Description
The Office of Institutional Commitments in the Office of the Provost & VP (Academic) is currently seeking a Full-time Limited Term Research Associate for approximately 24 months.
The Office of Institutional Commitments (OIC) unites the university's efforts to advance Community Mental Health and Well-Being (CMHWB), Inclusive Excellence, and Sustainability under one integrated framework, supporting UCalgary's Ahead of Tomorrow strategic plan. OIC is also home to several centres of excellence, including the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Canada, Recovery on Campus Alberta, the UCalgary Recovery Community, and the Post-Secondary Mental Health and Well-Being Research and Knowledge Hub.
Reporting to the Manager, Strategy, Planning, and Impact, the Research Associate, Evaluation and Impact, serves as OIC's lead subject-matter expert in evaluation, impact assessment, and performance and impact measurement of institutional strategies, programs, and initiatives. The position leads the development and implementation of integrated evaluation frameworks, methodologies, indicators, and reporting systems that assess and communicate the outcomes and impact of OIC's strategies, action plans, programs, events, and centres of excellence. The role also supports OIC's efforts to develop integrated planning, reporting, and impact measurement approaches that strengthen alignment across institutional commitments and enable a more holistic understanding of OIC's collective contribution to institutional priorities.
The position works independently and exercises a high degree of professional judgment in determining appropriate evaluation methodologies, data collection approaches, analytical techniques, reporting mechanisms, and knowledge mobilization strategies. The incumbent is responsible for translating complex quantitative and qualitative information into meaningful insights and evidence-informed recommendations that support strategic planning, institutional reporting, continuous improvement, resource allocation, and strategic decision-making.
OIC is a complex and fast-paced office that requires collaboration among faculties, units, departments, students, staff, researchers, community organizations, and external partners. The incumbent must manage multiple competing priorities and deadlines while leading complex projects involving diverse stakeholders and large volumes of information. Strong analytical skills, technical expertise, attention to detail, and the ability to communicate complex information clearly are essential.
The incumbent works collaboratively with faculties, units, departments, and external partners to obtain, analyze, and synthesize information required to assess progress and impact across institution-wide strategies and action plans stewarded by OIC, where accountability and implementation are distributed across multiple stakeholders.
This position works Monday to Friday for 35 hours per week. Although shift work is not required, occasional evening and weekend work may be necessary to support project deadlines, consultations, events, data collection activities, or reporting requirements.
Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):
Evaluation, Impact Measurement, and Reporting
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Develops and maintains integrated evaluation and impact measurement frameworks that enable OIC to assess and demonstrate the outcomes and impact of institution-wide strategies, action plans, programs, initiatives, and centres of excellence stewarded by OIC.
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Develops integrated and consistent evaluation approaches, methodologies, indicators, and reporting practices across OIC's institutional commitments, programs, events, initiatives, action plans, and centres of excellence to improve comparability, identify opportunities for integration, and strengthen understanding of OIC's collective impact across multiple strategic priorities.
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Establishes evaluation methodologies, logic models, theories of change, indicators, key performance measures, and reporting processes that provide reliable and actionable evidence to inform strategic planning and decision-making.
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Establishes institutional standards and methodologies for evaluation, impact assessment, and reporting that promote consistency, comparability, and evidence-informed decision-making across OIC portfolios.
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Develops integrated evaluation and reporting approaches that clearly articulate OIC's contribution to UCalgary's institutional commitments and demonstrate progress toward the goals and priorities outlined in the Ahead of Tomorrow strategic plan.
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Leads the design and implementation of evaluations for major OIC initiatives, projects, events, and programs, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches to data collection and analysis.
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Establishes consistent, repeatable methodologies to support baseline development, benchmarking, trend analysis, longitudinal measurement, and continuous improvement across OIC portfolios.
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Conducts advanced analysis of institutional, operational, survey, and external benchmarking data to identify trends, opportunities, challenges, and emerging issues.
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Leads the collection, interpretation, visualization, and synthesis of data for integrated reporting and accountability, ensuring findings are accurate, meaningful, and accessible.
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Collaborates with the Office of Institutional Analysis and other partners to develop dashboards, reporting systems, and visualizations that support institutional reporting, demonstrate OIC's contribution to institutional priorities, and enable strategic decision-making.
Strategic Analysis and Decision Support
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Provides evaluation and impact measurement expertise and evidence-informed recommendations that support strategic planning, prioritization, resource allocation, operational effectiveness, and continuous improvement of OIC initiatives and operations.
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Develops integrated approaches that evaluate both individual institutional commitments and the collective impact of OIC's holistic, interconnected work, enabling OIC and university leadership to understand and communicate progress on institution-wide strategies and OIC's contribution to the Ahead of Tomorrow strategic plan.
