DESCRIPTION

The Office for Educational Innovation (EI) is here to help our Campus research, develop, and ultimately implement innovative curriculum and educational programs, whether that takes the form of new courses, new teaching modalities, finding ways to reach new audiences, or whole new program types altogether. EI works with individual faculty, departments, or entire divisions. EI provides trainings, workshops and opportunities to share and shape ideas at an early stage. EI can provide competitive analyses, market research, survey constituents, identify and bring together both internal and external partners, provide project management, budget analysis, and help with identifying funding and support options.

Reporting to the Change Lead, this position serves as a Change Practitioner for the Student Information System (SIS) Project, which is part of the multi-year campus-wide Enterprise Systems Renewal (ESR) Initiative, aimed at transforming and streamlining core business and administrative processes at UC San Diego. The SIS Project will provide a comprehensive, modern solution for UC San Diego’s business needs in course and class scheduling, enrollment and registration services, academic records, curriculum management, student finances, and financial aid and scholarships.

Under direction of the project Change Leads and Project Manager, the Change Practitioner applies change management methodology to plan, communicate, and roll out large-scale system and process changes impacting tens of thousands of students, faculty, and staff. This position will coordinate with project team members, stakeholders, and subject matter experts from across the university to ensure that all perspectives have been accounted for and that clear communication is maintained between all involved in the project.

A successful Change Practitioner will demonstrate strong collaboration and interpersonal skills, excellent communication skills, flexibility and an ability to tolerate ambiguity, strategic thinking, an ability to synthesize and summarize large amounts of information effectively, and a high level of emotional intelligence. The work requires frequent problem-solving and analysis of unique issues without precedent and/or structure.

The incumbent uses their experience in project management, change management, training, and/or communications, as well as knowledge of the university departments, stakeholders, and organization, to research, analyze, and develop solutions to a wide range of issues. Demonstrates good judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions. Primarily deals with policies, programs, and proposals, which are complex in nature and diverse in scope. Develops new programs, policies, or procedures for possible implementation.

• Submission of a cover letter along with a resume is required for a complete application.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated experience in guiding others through new, existing, or changed policies or processes, including creating supporting materials such as knowledgebase articles, training manuals, or job aids.

• Demonstrated ability to manage relationships with stakeholders of varying levels throughout the organization to share project information and gather feedback. Ability to coach, facilitate, and influence people at all levels. Ability to become trusted facilitator engaging all essential campus stakeholders.

• Demonstrated ability to plan, execute and finalize projects according to deadlines and within budget, and to identify and plan for possible risks to project success.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. Demonstrated experience writing, editing, and proofreading communications for a wide range of audiences (executives, business partners, end-users, general public, etc.) and across a variety of mediums (web, press release, newsletter, presentation, etc.).

• Ability to use discretion and maintain all confidentiality. Proven ability to use interpersonal skills including tact, diplomacy, and flexibility to deal with politically sensitive situations.

• Analytical / problem-solving skills. Proven ability to solve unexpected problems and make sound last-minute decisions.

• Strong policy analysis techniques. Proven ability to quickly understand business issues and challenges and communicate or escalate those issues and challenges with the appropriate stakeholders.

• Ability to multi-task with demanding timeframes. Demonstrated experience in organizing and prioritizing work to meet deadlines in an environment of multiple projects and changing priorities, especially the ability to determine relevance and prioritize tasks.

• Knowledge of common organization- or research-specific and other computer application programs. Demonstrated experience using standard business software, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams; Google Workspace; and Zoom.

• Strong skills in analyzing, researching and synthesizing large amounts of data for preparing sound and relevant proposals / analyses.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

• Background check is required for this position.

• Duties may require direct contact with children (defined as individuals under the age of 18); completion of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) form will be required.