries to meet common objectives, improve outcomes and support work beyond one's own unit
• Ability to maintain and develop an effective network of contacts that provide information regarding emergent opportunities and best practices
• Compelling and persuasive communication skills to engage individuals and teams inside and outside the University
• Ability to make decisions and recommendations that are clearly linked to Carbon Solutions at Western’s strategy and goals
• Ability to establish and build strong relationships with senior leaders, academic and administrative staff, as well as community members
• Verbal and written communication skills with an emphasis on proposal development and delivering presentations
• Communication skills to translate information into easily understood terms, summarize information, provide a rationale for action and with an ability to complete detailed analytics and reports
• Ability to deal confidentially with information that has financial, political, regulatory and reputational implications
• Computer skills with the ability to learn and use relevant software that achieves required outcomes; Intermediate computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite
• Project management skills to align projects with strategic goals and operational objectives
• Ability to evaluate issues, recognize potential problems and take action to proactively resolve issues
• Ability to understand, interpret, and effectively communicate University guidelines, policies and practices to key stakeholders
• Ability to work independently and effectively as a member of the team to achieve department goals

Western Values Diversity

The University invites applications from all qualified individuals. Western is committed to employment equity and diversity in the workplace and welcomes applications from women, members of racialized groups/visible minorities, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation, and persons of any gender identity or gender expression.

Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. If you require accommodations for interviews or other meetings, please contact Human Resources or phone 519-661-2194.

Please Note:

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.