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Translates complex findings into executive-level reports, presentations, briefing materials, and recommendations that support informed decision-making by leadership and key stakeholders.
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Identifies opportunities to improve effectiveness, efficiency, reach, engagement, and impact through evaluation findings and evidence-informed analysis.
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Identifies opportunities to strengthen alignment, integration, and shared impact across OIC's institutional commitments, strategies, programs, and initiatives, supporting a coordinated and holistic approach to advancing institutional priorities.
Knowledge Mobilization
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Develops and implements a comprehensive knowledge mobilization strategy that communicates the impact of OIC's work to diverse audiences.
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Translates evaluation findings, impact data, and research into accessible, actionable products, including reports, dashboards, presentations, websites, publications, videos, and other knowledge-dissemination tools.
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Leads the development of integrated reporting products that communicate progress, outcomes, and impact across OIC's portfolios and clearly articulate OIC's contribution to UCalgary's institutional commitments and the goals of the Ahead of Tomorrow strategic plan.
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Supports the development of qualitative storytelling approaches that complement quantitative reporting and enhance understanding of OIC's impact.
Partnership Development and Collaboration
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Builds and maintains effective relationships with faculties, departments, units, students, staff, researchers, community partners, and external organizations to support evaluation, reporting, and impact measurement activities.
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Serves as a resource on evaluation, impact measurement, reporting, and knowledge mobilization practices for OIC and, where appropriate, faculties, units, and campus partners engaged in advancing institutional commitments related to mental health and well-being, inclusive excellence, and sustainability.
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Develops partnerships with provincial, national, and international organizations that establish standards, collect benchmarking data, or advance best practices related to evaluation, mental health and well-being, sustainability, inclusive excellence, and institutional impact measurement.
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Represents OIC on working groups, committees, communities of practice, and collaborative initiatives related to evaluation, impact measurement, and strategic reporting.
Program Development and Strategic Initiatives
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Supports the development and implementation of OIC initiatives and projects by applying evaluation methodologies and evidence-informed approaches.
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Supports the development of integrated planning, reporting, and evaluation approaches that strengthen alignment across OIC's institutional commitments and increase opportunities for collective impact.
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Contributes evaluation expertise to business cases, funding proposals, grant applications, strategic plans, and other initiatives requiring impact measurement and reporting.
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Supports OIC leadership and staff in strengthening evaluation literacy and the effective use of evidence to inform decision-making and continuous improvement.
Qualifications / Requirements:
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PhD in social sciences, health sciences, public health, evaluation, education, or a related field is preferred.
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Minimum 8 years of progressively responsible experience in evaluation, research, impact assessment, or performance and impact measurement.
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May consider a combination of education and experience.
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Demonstrated expertise designing and implementing evaluation frameworks for complex systems, institutional strategies, multi-stakeholder initiatives, or large-scale programs.
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Advanced knowledge of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method research and evaluation methodologies.
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Demonstrated experience designing and implementing surveys, focus groups, interviews, and other evaluation methods.
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Extensive experience analyzing quantitative and qualitative data and translating findings into meaningful recommendations for diverse audiences.
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Experience conducting advanced statistical analyses and interpreting data.
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Demonstrated experience developing reporting tools, dashboards, and data visualizations using Power BI or similar business intelligence platforms.
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Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (and/or other statistical software packages), including analysis of large and complex data sets.
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Experience working with institutional, operational, survey, and benchmarking data.
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Demonstrated ability to lead complex projects independently and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
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Strong project management skills and ability to move initiatives from conception through implementation and reporting.
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Demonstrated expertise in knowledge mobilization and communicating complex information to diverse audiences.
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Demonstrated success preparing reports, presentations, publications, and impact communications for senior leadership and non-academic audiences.
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Strong written and verbal communication skills.
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Knowledge of one or more institutional commitment areas, including mental health and well-being, sustainability, and/or inclusive excellence is preferred.
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Familiarity with the University of Calgary and its organizational environment is an asset.
Application Deadline: August 11, 2026
We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.
This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Technical Job Family, Phase 3.
For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website.
About the University of Calgary
UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.
The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy ii' taa'poh'to'p committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.
The university's commitment to the Indigenous Strategy is evident through the oversight of 18 Elders serving on the Circle of Advisors and the many unit-based circles working towards implementation of the strategy including the Faculty Advisory Circle and teams such as the Office of Indigenous Engagement, the Writing Symbols Lodge, and the Indigenous Research Support Team. Many Indigenous-based events and processes are impacting curriculum, programming and polices at the University of Calgary.
As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to People & Culture ([email protected]).
Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.
We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.
