OUR COMPANY BACKGROUND & CULTURE
UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario’s university sector, proudly serving over 46,000 members across six universities and nineteen sector organizations. Our purpose is to bring greater retirement peace of mind to the university sector by investing with integrity and serving members with care. As a sector-wide plan designed for growth, our doors are open to all Ontario universities.
UPP is recognized as one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for 2026. Together, we’re a team of progressive thinkers and agile doers operating within a fast-paced culture of collaboration and respect. We believe in bringing smart and capable people together to create, solve, and grow with a clear shared vision and values of integrity, inclusivity, ingenuity, and impact.
Our culture is intentionally welcoming and purposefully rooted in equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation (EDI&R). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace.
As a pension plan, UPP approaches investing through a long-term lens to generate and safeguard value. Our commitment to investing responsibly accounts for material risks that impact our investment portfolio to generate sufficient risk-adjusted returns to meet the pension needs of our members.
Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other.
THE ROLE
The Senior Specialist, People Business Partner is an experienced individual contributor who provides hands-on HR business partner support to leaders and employees across assigned client groups. Reporting to the Associate Director, People Partner and Talent Management this role will act as a trusted advisor and practical HR generalist, supporting day-to-day people matters while helping ensure consistent application of UPP’s people programs, policies, and practices.
This role is ideal for someone with solid People Business Partner or broad HR generalist experience who is comfortable working directly with leaders, providing guidance on employee relations, performance management, policy interpretation, workforce planning, employee experience, learning and development, leaves of absence, EDIR initiatives, talent processes, and organizational changes.
The successful candidate will bring sound judgment, strong relationship-building skills, attention to detail, and the ability to balance advisory support with operational follow-through. This is a senior individual contributor role suited to someone who can operate with independence, manage a broad range of HR matters, and escalate complex or high-risk issues appropriately.
This role is based in downtown Toronto in a hybrid work environment, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and in-office (minimum two days per week in-office).
This posting is for an existing vacancy.
SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES
As Senior Specialist, People Business Partner you will be responsible for a range of People Business Partner and generalist activities, including but not limited to the following:
HR Business Partner Advisory
- Build and maintain strong relationships with employees and People Leaders, serving as a reliable and responsive HR point of contact.
- Provide practical, timely, and balanced HR guidance to leaders on day-to-day people matters.
- Support assigned Divisional partners by understanding their business needs, people priorities, team dynamics, and emerging workforce issues.
- Coach leaders on HR processes, employee conversations, documentation, policy interpretation, and effective people management practices.
- Identify people-related risks, trends, and opportunities, escalating complex or sensitive matters to the Associate Director, People Partner & Talent Management as appropriate.
- Partner closely with colleagues across People & Engagement, including Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Talent Management, Inclusion, and HR Operations, to provide coordinated support to leaders and employees.
Employee Relations
- Provide first-line advice and support on employee relations matters, including workplace concerns, conflict resolution, performance issues, attendance, conduct, and employee experience concerns.
- Coach leaders on appropriate documentation, communication, and follow-up related to employee matters.
- Support the consistent application of People policies, practices, and procedures.
- Provide guidance and support related to leaves of absence, accommodations, return-to-work planning, and related employee matters.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality, documentation, and professionalism when handling sensitive employee information.
Performance Management
- Support leaders through annual and cyclical performance management activities, including goal setting, mid-year conversations, year-end reviews, calibration, development planning, and promotion-related processes.
- Provide guidance to leaders on effective feedback, performance documentation, performance improvement, and employee development.
- Partner with Talent Management and People colleagues to support consistent implementation of performance programs and tools.
Talent, Succession, and Workforce Support
- Support leaders with talent discussions, succession planning inputs, development planning, and follow-up actions.
- Help identify employee development needs and connect leaders with appropriate learning, development, and talent resources.
- Support workforce planning activities, role changes, job documentation, and organizational changes in partnership with the Associate Director, People Partner & Talent Management and other People team members.
- Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to support recruitment planning, intake discussions, candidate considerations, and onboarding needs for assigned client groups.
Policies, Programs, and HR Operations
- Interpret and apply HR policies, procedures, and frameworks in a consistent and practical manner.
