DIRECTOR, OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT

Ranked among the top engineering schools in Canada and worldwide, the Faculty of Engineering has a reputation for innovative programs, cutting-edge research, leading faculty, and aspiring students. It has earned a strong reputation as a centre for academic excellence and innovation. Comprised of three schools that offer a diverse range of programs and degrees, the Faculty of Engineering offers multi-faceted educational experiences that help create global-ready, socially-aware citizens through project-based classes, flexible co-op work terms, research opportunities and over 60 clubs and teams.

The Faculty has approximately 187 faculty members, along with over 7,000 undergraduate and a little over 1,100 graduate students. The Faculty attracts approximately $44 million in annual research funding. Engineering faculty, staff and students at McMaster pursue research and learning in more than 20 research centres, institutes, and networks whose interdisciplinary pursuits cross departmental and Faculty boundaries. Outside the University, we collaborate regularly on research projects with partners in universities, government and more than 120 companies in Canada and abroad.

The Faculty of Engineering’s Outreach team provides support and services to keep our community connected. Various teams offer a variety of ways for alumni, friends, youth, and others to stay engaged, through alumni events, networking opportunities, mentorship programs, youth camps, newsletters, podcasts, and social media. The Outreach team, consisting of Youth Outreach, Student Recruitment, Engineering Co-op & Career Education, Alumni Relations, Advancement, and Strategic Communications.

Job Summary:
The Director, Outreach and Engagement oversees the operations and activities of the functions and programs within the Faculty of Engineering’s Outreach Team. The Director provides leadership in the areas of alumni & advancement, youth outreach, recruitment, co-op & career education, experiential learning beyond the classroom, and communications. This position plays an integral role in the Faculty of Engineering’s leadership team, both external and internal to the University. Reporting to the Dean of Engineering, this position works in close collaboration with the Associate Dean (Research & External Relations), the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies), the Associate Dean, (Academic), the Assistant Dean (Studies), and the Director, Finance & Administration. The primary responsibility of this position is to develop a comprehensive and effective strategy to advance the education and outreach mission of the Faculty of Engineering and promote our visibility. The Director will lead a team dedicated to the process of recruiting and selecting exemplary students, building distinctive alumni & advancement programs, collaborating effectively with internal and external partners, and assuring that the Faculty of Engineering’s distinctive characteristics, impact, and potential are recognized as signature strengths by targeted audiences. The position has a strong student focus and the director is expected to develop strong connections with both our undergraduate and graduate students. The director will leverage outreach to support the educational mission of the Faculty. This includes: connecting external partners with students; linking club and team activities with professional skills development and engineering education; and supporting students to become strong contributors to society.

