Manager Research & Development

Be the Spark! Join our passionate Research & Development team and help us to achieve great things in our community!

The Research & Development Manager leads initiatives that advance the YMCAs impact and strengthen well-being across the Greater Toronto Area. The role provides leadership for research and evaluation projects integrating innovative approaches to assess community needs program effectiveness and organizational sustainability. It ensures that insights from research and evaluation inform decision-making support operational planning and enhance member experiences. As a key contributor to the management team the position fosters collaboration across departments to drive continuous improvement and accountability. Through strategic analysis and evidence-based leadership the Manager shapes the organizations ability to deliver meaningful outcomes for both participants and the broader community.

In this role you will:

• Monitor community needs evaluate Association impact and support efforts to sustain and improve the impact of the Associations programs and services.
• Lead and support initiatives that enhance the Associations reach sustainability and long-term growth.
• Design execute and interpret research methodologies to understand member needs and behaviors consumer trends and YMCA performance collaborating with external and internal partners.
• Manage market research projects and relationships with external consultants and vendors.
• Support geodemographic analyses using appropriate software platforms to guide operations senior leadership and the board.
• Maintain and update feedback processes for operations fundraising marketing senior leadership and the board including performance metrics.
• Maintain an understanding of YMCA databases and analytical applications.
• Lead and support program evaluation and impact measurement projects ensuring that methodologies are rigorous evidence-based and aligned with organizational priorities.
• Apply evaluation evidence to strategic decision-making supporting organizational sustainability growth and continuous improvement.
• Mobilize evaluation findings into practice providing actionable insights that strengthen participant experiences program quality and overall organizational impact.
• Support efforts to understand and track member needs interests and responses to programs and services.
• Support monitoring processes for YMCA member and participant experiences establish linkages to member behaviors and provide feedback to operations fundraising marketing senior leadership and the board.
• Coordinate and respond to research support requests within the Association.
• Collect information about Association research needs and activities to support the development of work plans.
• Develop and maintain processes for ensuring data integrity and monitor key statistics and data used by the Association.
• Analyze Association data and prepare reports as required.
• Provide leadership as part of the program management team.
• Lead and support the production of funding proposals research reports case studies and presentations.
• Manage project work plans budgets documents and timelines and support departmental planning and budget processes to ensure effective resource management.
• Establish and maintain inventories of Association research projects programs and research partnerships.
• Support the VP of Development and Research.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

You bring:

• University degree in Social or Health Sciences or related fields or equivalent experience.
• Level of education training and experience equivalent to a PhD or a Masters degree in Social or Health Sciences preferred.
• Minimum 3 years experience in a social or health sciences setting.
• Experience with assessment of community health and well-being the evaluation of community health initiatives and/or analysis of geodemographic data.
• Experience with program evaluation and performance measurement and understanding of developmental formative and summative evaluation approaches as well as the evaluation of complex interventions.
• Knowledge and/or experience in the non-profit or charitable sector preferred; knowledge of YMCA organization an asset.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills including survey research and appropriate univariate and multivariate statistical methods.
• Proficiency with statistical software such as SPSS or SAS and advanced skills in MS Office including Excel Word PowerPoint and Access.
• Understanding of relational databases data warehouses analytics and the ability to manipulate large datasets is an asset.
• Understanding of approaches and systems for managing research knowledge and mobilizing or transferring knowledge across the Association.
• Demonstrated analytical and report creation skills including the ability to write documents such as project plans evaluation plans and progress reports and to use data visualization techniques.
• Demonstrated project management skills.
• Superior presentation training and facilitation skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills including the ability to communicate clearly concisely and in plain language.
• Well-developed interpersonal and relationship-building skills; ability to establish rapport and communicate effectively with members participants families youth children staff and volunteers.
• A demonstrated ability to work well in collaborative cross-functional project teams.
• Dependable detail-oriented and thorough.
• Excellent understanding of diversity inclusion and equity including the ability to identify and address barriers work effectively with diverse stakeholders and integrate equity into program design.

What you need to succeed:

• Commitment to the YMCAs Mission Vision and Values
• Focus on the health safety and wellbeing of all children youth and vulnerable people in YMCA programs including understanding legal and moral obligations related to reporting suspected child abuse to Child Protection Services
• YMCA Competencies: Accountable Relationship-Builder Improvement-Orientated Team Player & Leader Equity and Wellbeing Promoter

Why work for the YMCA

The YMCA of Greater Toronto is a charity that ignites the potential in people helping them grow lead and give back to their communities. We are committed to helping our employees reach their full potential and are recognized as a great place to work. We offer meaningful jobs and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of individuals and the health of our communities. See what you can expect from the YMCA here.

Joining the Y means contributing to over 170 years of providing opportunities for people to shine through programs and services such as health and fitness licensed child care camps employment and immigrant services education and training and services for youth families and seniors. Learn more in ourstrategic plan Greater Togetherwhich outlines how we are focused on building communities where people feel healthier and more connected to their neighbours.

The YMCA of Greater Toronto is committed to Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging. We strive to remove barriers to employment and recognize that diverse staff who reflect the communities we work in enrich the experiences of our participants and our team. As an equal opportunity employer we invite applications from all qualified candidates including racialized people/people of colour Indigenous Peoples disabled people/people with disabilities and members of 2SLGBTQIA communities.

If we can make the recruitment process more accessible for you please let us know when we reach out about a job opportunity so we can work with you to accommodate your needs.

In keeping with our commitment to safety and child protection job offers are contingent on the successful completion of a Police Records Check. Within the first four months and every three years thereafter a Vulnerable Police Records Check is required. Learn more about these checks here.

The YMCA only considers applicants who are legally entitled to work in Canada. We thank all applicants for their interest however due to the volume of applications we receive we can only contact candidates who are selected for an interview.

Check out the next steps in our recruitment process and see what others are saying about working at the YMCA.

Required Experience:

Manager