ABOUT UPP

UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario’s university sector, proudly serving over 37,000 members across four universities and 12 affiliate 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.

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 (EDIR). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace.

As a long-term investor, we recognize that environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors support risk management and value creation. As stated in our Responsible Investing Policy, we are committed to incorporating ESG considerations into our investment management activities and we collaborate with other industry participants in the promotion of a sustainable economy and society.

Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Associate Director, Finance will work to execute the Finance Operations strategy. As the lead in developing end-to-end high quality Pension Finance function in Corporate Finance, you will work closely with the Pension Services team and lead the continuous development and implementation of enhancements to the Procurement and Accounts Payable processes. This dynamic role will require you to strategize, research, evaluate, build working relationships, and oversee various external and internal service partners to fulfill functional requirements in a lean organization. The successful candidate is a team player who is ready to pivot and work in all different parts of the organization to drive strategy, execution and efficiency for the Corporate Finance team and for the organization.

UPP is based in Toronto’s financial district and has a hybrid work model (minimum 2 days / week in office).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Associate Director, Finance, will be responsible for the leadership and management of a small team. In addition, the role includes but not limited to the following:

Accounts Payable

• Management of the day-to-day operations of the procure to pay function and activities of accounts payable for vendors, independent contractors, travel and business expense activities, investment related expenses and master vendor data.
• Managing all aspects of the Corporate Card Program.
• Ensuring accuracy and compliance with the company T&E Policy and continue to enhance the Policy to align with the growth of the organization.
• Lead or participate in special projects to enhance NetSuite or to resolve issues raised by other departments and work cross functionally with other business systems and the corporate finance team.
• Month-end procedures for accruals relating to accounts payable and general ledger reconciliation.
• Provide hands-on support to the team.

Procurement

• Establish control mechanisms to ensure compliance with standards through identifying ways to uncover bottlenecks and to improve UPP procurement and strategic sourcing processes.
• Act as a business partner to key end users and UPP employees by ensuring that they understand and are familiar with current and future changes to procurement policies and procedures.
• Lead in the coordination and maintenance of documentation associated with all aspects of procurement phases.
• Design and implement the Vendor Management Framework which include establishing process, standards and controls.
• Support critical change and a collaborative, forward-thinking culture to bring UPP Procurement to the next level by working with management and other relevant stakeholders to achieve this across the organization.

Pension Finance:

Strategize, construct and implement end to end recording, control and monitoring processes that include the following but not limited to:

• Build and implement the pension finance processes, including the design of the end-to-end for member contributions, transfers and benefits payments in partnership with Pension Services and Cash Operations.
  • Maintain and streamline the processes once they are in production with ongoing continuous improvement.
  • Build controls and 3-way reconciliations.
• Notional Tracking – build and implement a reporting book of ledger and the controls/reconciliations within pension finance.
• Provide support for the integration of the pension administration and accounting systems and represent Corporate Finance as subject matter expert in key pension finance processes under the new pension administration system.
• Liaises with Pension Services, Tax, Cash Operations and Pension Administrators concerning member benefits and contributions transactions.
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities to increase efficiency, quality, and value to internal clients and external clients/plan sponsors, through changes in processes, policy, or use of technology.
• Maintains and updates source documentation and related information by assisting in implementing procedural improvements and system enhancements to the pension system.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

The successful candidate must demonstrate a strong understanding of accounting processes and controls and solid project-management and problem-solving skills. They will need to work effectively to resolve issues and handle numerous operational tasks and projects concurrently with minimal supervision. Candidates will have demonstrated success in his or her role and be accustomed to working in a high energy, hands-on, and dynamic organization.

• 8+ years of experience with operational accounting and procurement including financial reporting, account reconciliations, journal entries at management level.

• 2+ years of experience in a people leadership capacity
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to think through problems, assess a variety of factors, and recommend solutions.
• Experience in collaborating during the implementation of a financial system including data requirements that support financial reporting needs.
• Accustomed to high level of transaction volumes and data entries.
• Strong communication, organizational and customer service skills are essential.
• High degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal skills.
• Able to multitask effectively.
• Comfortable to work with ambiguity.
• Ability to work both independently and in a team who enjoys a high-performance culture; comfortable and flexible with constantly evolving priorities and is open to new challenges.
• Pro-active and motivated to create positive change.

EDUCATION:

• University degree, preferably in business administration or finance/accounting, and CPA designation.

ATTRIBUTES

• Self-driven
• Humility
• Transparency
• Integrity
• Strong work ethic
• Empathetic
• Collaborative
• Authentic
• Personable
• Alignment with UPP’s desire to be a leader in Responsible Investing, ESG, and climate change.
  

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.
• Work from abroad 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.

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, so if you require accommodation at any point during the process, please let us know so that we can make the appropriate arrangements. It would be our honor to work with you to adapt our processes to ensure that you can meaningfully participate.