FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

Position Title: ONB Finance & Administrative Manager
Program: Ontario Northern Boreal (ONB)
Organization: Wildlife Conservation Society Canada
Location: Thunder Bay, ON (Hybrid)

• Position Type: Full-time
• Term: Permanent
• Position Level: 7
• Date written/revised: October 2, 2024

• Reports to: Dr. Constance O’Connor, Director of Ontario Northern Boreal Program
• Supervises: N/A
• Salary: $65,000 to $75,000 annually based on experience
• Start Date: November 25, 2024
• Position Contact: Dr. Constance O’Connor, Director of Ontario Northern Boreal Program
• Benefits: 4 weeks’ vacation, Paid sick and Personal emergency leave, Self-care days, Health and Dental care, Life insurance, RRSP match, DEIJA Team, Weekly Wellness sessions, Mentorship program.
• Application Closing Date: October 17, 2024 EDT

Position Summary

The Finance and Administrative Manager is responsible for providing financial and operational support for the Ontario Northern Boreal conservation program operating from the WCS Canada office in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Ontario Northern Boreal conservation program is a team of ten people working on applied and field-based environmental research (often in partnership with Indigenous communities), making scientific information more widely available, and supporting the next generation of conservation professionals through academic and youth programs. This position will work in close coordination with the Director of Finance and Operations located in the WCS Canada Head Office in Toronto, Ontario.

The ideal candidate is highly motivated, a proactive problem-solver, and has demonstrable experience with the management and administration of the financial and operation functions of a medium-sized organization, as well as experience with the preparation and implementation of policies, an Ontario resident either located in, or willing to relocate to, Thunder Bay, with an interest in the conservation of wildlife and nature. Learn more about WCS Canada.

Position Objectives

• Provide effective financial management support for the WCS Canada Ontario Northern Boreal program.
• Provide administration and operational support for the WCS Canada Thunder Bay office.
• Provide support with fundraising and grants management for the Ontario Northern Boreal program.
• Serve as the primary point of contact with the WCS Canada central management, finance, fundraising, and communication teams that operate from the WCS Canada head office in Toronto.

Principal Responsibilities

• Support the preparation and updating of annual budgets and work plans.
• Support ongoing budget management, ensuring that program spending against grants is aligned with funding agreement budgets.
• Provide support with the development of budgets for funding proposals, and with preparing funder financial reports to meet deadlines.
• Prepare and submit monthly expense reports, ensuring that all expenses are compliant with internal and budgetary controls, travel, and procurement policies.
• Prepare monthly financial reports, and additional reports as needed.
• Provide support during an upcoming transition period to a new expense reporting platform.
• Manage funding information for the programs in coordination with the WCS Canada Fundraising Team, including tracking information about key dates and deliverables.
• Support the preparation of legal agreements, primarily consulting and other service contracts, including contract modifications as needed.
• Monitor grant and consulting agreements to ensure deliverables are tracked and payments are processed according to agreement timelines.
• Assemble data and prepare periodic and special reports, manuals and correspondence as needed.
• Oversee and coordinate office administrative procedures.
• Oversee and coordinate communication with building manager, in relation to lease and office repairs.
• Provide office management support to the WCS Canada Thunder Bay office, including leasing, services, purchasing, and shipping.
• Coordinate purchasing and ordering of office supplies, field equipment, and other items as needed, following the WCS Canada signing authorization process.
• Lead the organization and inventory of program assets and supplies located in the Thunder Bay office and local storage facilities.
• Provide general IT support and contract external IT support as required.
• Coordinate logistics for meetings, workshops, and events as required.
• Coordinate travel arrangements in support of meetings and fieldwork as required.
• Assist the WCS Canada Finance and Operations team to improve workflows and practices to meet the needs of the Thunder Bay office.
• Support WCS Canada’s goal of transforming WCS Canada’s conservation practice through reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
• Contribute to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that promotes engagement and belonging.

