Specialist, Program Development

Do you want to be part of our innovative and entrepreneurial team?

Do you thrive in an entrepreneurial environment and enjoy working in a team atmosphere? Are you an “outside the box” thinker who strives to implement continuous improvements? Do you take a strategic approach to your work? Do you enjoy a fast‑paced culture where your opinions are valued and respected? Do you enjoy building partnerships to solve mutually beneficial challenges?

Mitacs is a national not‑for‑profit that helps industry and non‑profit partners solve strategic challenges by leveraging Canada’s world‑class post‑secondary talent and a global network of industry, academic, and government partnerships. Through these collaborations, Mitacs helps business and community partners succeed, improves students’ on‑the‑job skills development, and strengthens Canada’s world‑class innovation ecosystem. At Mitacs, we strive to develop the next generation of innovators with vital research and business skills.

In partnership with domestic and international companies, governments, and academia, we support a new economy using Canada’s most valuable resource – its people.

To get a better understanding of Mitacs and read more about our values, please visit our website.

As required by Canadian law, all employees must be legally entitled to work in Canada throughout their employment with Mitacs.

The Program Development Team is responsible for designing, refining, and iterating all Mitacs programs & skills partnership offerings to ensure these elements respond directly to policy rationales/market needs, meet objectives, and deliver value. Reporting to the Manager, Program Development, the Specialist will support the review, design and development of program offerings including establishing program objectives and rules/regulations, collaborate with other business units to pilot and evaluate new program & skills partnership offerings, and introduce program changes as needed to ensure continued achievement of stated programming aims.

Full‑Time Temporary – March 2027

Fulfill the mandate of the Program Development department in the following areas:

• Work collaboratively to provide impactful programs & skills partnership offerings that possess clear documentation & guidelines.
• Support process improvements to help streamline procedures and programs.
• Facilitate meaningful reporting functions for Program Development to measure achievement of key objectives, provide outcomes to other business units, and facilitate continuous improvement.
• Represent Program Development on cross‑departmental work groups, as required.
• Support the Manager, Program Development in reporting progress toward annual operational plan goals.
• Support overall program and skills partnership delivery, as needed.

• Employ change management principles and practices to facilitate programs & skills partnership design changes, based on data and/or cross‑functional initiatives, that lead to better participant and client experience and achievement of programmatic outcomes.
• Contribute to the design of programs & skills partnership offerings based on sound policy‑based rationale(s), that possess meaningful and achievable aims and deliver value to ecosystem partners/collaborators.
• Support regular reviews of programs and skills partnership offerings to ensure continued relevancy to the marketplace, alignment with overall strategy, and suitable participant ease‑of‑use.
• Execute program changes that reduce barriers to equity‑deserving groups and align with Mitacs corporate equity, diversity, and inclusion goals.

• Minimum two (2) years' experience in a program‑oriented role.
• Experience in providing customer service, and familiarity with service quality approaches and metrics.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including excellent communication skills.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively across a range of stakeholders in a complex field of work to achieve common goals.
• A university degree (graduate degree preferred).
• Bilingualism French/English. Knowledge of written and spoken English is required in this role as you will interact with…