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Career Opportunity: Director of Information Management and Technology
Curling Canada is a National Sport Organization (NSO) and the leading expert and growth engine for Curling Excellence in Canada. Our exclusive purpose and function is to promote amateur athletics in the form of curling in Canada, on a nation-wide basis. We manage high performance programs (i.e., Team Canada,) select and manage national teams, and we have the exclusive right to name teams to World Competitions and Canadian Olympic organizations. We focus on serving our members (the Provincial, Territorial or Regional Curling Associations) and all of their associated clubs and curlers throughout Canada, with a plethora of services and resources from governance to marketing, to data and technology. Our Information Services and Technology (IST) infrastructure and environment is fundamental to how we meet our strategic objectives of growth of the sport of Curling in Canada through the technical support and data that represent invaluable resources to the curling community across Canada, from the grass roots level to the global stage.
Curling Canada Information Services and Technology department is continuing a highly successful transition from a full “in- house” environment of servers, back up and user support, to outsourced, vendor managed services with full redundancy supporting multiple platforms (some proprietary) and user resources. To continue to build this robust technical environment, we are looking to add a Director of Information Management and Technology to our team. Reporting to the Executive Director, Corporate Service / CFO, the successful candidate will play a significant role in contributing to the planning and implementation of Curling Canada’s key initiatives with data driven strategic investments in the growth of the sport.
What You Will be Doing…
Strategic Planning:
Strategy is a critical element of this role, requiring the associated skills and experience. The ability to see the “big picture” and the potential for data driven growth and sustainability is key.
• Lead IS&T department and staff in operational planning, including fostering innovation, planning projects, and organizing and negotiating the allocation of resources.
• Collaborate with the appropriate departments to develop and maintain an Information Services and Technology Operational Plan that supports organizational needs.
• Develop and communicate business/technology alignment plans to the organization’s executive team. • Draft, develop, and implement the IM/IT strategic plan
• Lead data strategy for the Association
• Implement MS365 – Transition from Google Suite
• Implement a membership registration system
• Work on establishing best practices, data security
• Cyber security and internal IT controls (roles and access)
• Manage the document process for the Association (Using SharePoint)
• Manage all software and hardware requirements for Association
• Manage IM and IT budget and develop yearly budget/forecast.
• Provide training and documentation to CC stakeholders
• Overview Event IT technical requirements
IM/IT Support to Season of Champion Events:
Our annual Season of Champions is mission critical to Curling Canada. It is our signature offering to the sport and the pinnacle of all of our marketing and operational initiatives to promote and grow the support of Curling in Canada and to promote Curling in Canada to the world.
• During our curling season, this individual will supervise and provide on-site event support and remote technical support for the set up and flawless execution of all events.
• On-Site event support will include advanced troubleshooting with some of our custom made/proprietary applications which often integrate with many different technologies. • Candidates will also need to technically train onsite Event Managers who run the experience after setup.
• Candidates must be able to manage critical and/or high severity issues by setting internal and external client expectations, devising and implementing action plans, being able to work flexible hours when special tasks are required, and effectively communicating to all parties involved along with sometimes working as a Curling Canada brand ambassador when required.
• Details are a strength. Candidateslove the fast pace stress of troubleshooting, remote or on-site, with clients needing answers and a show about to open. You are creative and think outside the box. You are ok with working under pressure in a ‘go live’ environment.
• This role requires extensive and extended travel during the curling event season Help Desk:
The incumbent will equally be accountable for providing and supervising the provision of all levels (Tier I to Tier III) support and responding to incidents involving internal and vendor managed service platforms.
• Help desk activities span all elements of our existing infrastructure including hardware, applications, server, proprietary software and transactions and telecom Infrastructure
• Provide end-user technical support, guidance and application training
o Identify and effectively manage the complexity of Cyber Security in a remote desktop (Work From Home) environment
o Analyze results, findings and trends and identify internal or external solutions for Cyber Security • Develop and administer learning and support resources for our users including training, documentation, support and communication
• Interact with management and staff to provide technical assistance for continuous improvement of IT solutions
• Establish and maintain a positive, productive relationship with all internal and external stakeholders. • Provide excellent customer service and create positive user experiences
• Plan, organize and schedule the day-to-day technical support activities, including troubleshooting, customer service issues, approvals, and installations
***Please note, in our current environment most employees are distributed across Canada, working remotely and therefore require remote support and an understanding of the complexity associated with security, home equipment, home set up, etc.***
Infrastructure Support:
The incumbent will be accountable for administering proprietary information management systems and a variety of vendor managed platforms and services, converged infrastructures, application servers, workstations, and specialized applications supporting multimedia services.
• Day-to-day provision of high-quality technology and IT security services and support and solutions that enhance mission-critical business operations
• Provide input into the continuous development and improvement of the IM/IT infrastructure and environment
• Assist in the implementation, maintenance and support of the organization’s IT infrastructure and systems including desktop provisioning, network infrastructure, telephony and associated software and business application (off the shelf and proprietary systems
• Administering network administration services and operations
• Benchmark, analyze, report on, and make recommendations to the Director, for the improvement of the IS&T infrastructure and systems
• Converging multimedia and IT systems and technologies required to support members and delivering content to curling clubs and curlers
• Create and communicate IM/IT policies and procedures, including those for architecture, security, disaster recovery, standards, purchasing, and service provisions
Platform and Application Management:
Create productive, collaborative and effective working relationships with all IM/IT outsourced platform and service providers. Our proprietary systems are Mission Critical. (Curling I/O, KIT, etc.).