- Support updates, communications, and implementation of People policies, programs, and processes as required.
- Prepare HR documentation, summaries, briefing notes, employee communications, and related materials with accuracy and discretion.
- Maintain strong attention to detail and follow-through on operational HR activities, employee records, action items, and case documentation.
- Identify opportunities to improve HR processes, employee experience, leader enablement, and service delivery.
Employee Experience, Culture, and Inclusion
- Support initiatives that strengthen employee experience, engagement, and UPP’s intentionally inclusive culture.
- Help leaders follow through on engagement survey results, pulse action plans, and team-level people priorities.
- Bring an equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation lens to HR advice, processes, and employee support.
- Contribute to a respectful, inclusive, and values-aligned employee experience across the organization.
Other Duties
- Support special projects and People team initiatives as required.
- Contribute to continuous improvement across people programs, processes, and practices.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
- Undergraduate degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field.
- CHRP or CHRL designation, completed or in progress, is considered an asset.
- Minimum of 5+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including HR business partner, HR advisory, or broad HR generalist experience.
- Demonstrated experience supporting leaders and employees across a range of HR matters.
- Strong working knowledge across multiple HR disciplines, including employee relations, performance management, talent management, compensation processes, policy interpretation, leaves and accommodations, employee experience, and learning and development.
- Knowledge of Ontario employment standards and related employment legislation.
- Experience in financial services, investment management, pension, professional services, public sector, or another complex environment is considered an asset.
- Experience working in a growing, evolving, or fast-paced organization is considered an asset.
- Strong judgment and the ability to identify when to resolve, consult, or escalate matters.
ATTRIBUTES
- Strong HR generalist capability with practical HRBP experience.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.
- Sound judgment, discretion, and ability to manage confidential information.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to follow through on operational work.
- Ability to coach and advise leaders in a practical, thoughtful, and balanced way.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a time-sensitive environment.
- Comfort working independently while collaborating closely with a broader People team.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to identify risk, patterns, and opportunities for improvement.
- Commitment to equity, inclusion, fairness, and consistent employee experience.
EXPECTED COMPENSATION
The expected compensation for this role is an annualized base salary in the range of $70,800 to $95,800. This range reflects the expected range for new hire base salaries and is subject to change and may be modified in the future.
You may also be eligible for a variable incentive depending on organizational, divisional and personal performance. The final total compensation offered will vary depending on your skills, experience and other factors.
LIFE AT UPP
Do work that matters. We are duty-bound to serve our members’ interests, and it’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly. That’s why we’ve ingrained sustainability in our work from day one—to ensure our members have a resilient future to retire into, both today and for generations to come.
Stronger together. Collaboration is how UPP was born, and it’s how we work with each other and our partners day in, day out. No one at UPP is just a number (even if they are excellent at math) and every win is a shared win.
Grow every day. You’ll have the opportunity to work on unique, once-in-a-career projects that maximize your skill set and probably teach you some new ones—at any stage in your career.
Prioritize wellness. At UPP, wellness takes many forms. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring our people are cared for in the ways that matter to them. Check out some highlights of our inclusive employee-focused benefits program including:
- Defined benefit pension plan
- Flexible hybrid work model
- Paid time off – vacations, personal days and wellness days
- Work remotely up to eight weeks/year
- Comprehensive group benefits including medical, dental, vision, etc.
- Extended paramedical and mental health service coverage
- Health care and lifestyle spending accounts
- Fertility treatments, paid parental leave, and gender affirmation coverage
- Education Assistance program
This posting will remain open for a minimum of seven (7) days and will remain open until a sufficient number of qualified applications are received or finalist candidates have been identified.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may be used to support certain stages of the recruitment process, including sourcing, screening, and assessment. All hiring decisions involve human review and intervention by UPP employees.
UPP enthusiastically welcomes applications from all qualified applicants and especially invites people with lived experience as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or as a member of another Human Rights Code protected group that faces barriers to employment to apply. Our goal is to create a barrier-free experience for every candidate throughout the recruitment process.
UPP respects your privacy. For information on how UPP handles the personal information you provide during the application process, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Statement.
