MANAGER, RESIDENCE BUILDING OPERATIONS

Housing and Conference Services (HCS) directly supports the University’s Mission & Vision of Impact, Ambition and Transformation through Excellence, Inclusion and Community: Advancing Human and Societal Health and Well-being. We currently provide a distinctive living and learning experience for 3900 students focused on key educational priorities including self-discovery and learning; sustainability and wellness and inclusive excellence.

HCS concurrently drives a positive McMaster experience for guests, alumni, staff, faculty and students by providing accommodation and event coordination, which meet the highest standards of service excellence. HCS is a proud and significant ancillary contributor to the financial health of the University, and the core academic and research mission of McMaster.

HCS is currently in a time of significant expansion as capacity is expanding by 54% over the next 5 years, moving from 3900 to 6000 bed spaces across 15 buildings. This expansion will diversify the housing operation dramatically, from a traditional focus on the housing needs of first year undergraduate students, to the introduction of graduate, and family housing, in addition to a constantly diversifying internal and external client base.

The annual budget for HCS is currently (pre-expansion) approximately $31 million and we employ 100+ full-time and 250 part-time staff. HCS reports directly to the divisions of Student Affairs, as well as Operations & Finance.
 

Under the direction of the Director of Housing and conference services and the Director of Maintenance, Facility Services, the incumbent will provide leadership and management of the university residences and conference facilities.  By implementing effective management practices, and guiding the management team to achieve to the departmental goals of HCS and FS, the goal of maintaining an aesthetically pleasing, clean and safe environment for university residence students, staff and guests on 24/7 bases, over the school year, September to April, will be achieved. 
This position will be vital in the operation of the residence buildings as a conference business during the months May to August.  Effective management by this position will ensure an exceptional conference experience to our guests and patrons.  The support to the conference operation will be in direct partnership with the Manager of Conference and Events (in HCS).  The incumbent’s exceptional business acumen and customer service approach to the facilities will ensure the success of the conference services business.  

Running a cost-effective operations, for both the school year and summer operation is a must. Ensuring the effective and efficient allocation of staffing, materials, and equipment using industry methods that reflect high quality work and accountability will be how this position achieves success. Leading and developing both the management team and front-line staff is a vital aspect of this position.  The incumbent will employ effective coaching and guidance, have proficiency in performance measurement in a unionized environment and mentor at every level of the operation. The incumbent provides input in determining annual budgets, the capital plan, and ensuring best practices are used in managing departmental resources. This position works cooperatively with and coordinates the liaison between other managers in HCS to ensure provision of service excellence to their customers and achieve HCS strategic objectives. This position will be a member of the greater management team that looks after custodial operations for the campus, and will effectively work with the managers in FS and Human Resources to ensure consistent performance management approaches are taken across the campus.   

Accountabilities: 

Operational Management 

•  Manages a direct report team of three coordinators and a team of 70 custodians to ensure an exemplary experience that goes above and beyond the high expectations from the HCS customers (i.e.  students, guests and conference groups).
• Ensures smooth and professional custodial operations in the 1 million square feet of residence space and almost 3,900 student beds.
• Manages and coordinates the university residence and conference services activities by directing and administering the activities of each service unit through the coordinators.
• Partners with the Senior Manager, Conference and Event Services to build the best conference services delivery model tailored for each conference group at the university.
• Controls the service unit budgets including labour, supplies, and equipment.
• Ensures Quality service and high client satisfaction through professional communication and immediate responsiveness. Ensures that all custodial operations are done while following all Health and Safety regulations.

Planning: 

• Works closely with the Housing and Conference Senior Leadership team in order to achieve the strategic plan of HCS.
• Works closely with the custodial operations within FS to ensure consistent cleaning approaches to the campus.
• Works closely with the Senior, HR Strategic Partner within HCS provide a consistent application of university policies, procedures and the collective agreement.
• Provides strategic direction for continuous improvements to the service units with a focus on improving client relationships and customer satisfaction.
•  Develops, implements and administers formalized training and quality assurance programs to improve the standard level of service on university residence and conference facilities.
• Develops processes to identify customer issues and needs, conducts department reviews solicit customer feedback and implements specific recommendations to improve service and client satisfaction.

Team Building:

• Provides team leadership and guidance to the team including but not limited to, the performance evaluation, setting development plans for the staff. Conducting team building initiatives.
• Creating a professional mechanism to receive feedback and input and encourage staff participation in setting goals and objectives.
• This position is a leader of a large business unit within the HCS department, and the effective development and management of that team is paramount for determining success of the unit.

Qualifications: 

• Degree in Facilities Management, Business Administration or equivalent would be required.

Preferred education: 

• Bachelor or Commerce in hotel and tourism management.
• A Master's degree in Hospitality Management or a related field. 

Experience: 

• Significant related Experience in a facility services setting or institutional setting (Hotel management is preferred) where the primary responsibilities in a management capacity would include strategic planning, customers’ service development and budgeting. Sound leadership, exceptional customer service and communication skills are also needed in addition to knowledge and experience with organizational, supervisor and management principles. Lastly, experience in computer knowledge with the abilities in word processing, email, excels and management information systems are expected.