Accountabilities:
1. Enhance the quality and range of outreach and engagement opportunities with existing and potential donors, alumni, students, employers; as well as local, provincial & national communities and governments – enhance access into the Faculty of Engineering with services and supports to help external community partners connect; implement a strategy for the future development of philanthropic outreach and partnership programs; continue to build outreach efforts that promote visibility such as FIRST Robotics Canada Competitions, Engineering Change Lab, and National Engineering Leadership Network; make recommendations on new education and outreach opportunities to include short term events, long term service projects, and on-going education and outreach programs.
2. Provide leadership, guidance and direction to the Outreach team to ensure the team operates in an effective and efficient manner with good decision-making and planning.
3. Determine and develop long- and short-term goals, strategic planning, and program development for education programs, outreach programs, diversity and inclusion efforts.
4. Develop, plan, and implement strategies as they relate to outreach. With assistance from the Managers, the Director is responsible for researching, developing, and executing new initiatives and programs. The Director will determine fiscal requirements and make decisions concerning staffing requirements, policies and procedures.
5. Lead the Faculty of Engineering’s strategic outreach direction and facilitate its efforts to focus on the scope of programs, streamline operational processes, and strengthen financial stability.
6. Coordinate the Faculty’s outreach to employers, alumni and industrial partners, ensuring that the Faculty engages its stakeholders in a holistic manner that benefits the overall mission. Ensure that all members of the outreach and community engagement team work collaboratively and in a coordinated fashion by maintaining strong lines of communication and clear sets of objectives.
7. Develop and lead the process to review and update the Faculty of Engineering’s overall visual identity, create Faculty-wide standards, and establish policies, procedures and structures to facilitate their adoption, and review requests for exceptions and customization from departments and programs.
8. Collaborate and cultivate relationships with engineering, academic, and educational groups nationwide in education and outreach program development.
9. Identify, develop, and maintain contact with corporation and/or foundation prospects to develop their interest and participation in the Faculty of Engineering; research corporate and foundation prospects for various projects and recommend proposal design and strategies for solicitation.
10. Identify opportunities for funding towards educational and outreach programs and serve as principal investigator on these projects and proposals.
11. Outreach to the education community including: development and distribution of activities and resources, and participation in external committees designed to address issues and develop solutions, organization and implementation of outreach activities, and development of resources.
12. Enhance the Faculty of Engineering’s STEM initiatives in K-12 education and outreach programs to meet strategic initiatives – create an integrated prospect pipeline directly linked to priority student populations traditionally underrepresented in Engineering; create programming designed to attract high quality secondary students; create a digital communications and interaction
strategy for distant student prospects beyond local catchment; expand international student recruitment efforts.
13. Develop and monitor goals and performance measures for educational outreach events/programs, impacts, and activities, including integrated evaluations to allow for ongoing review of such programs. These responsibilities include implementation of program evaluation plans, data analysis, and recommendations.
14. Fiscal responsibility for the Outreach unit’s financial processes which includes proper accounting, budgeting, and financial forecasting; allocating funds to meet program objectives; scheduling expenditures; providing financial reports; and ensuring financial compliance.
15. Oversee the hiring and training of the Outreach management team; complete and administer performance evaluations for TMG staff; provide direction to management team in the development of policies and procedures, delegating specific responsibilities and appropriate authority to direct reports; lead Outreach team retreats and regular staff meetings for information sharing / joint strategic planning; conduct regular meetings with individual managers for strategic and program planning, program evaluation, and performance evaluation; ensure accountability for project activities for all outreach staff; set goals/targets for outreach management team and supervise their work.
16. Ensure the proper use of digital and social media technology to increase internal efficiencies and external visibility.
17. Provide direction for all programs and services intended to engage students in the Faculty of Engineering community including campus activities, student clubs and organizations, student mentoring programs etc.
18. Lead and deliver high quality information and guidance opportunities catering to a wide range of student interests and backgrounds to enhance retention, progression, engagement and development.
19. Develop strong student engagement portfolio throughout the student lifecycle - promote student feedback initiatives and input into action plans to improve the student experience.
20. Collaborate with student teams and clubs to promote an integrated team approach to student programming; work with student-elected officers on the enhancement and development of a comprehensive provision of extra-curricular groups and activities.
21. Enhance the awareness and reach of student engagement initiatives to the broader regional and national community to strengthen student-community partnerships

Qualifications:
Education:
â-ª Master’s Degree in Engineering, Science, Education, Communications or a relevant field of study
Experience:
â-ª 10 to 15 years of related professional, management and technical experience.
â-ª Experience in the development and delivery of educational programming.
â-ª Experience in the areas of fundraising, budgeting, and strategic planning.

Knowledge/Skills:
â-ª Knowledge of research-based effective practices in engineering education and community outreach.
â-ª Demonstrated leadership competency and ability to work effectively with leadership teams. Project management leadership abilities and successful supervisory and staff development experience.
â-ª Highly evolved teamwork skills with demonstrated ability to develop productive working relationships with multiple constituencies
â-ª Skilled in managing sensitive and urgent issues.
â-ª Superior oral and written communication skills.
â-ª Must be able to represent the Faculty of Engineering to key internal and external constituencies with a high degree of professionalism. The incumbent needs to stay abreast of best practices and evolving technology in areas of outreach, communication and education to keep the Faculty of Engineering at the leading edge of trends.
â-ª Possess strong management, analytical, quantitative and problem-solving skills.
â-ª Demonstrated creativity and innovative thinking

Additional information:
Work outside the normal operating hours of the University can be expected in this role