About the job

Job Purpose

Under the general direction of the Director, Licensing and Accreditation (L&A), the Project Manager is responsible for the overall lifecycle management of all L&A projects and coordination of these plans with departmental operations. The Project Manager takes full and active responsibility for the projects assigned to ensure the successful completion of those projects on time and budget. This includes conducting research and analysis; facilitating and actively participating in meetings; collaborating with L&A Senior Counsel and Managers, and others throughout the organization; identifying and assessing risks and opportunities for process improvement; preparing business cases; engaging in project planning; developing project documentation, including charters, plans, budget proposals, and schedules; managing projects through to successful implementation and closure; and delivering training and presentations. The Project Manager also documents departmental policies and procedures and prepares clear and concise communications and reports to be shared with a variety of audiences, up to the executive-level.

Qualifications Required

• A university degree and a Project Management Professional (PMP) or Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) designation. Incumbents holding professional certification will be titled accordingly.
• A minimum of 5 years’ project management experience in a complex, issue-driven environment (e.g., professional or regulatory body, government, post-secondary education) or in a legal setting.
• Extensive knowledge of and proficiency in project management (planning, implementation, measurements) under conditions of rapid change, supporting a diverse user community.
• A solid understanding of project management, waterfall methodology, and agile methodology.
• Ability to reason through, interpret, and apply complex information.
• Strong aptitude and accuracy with numbers and statistical analysis.
• Superior written and oral communication skills, using audience appropriate language, for business process consultation, solution selling and relationship management at all levels of the organization.
• Experience drafting clear and concise reports and communications for a wide variety of audiences, up to the executive level.
• Strong editing and proofreading skills.
• Superior organizational skills and the ability to manage large volumes of information.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise good judgment in the performance of delegated tasks, ensuring that matters are appropriately escalated in a timely way.
• Superior relationship building skills with the ability to use diplomacy and tact to influence outcomes without direct authority.
• Expert facility with MS Office programs (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project).
• Proficiency with SharePoint, Adobe, mass-mailing programs (e.g., Campaigner), content management systems (e.g., Ektron, Kentico or similar programs), project management software, or applications, and database systems.
• Knowledge of the Law Society’s systems and business culture would be an asset.
• Fluency in French considered an asset.

Key Accountabilities

Project Planning

• Conducts research and analysis; evaluates business needs; actively participates in strategic planning meetings; articulates business process and performance requirements; identifies and assesses risks and opportunities to improve business processes and/or procedures; and drafts business cases.
• As assigned by the Director, defines project scope, goals, and deliverables that support departmental goals and initiatives.
• Collaborates with L&A management in the definition of project success criteria.
• Drafts project charters and develops proportional project plans.
• Plans and schedules project timelines and milestones using appropriate tools.
• Drafts and submits budget proposals where necessary and participates in project budget development and the procurement process.
• Makes recommendations about the frequency and content of status reports.

Project Delivery

• Actively monitors and tracks deliverables and milestones in project plans and schedules.
• Ensures the project management tracking documents are current.
• Champions ongoing process improvement initiatives.
• Identifies and resolves issues and conflicts within the project team and escalates to L&A management or the Director where appropriate.
• Develops and delivers progress reports, proposals, requirements documentation, and presentations.
• Proactively manages changes in project scope, identifies potential crises, and devises contingency plans.
• Builds, develops, and grows any business relationships vital to the success of the project.
• Conducts project debriefs and evaluations, maintains lessons learned, and creates a recommendations report to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.
• Maintains a current inventory and status report of all L&A projects suitable for an executive audience.
• Supports staff training and orientation as required.

Client / Customer Service Delivery

• Supports excellence in client service by supporting the preparation and organization of current, accurate, clear, and concise documents for internal and external use.
• Internal L&A documents may include business policies or processes, including process maps, these may be used by L&A staff and other departments in their interactions with candidates or licensees.
• External L&A documents include communications and web content.

Financial Responsibility

• Responsible for developing project budgets, managing financial requirements of contracts, and ensuring good use of corporate financial resources as required.
• Liaises with Finance on procurement processes, drafts contract documentation, and coordinates with service providers.
• Develops and monitors project budgets.
• Escalates issues of concern to Director, as required.

Team Membership

• Fosters a positive work environment by clarifying goals, building the commitment of individuals, and encouraging creativity and problem solving.
• Sharing knowledge on business applications, business process, and best practices; providing regular updates on project status and any issues; listening to and addressing any concerns expressed about change; and working closely with project teams in the identification, diagnosis, isolation, and resolution of complex problems and/or implementations.

Performance Goals, Targets and Standards

• Strives to meet or exceed goals and objectives related to accuracy, timeliness, and quality of work.
• Engages in continuous performance improvement (work processes, procedures, and service opportunities) to optimize both individual and team performance and the success of the project.
• Gathers and interprets data to support improvements to project outcomes and departmental processes.
• Participates in solutions development to optimize departmental performance.
• Documents procedures, systems, and processes, and proactively shares information with the team and other staff to ensure consistent implementation of best practices.

 Relationship and Alliance Building

• Develops and maintains strong working relationships across all divisions of the organization (e.g., CPD, PSR, IT, Finance, ERC, Policy, Professional Regulation, and PMO), and with external subject matter experts and vendors.

 WORKING ARRANGEMENT

The Law Society has introduced a Distributed Workforce Model to leverage flexibility and agility, and to maximize employee productivity and engagement. Work arrangements will be determined by role and departmental requirements. The working arrangement for this position has been classified as hybrid, where the employee will regularly flex their work location between home and office. The specific application of this will be communicated to applicants contacted during the recruitment process.

 OUR COMMITMENT

The Law Society of Ontario is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from persons representing the diversity of our community. We are committed to creating an accessible, barrier-free and inclusive workplace and are committed to continuing compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Please make any requirement you may have for accommodation during the recruitment process known when contacted.

If you are unable to apply to this position due to the requirement for an accommodation of any kind, please email us at hr@lso.ca or call 416-947-3475. We appreciate all interest and will directly contact candidates under consideration.