• Administer the proprietary information management system (Curling I/O) and proprietary transaction system (KIT)
• Provide the Senior Leadership Team with Data analytics and recommendations to develop tools and technical or operational initiatives to promote increased usage of Curling I/O with members and curlers across Canada through enhanced user support, education and training
• Ensure the ongoing technical and data health of proprietary and off the shelf systems and technology. System monitoring, maintenance and continuous improvement and development
• Provide website and web transaction support to Member Associations when required • Executing the integration of all vendor software and application upgrades into the Curling Canada operation from testing to implementation to driving user engagement (Curling I/O, KIT, Help Desk, Accounting, Change Management, Ticketing (Zen Desk), etc.)
• Administer vendor, outsourcer, and consultant contracts and service agreements • Continual analysis of data to determine platform and infrastructure needs to deliver superior services to Member Associations and curlers
Hardware/Software:
Administer the deployment, monitoring, maintenance, development, and support of all hardware and software.
• Oversee management of equipment and parts inventory.
• Maintain all internal servers
• Conduct research on potential technology solutions and implementations in support of new initiatives, opportunities, and procurement efforts.
• Recommend, implement and support cost-effective and high-quality technology solutions for all aspects of the organization.
• Develop business case justifications and cost/benefit analyses for technology spending and initiatives.
• Procurement including sourcing vendors, negotiating pricing and contracts
What you Need To Be Successful…
Skills and Education:
Come as you are. You are welcome here! Curling Canada is deeply committed to promoting diversity, advancing equity and fostering a culture of inclusion. Therefore, we invite applications from marginalized and equity seeking groups, particularly members of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities.
The successful candidate will have a broad range of technical and communication skills to work effectively with our internal and external stakeholders and to support the IM/IT contribution to the strategy and growth of the organization.
We are not looking for a technician or a desk top jockey. We are looking for an individual with a passion for information, data and technology and how it can drive and support business strategies. You have the ability to operate – not in the server room – but in all aspects of the organization with a deep understanding and appreciation of the user experience and how IM/IT supports mission critical operations.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or Technical discipline.
• 5 TO 7 years of demonstrated depth of experience with all aspects of IM/IT support • Demonstrated strategic skills and execution experience, threading IM/IT through the entire organization, driving growth and sustainability.
• Demonstrated skills in managing and supervising IM/IT teams and resources.
• Demonstrated experience with MS Office 365 with a focus on video conferencing, Internal Communications, SharePoint and Teams, email administration and file storage.
• Demonstrated experience supporting a Mac OS and PC environment
• Some experience in web development and website support. Working knowledge of Word Press • Must be proficient using and supporting numerous proprietary and commercial software programs. • You are not a developer, but you understand the development process and developer “speak” • Demonstrated experience in vendor management illustrating a history of creating and growing great vendor relationships.
You have a genuine interest in and a passion for providing technical guidance, troubleshooting and support to employees regarding IM/IT issues and concerns and in creating positive user experience and developing users with tools and training…and patience. Excellent communication, interpersonal and customer service skills.
• You have nerves of steel when executing and supporting our events. Anything can happen and we will look to you to fix it!
• Demonstrated experience in it/is support, problem solving, creative solution development while waiting onsite or remotely for a show to go live… without breaking a sweat is critical.
• Demonstrated ability to interact with internal and external customers and make them happy – also critical • You love to solve problems and think outside the box for creative solutions
• You have great remote trouble shooting chops!
• Demonstrated skills in creating and writing technical documents.
• Experience in several areas of technology from network architecture, applications, web, servers, storage, data and hardware
• Knowledge of complex network environments & their related components and dependencies • Knowledge of best practices in data privacy and IT security and risk/threat assessment/management across various domains.
• Experience in IM/IT project management techniques and best practices. Demonstrated ability to manage projects, and multiple tasks with conflicting priorities.
• Knowledge of trends, developments and leading-edge technologies
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS…
• English essential, both oral and written; Bilingualism (English and French) is preferred. • Ability to travel frequently and for extended periods during the curling event season. • Our offices are in Orleans (Ottawa) and our events are nationwide. Candidates must be local to the Head
Office and have the technical and physical ability to work from the office or from their home in a healthy and safe environment, Direct supervision and management of the Ottawa location and equipment is required, as is somewhat regular attendance at the office.
What We Offer…
The hiring salary range for this position is dependent upon experience. Curling Canada offers competitive benefits including RRSP matching. All work travel expenses are covered by Curling Canada. The incumbent will be provided a laptop and a cell phone.
We offer a welcoming, inclusive and supportive environment with a focus on Teamwork and Collaboration. You will be heard! You will grow! We provide support for ongoing professional development and growth.
Interested applicants may apply to [email protected]. No agencies please.
Curling Canada is compliant with the AODA – Access Ontario Disabilities Act. For access to our policy click here. For feedback on our accessibility please email [email protected].