Required Qualifications/ Skills/ Experience

• 5+ years of experience in comparable support position.
• Experience with financial management including:
  • Budget preparation and tracking
  • Preparation of expense reports, invoice payments, financial reports, using various software programs.
  • Tracking advance balances and assisting with approval and submission of advance and reimbursement requests.
• Experience with effectively communicating complex financial information.
• Experience managing legal documents, including contracts with service providers and funder agreements.
• Experience with database administration including data base entry and extraction.
• Experience with hiring processes, equipment requisitions, staff requisitions, consultant agreements, and office administration/management.
• Intermediate level of experience with MS Office, specifically Word and PowerPoint
• Advanced MS Excel skills, including formatting, use of advanced formulas, data summaries, etc.
• Comfortable in a digital environment and adaptable to learning new applications and systems.
• Demonstrated ability to utilize virtual meeting platforms, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
• Strong problem-solving skills, detail oriented, and resourceful.
• Outstanding attention to detail and organizational skills, including task management, inventory, and note-taking.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated critical thinking skills.
• Strong time management skills and adaptability when facing competing priorities.
• Ability to effectively prioritize and manage a high volume of diverse projects with hard deadlines.
• Passionate about our mission to save wildlife and wild places in Canada.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to drive.

Other Desirable Qualifications/ Skills/ Experience

• Experience working in the not-for-profit or charitable sector.
• Experience with project/task management software, such as Planner and Asana.
• Experience with accounting or financial management.
• Experience with SunSystems and Infor Q&A programming.
• Experience with ExpensePoint, SnipeIT Asset Management, or ContractSafe software.
• Experience with other platforms and applications, including Meta for Business, Slack, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive.
• Experience providing office IT support to a team of office-based staff.
• Experience with digital communication skills including web content, newsletters, document layouts, presentation formatting, editing digital
• photography and video would also be considered an asset.

Office Safety Plan Compliance

WCS Canada is committed to providing and maintaining a safe environment for our employees, contractors, and partners. As part of this unwavering commitment to safety, it is a condition of employment that all WCS Canada employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with a COVID-19 vaccine series approved by Health Canada or the World Health Organization. This condition is subject to the requirements of applicable human rights legislation.

How to apply

Please submit your CV and a cover letter explaining your interest in this position and relevant skills and experience via this link.

Please indicate you saw this posting at GoodWork.ca.

For questions regarding the position, please contact Dr. Constance O’Connor at coconnor@wcs.org .

For questions regarding the application process, please contact Okechukwu Ezibe at oezibe@wcs.org . 

Application Closing date: October 17, 2024 EDT.

About WCS Canada

WCS Canada (wcscanada.org) was established as a Canadian conservation organization in July 2004. We are committed to championing accessibility, diversity, and equal opportunity. Our mission is to save wildlife and wild places by improving our understanding of and seeking solutions to critical problems that threaten key species and large wild ecosystems throughout Canada. We implement and support comprehensive field studies that gather information on wildlife needs and then seek to resolve key conservation problems by working with a broad array of actors. WCS Canada has a track record of our science being recognized as relevant, credible and legitimate by researchers, NGOs and agencies. WCS Canada is independently registered and managed, while retaining a strong collaborative working relationship with sister Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) programs in more than 60 countries.

Diversity and inclusion are core WCS Canada values. We value the diversity of the people we employ and work with and we strive to provide an inclusive and equitable workplace in which we recognize the unique characteristics, skills and experiences of all employees. We are committed to engaging our employees in our diversity, equity and inclusion work and together we aim to create a workplace where all staff feel they belong and can grow.

WCS Canada’s programs occur on the homelands of Indigenous Peoples whose relationships various governments are described in historic (numbered) Treaties, modern land claim agreements, and negotiations around unceded lands. We recognize and support the international ecological and social commitments and responsibilities to Indigenous Peoples that Canada has signed, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Our commitment to engagement with Indigenous Peoples ranges from notification of research to the provision of scientific advice, to co-creation of research. We respect Indigenous knowledge systems and include this knowledge in our research and conservation programs where possible. We engage in land use planning and impact assessment processes that affect Indigenous Peoples, seeking ways to advance conservation as well as opportunities to sustain the livelihoods and cultures of Indigenous communities. We seek to motivate positive conservation outcomes by supporting effective governance and decision-making processes by Indigenous communities, particularly by supporting Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas.