Senior Manager, Business Relations - Archives and Metadata Solutions

Toronto, ON

Work at CBC/Radio-Canada

Behind the scenes, but ahead of the curve: help us develop the next-generation public broadcaster.

Created in 2015 to align, lighten and modernize infrastructure, the Technology & Infrastructures (T&I) team is the backbone and the future forward arm of CBC/Radio-Canada. We are the people that make stuff work. We make connections; between media content, systems, people and places. We are the space in between.

A place with purpose. CBC/Radio-Canada has always been a highly regarded pioneer of media technology. Not just in Canada, but around the world. Today, we’re transforming ourselves from conventional radio and television broadcaster into a modern digital media company. Technology is the driving force and we are the team making it happen.

Your role

Reporting to the Senior Director, Business Relations, we have a newly created opportunity for a Senior Manager, Archives and Metadata Solutions. You will define your clients’ product evolution strategy in line with the business unit vision, help develop the business strategy, and maintain client relationships for the portfolio under your purview. You will significantly influence your clients’ business strategy from a technology perspective.

Your project management, staff management and leadership skills will be required to supervise an in-house team (hiring, monitoring, coaching, etc.) and outside consultants, including planning/coordinating team activities.

Your product management expertise, wide-ranging knowledge, sound judgment and analytical acumen will allow you to guide product evolution decisions and activities. Archive & Metadata solutions include Media Asset Management, Archives, Databases, and Taxonomy Systems.

You will also manage relationships with stakeholders from all corporate departments and understand CBC/Radio-Canada’s strategy to ensure that product evolution is strategically aligned. You will be responsible for organizing and participating in the governance of applications related to the product portfolio under your purview, including accountability for project delivery, maintenance and service levels.

Please note that this is a bilingual position ideally based in Toronto, but it can be located in Montreal.

What's in it for you?

Challenges and balance. We spend our days solving problems on an unbelievable scale. Media files are highly nuanced and incredibly complicated; updating, installing, and supporting technologies that are organization-wide and that impact broadcasting content is a time-sensitive, complex technical feat. Every day you will make an impact executing on our strategy as you lead the team and the implementation of multiple applications working to advance our metadata and taxonomies to further enhance the way we engage our audience of millions of Canadians.

Be part of a diverse and inclusive team and organization. We believe in celebrating human differences and know that there is no other path to becoming the best public broadcaster for all Canadians. There's still more work to be done, and we are deeply committed to putting all of our corporate, individual, and collective efforts into doing the work. You will be part of our growth and have opportunities to participate in our diversity and inclusion initiatives, including but not limited to Emerging Leadership Training and Unconscious Bias training. This is a genuine opportunity to join a collaborative team, expanding your career opportunities as you gain exposure working with development, procurement, legal, finance, executives, and vendors.

Cutting-edge technology. As the only major media company in Canada with complete IP Infrastructure, we are thought leaders and experts in this area. We have also partnered with Cisco and Arista for custom network platforms built on their latest technology. This is a chance to rapidly gain exposure to CBC/Radio-Canada's technologies, tools, and projects, across multiple initiatives, not just the ones in your assigned portfolio. You will develop hands-on experience with rare yet in-demand technologies, working across a broad and complex spectrum of applications supporting our content.

As our new Senior Manager, Archives and Metadata Solutions, you will:

Manage a complex product portfolio. You will:

Define the product evolution strategy in line with your clients’ vision for the business unit
Manage client relationships, leading meetings with various clients (via governance committees) to identify business priorities for product evolution as well as for managing technology risk
Ensure that data security and integrity requirements are met
Track compliance with service level agreements by monitoring pre-established control measures
Assist in developing modern IT strategies/technologies to optimize business value delivery
Negotiate long-term contractual agreements with service providers
Manage contracts and business relationships with external product and service providers
Develop procedures for communicating with the technology components in order to optimize solution delivery

Contribute to the strategic and capacity planning. You will:

Assess all client business needs (including business cases and feasibility studies)
Align technology needs for all business lines to help them achieve their objectives
Determine key strategies for improving the technology delivery model
Improve communication among all technology groups to promote an effective delivery model for the business community
Develop and maintain roadmaps and strategic plans under your responsibility to feed into annual financial planning and manage technology risks
Develop business cases and feasibility studies, including cost/benefit analyses
Participate in defining the annual software-update plans, based on business priorities and technology risks

Manage projects. You will:

Identify business needs and set expectations and possible responses
Choose the action plan, determine the size of the project, assess risks, impacts and limits
Define the framework and project objectives
Determine the necessary human, financial and technical resources jointly with management
Validate, with all players involved, the various project development phases so as to ensure compliance with initial objectives; determine and take corrective action as needed
Find solutions to issues and constraints, escalating unresolved issues as needed
Advise, guide and provide business expertise to others during the planning and development phases of projects

Manage a team. You will:

Hire, mentor, and lead a team of in-house and external resources to fulfil the departmental mandate
Manage permanent and temporary employees, including objective setting, performance reviews, compensation, training and development

We are looking for a candidate with the following:

The education. You have a degree in business data processing, with ten years’ experience in product management, product governance, team management, and project implementation management. You have direct exposure working in a Media Asset Management (MAM) environment and familiarity with trends related to MAM, DAM, PAM, and other archive systems. Experience in the media industry is an asset.
The technical knowledge. You have deep familiarity with product portfolio management (strategy, technology watch, trends, etc.) and business and technology-solution analysis. You understand technical limitations, complexities, and costs of systems.
The leadership abilities. You have an appreciation for diverse opinions and approaches to problem-solving and can foster an environment of trust, influencing with and without authority, inspiring the work of your team, and ensuring positive collaboration across teams.
The strategic approach. You have a highly developed ability to grasp issues and think critically to make complex issues understandable and innovate solutions specific to the situation. You possess excellent judgment, along with the ability to manage a multitude of priorities and meet deadlines.
The interpersonal skills. You have exceptional verbal and written communication skills in English and comfort communicating in French. You can foster relationships with peers, executive stakeholders, clients, and external technology vendors. You can effectively translate technical requirements to non technical business needs, document processes, and sketch diagrams. You are empathetic, and have strong conflict resolution and diplomacy skills to effectively handle difficult situations, and discretion is needed to perform your duties confidentially
The flexibility. You are willing to work remotely at the start of your role and transition into a hybrid role, spending part of your time in-office once it is safe to do so.

Join us

Think this job is meant for you but worried you don’t have it all? At CBC/Radio-Canada we know that not everyone takes the same path when it comes to building their skills. Hands-on experience, intelligence, innovation, a passion for learning and a team-focused approach can combine to form the best set of qualifications. If you feel you meet 70% of the requirements we are seeking and you are excited by the possibility of growing our company, take a chance and express your interest. Candidates may be subject to skills and knowledge testing.

All employees of CBC/Radio-Canada are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of December 1st 2021 unless exempted based on a medical/religious ground. As per this requirement, employees must attest to their vaccination status. The requirement for employees to be fully vaccinated applies whether they are teleworking, working remotely or working on-site. This is a condition of employment and it applies to all employees. Should you reach the point in the selection process where it is necessary to verify if you meet the conditions of employment, you will be asked to provide an attestation confirming your COVID-19 vaccination status.

If this sounds interesting, please click on ''Apply online''. We thank all applicants for their interest, but only candidates selected will be contacted.

CBC/Radio-Canada is committed to being a leader in reflecting our country’s diversity. That’s because we can only create and tell the stories that connect Canadians, by having a workforce that mirrors the ever-changing makeup of our country. That’s why we, as an employer, value equal opportunity and nurture an inclusive workplace where our individual differences are not only recognized and valued, but also extend to and pervade all the services we provide as Canada’s public broadcaster. For more information, visit the Diversity and Inclusion section of our website. If you have accommodation needs at this stage of the recruitment process, please inform us as soon as possible by sending an e-mail to recruitment@cbc.ca.

You are invited to consult and familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct, which can be found on our corporate website. All employees must adhere to the Code as a condition of employment. We also invite you to take a look at our policy on conflicts of interest. In the event that you become an employee, it will be important to inform us, as quickly as possible, of any situation that, because of your hiring, constitutes or could appear to constitute a conflict of interest.

Wherever in the wording of the job description either gender is used, it shall be understood to include all genders.