Operations Manager

Position: Operations Manager
Organization: The Atmospheric Fund
Location: Hybrid – candidates living in the GTHA who can commute to our downtown Toronto office two or three times a week should apply.

The TAF team is growing! We're looking for an experienced Operations Manager who will play a vital role in ensuring TAF's smooth operations and efficient procurement of resources. In this new role, reporting to the Senior Manager, People and Operations, you'll streamline processes, build strong vendor relationships, and implement innovative procurement strategies aligned with our mission.

About The Atmospheric Fund (TAF)

TAF is a regional climate agency that invests in low-carbon solutions for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and helps scale them up for broad implementation. We are experienced leaders and collaborate with stakeholders in the private, public and non-profit sectors who have ideas and opportunities for reducing carbon emissions. We advance the most promising concepts by investing, providing grants, influencing policies and running programs. We’re particularly interested in ideas that offer benefits beyond carbon reduction such as improving people’s health, creating new green jobs, boosting urban resiliency, and contributing to a fair society. TAF is a proud member of the Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3) network.

For the GTHA to be carbon neutral by 2050, much needs to be done, and quickly. TAF staff are focused on enabling the acceleration and scale-up of low-carbon solutions so that we reach that goal. We’re on the leading edge of urban climate change solutions and our work makes a tangible difference. We build meaningful relationships with all kinds of stakeholders – from thought leaders advancing concepts to the people who implement change on the ground. Join our dedicated and collaborative team to contribute to the value and impact of our work.

About TAF’s Operations Manager

As Operations Manager you will provide centralized support for TAF’s procurement and partnership activities, ensuring compliance with our policies and standards, and that the team can efficiently and effectively secure resources needed to advance our mandate. This includes coordinating the procurement process from start to finish, establishing and maintaining vendor and partner relationships, developing and monitoring compliance with robust contracts, and supporting continuous improvement. You'll also have the opportunity to work towards advancing and enabling social procurement, clean procurement and other innovative approaches that are aligned with TAF’s mandate and strategic direction to “solve for all”.

Beyond procurement, you'll focus on improving a range of organizational policies, procedures and project management functions and support their implementation organization-wide.

What you’ll do:

End-to-End Procurement Coordination and Partnership Support

• Guide and support TAF staff in determining appropriate procurement methods for goods and services.
• Lead the development and dissemination of procurement documents and act as the primary point of contact for inquiries.
• Support TAF staff to review bidder questions, prepare addenda, evaluate submissions, and recommend awards.
• Establish and administer evaluation committees, ensuring the process is consistent and aligned with TAF’s standards, and is well documented.
• Manage supplier and vendor lists in TAF’s CRM, ensuring a diverse and qualified pool of bidders.
• Facilitate communication between clients and vendors to resolve performance issues, recommending appropriate solutions and escalating when necessary.
• Liaise with the City of Toronto Purchasing and Materials Management Division (PMMD) as needed.

Contracting and Compliance

• Draft, review, and obtain approvals for agreements and contracts in collaboration with internal teams, ensuring compliance with regulatory and organizational requirements, and alignment with TAF’s objectives.
• Coordinate agreements and contract renewals, amendments, and close-out procedures.
• Ensure that procurement records are well-organized and maintained according to TAF’s policies, and that all required contract close-out steps are completed.

Best Practices and Innovation

• Update and maintain all of TAF’s procurement templates, processes and procedures, and keep TAF teams informed and equipped.
• Stay informed on procurement best practices and outcomes/results from TAF’s procurement activities, and develop related reports and insights for improvement.
• Identify opportunities and approaches to use purchasing and procurement strategies to increase demand and supply of low-carbon solutions.
• Identify opportunities and approaches to use purchasing and procurement to improve social and economic outcomes.

Candidate knowledge, skills and abilities we’re looking for:

Experience and Qualifications

Essential to have

• Post-secondary degree or diploma in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, or equivalent work experience.
• At least four years of progressive experience in a procurement or operations role.

Helpful to have

• Experience using procurement software and CRM systems.
• Knowledge of procurement, contracting, or vendor management.

Skills

Essential to have:

• Written Communication: Able to write with clarity and precision for different stakeholders, distilling information into concise and easily digestible sections, ensuring all parties understand the requirements and expectations and reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings or disputes.
• Analytical thinking: Ability to analyze and assess needs, bids, proposals, and vendor performance, ensuring the best choices are made based on both qualitative and quantitative factors.
• Interpersonal Communication and Negotiation: Strong verbal communication to effectively liaise both internally and externally, responding to inquiries, resolving conflicts, and negotiating contracts, pricing, and terms with vendors to achieve the best value.
• Relationship Management: Ability to maintain productive relationships with vendors and suppliers, ensuring long-term partnerships that benefit both parties.
• Attention to detail: A meticulous approach to documentation and record-keeping to ensure all processes are transparent and auditable.

Helpful to have:

• Financial Acumen: Understanding of budgeting, cost control, and financial analysis as it pertains to procurement decisions to ensure purchases align with the organization's financial goals.
• Time and task management: Ability to work independently and efficiently manage multiple priorities and competing deadlines within a dynamic and fast-paced work environment.
• Continuous Improvement Focus: A commitment to staying current with market trends, best practices, and innovations in procurement to drive continuous process improvements.

What’s in it for you:

The starting salary range for this role is $83,000 - $89,000. In addition to your salary, you’ll benefit from:

• Paid time off:
  • 15 vacation days per year to start.
  • A generous and compassionate personal leave policy.
  • TAF-wide office closures on 13 City-designated and statutory holidays (includes Easter Monday, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day), as well as the week between Boxing Day and New Years’ Day.
• Comprehensive employer-paid extended health, vision, dental, life insurance and long-term disability benefits package after successful completion of your three-month probationary period.
• Contribution to your retirement savings plan after one year of employment.
• Supplies for your virtual office setup, including a monthly stipend for internet and other.
• Access to financial support and time off to pursue relevant professional development.

The intangible stuff:

• In consultation with your supervisor, flexible work hours and hybrid work options.
• Mission-driven work that directly helps to reduce carbon emissions and improve health, create new green jobs, boost urban resiliency, and contribute to a more fair and just GTHA.
• Direct exposure and opportunity to advance climate action with partners and stakeholders from across sectors and across the GTHA
• Staff socials and lunches, picnics, and many other activities.
• Team-wide trainings and learning.
• Input to and participation in TAF’s annual and strategic planning.
• A work environment that’s seeking to be open and inclusive, supported by a staff-led Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Working Group

You’ll upload your resume (no cover letter is required) and answer some questions that are related to your relevant experience and day-to-day job. You don't need to do it all in one sitting; you'll get a direct link and will be able to come back and edit until you click submit. After the job closes, your answers will go through our de-biased sift process: all answers will be anonymized, randomised and then scored by members of our team. Responses will be screened for AI-generated content (e.g. ChatGPT), and candidates who misuse these tools may be disqualified.

If your responses to the questions score in the top 10% of applicants, we’ll review your resume. We use this step to confirm that you meet our minimum required qualifications for the role, and to learn more about you, but place more value on your responses to our sift questions than just your on-paper experience.

If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you join us for an in-person interview at our Toronto office (virtual interviews can be accommodated on request). After that, the top candidates will be invited to complete a technical assessment and participate in a second interview. In the final stage, the TAF hiring manager will connect with your professional references to hear about what it’s like working with you from your past colleagues.

Depending on the volume and quality of applications received, we may add a step to our process. We anticipate it will take about six weeks from the job posting closing date to making a hiring decision. Whether you are successful or not, you will hear back from us once the process is complete. We appreciate your applying to work at TAF!