Assistant, Community & Workplace Partnerships

Department: Office of the VP Teaching&Learning 

Job Type: Limited Term

Full-time/Part-time: Full Time (>=1249 hrs/year) 

Campus: Waterloo 

Reports to: Associate Director, Community & Workplace Partnerships

Employee Group: WLUSA 

Application Deadline: 10/06/2026 

Requisition ID: 11700 

Wilfrid Laurier University is a leading multi-campus university that excels at educating with purpose. Through its exceptional employees, students, researchers, leaders, and educators, Laurier has built a reputation as a world-class institution known for its rich student experience, academic excellence, and global impact. With a commitment to Indigenization and commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, Laurier’s thriving community has a place for everyone.

Laurier has more than 21,000 students and 2,100 faculty and staff across campuses in Waterloo and Brantford, as well locations in Kitchener and Milton. The university is committed to providing an inclusive workplace, a flexible work policy and employing a workforce that is reflective of local and national demographics. Laurier's Waterloo, Kitchener, and Brantford campuses are located on the shared traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. This land is part of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples and symbolizes the agreement to share, protect our resources, and not to engage in conflict. Laurier's Milton campus is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and part of the Nanfan Treaty of 1701 between the British Crown and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

This job posting is for a current vacancy.

Position Summary

Within Experiential Learning & Career Development, supporting the Community & Workplace Partnerships (CWP) unit, the Assistant provides front-line operations for the Community and Workplace Partnerships student placement process, coordinates departmental expenditures and supports coordinators and the Associate Director.

The incumbent responds to the inquiries and requests from students, community/employer partners, faculty and staff, in the growing CWP department that provides support to 5000 students each academic year and works with more than 700 community and employer partners contacts.

In addition, the incumbent will support frontline operations for Co-op during peak times such as Co-op admissions in the fall term and on-campus interview periods each term. The incumbent responds to a high volume of inquiries and requests from students, employers and staff, in a department where over 40 co-op programs are offered, and students are employed in more than 2000 work terms annually.

The position calls for a combination of strong administrative and coordinating skills and the ability to handle numerous tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment. The incumbent investigates a wide variety of problems that arise and recommends and implements solutions.

This position requires the ability to promote our services and supports to campus and community/employer partners as well as provide responsive support to students. All staff members work together as a team to develop, implement, track, and evaluate meaningful opportunities for university-community collaboration and community/industry-engaged learning activities for our students. In addition, the incumbent supports the implementation of experiential learning (EL) processes and guidelines including all health & safety and legal documents required for CWP as well as other departments across the institution.

This position has a university-wide mandate and is based at the Waterloo Campus. The incumbent provides subject matter expertise to all campuses, requiring regular interpersonal interactions and collaboration with departments at the Waterloo, Brantford and Milton Campuses and external partners. Special attention is given to ensure equitable service delivery across all locations.

Accountabilities

Community and Workplace Partnerships Support

• Responds to community/employer and campus partner inquiries by promoting department services. Consults with partners to determine their requirements including the type of university-community collaboration they are interested in.

• Advises employer/community partners about our online systems, instructing them on how to access, review and enter data, submit opportunities and approve attendance reports.

• Assists students with the placement process and access to our online systems for opportunities, postings, and project descriptions. Manages set-up of student-initiated placements.

• Provides instructions in person and by email on updating personal information, signing up for opportunities, completing attendance reports, submitting forms acknowledging interviews or meetings and confirming placements.

• Tracks data independently for student placements, course enrolment and attrition, and community/employer partner recruiting, on a per-term basis. Maintains department’s student and partner files. Processes student evaluations at the end of each academic term.

• Guides students in the application process for police record checks (Vulnerable Sector Screening), completing Health & Safety forms and other pre-placement screening that may be required by employer/community partners. Assists with posting and management of CWP documents and announcements on My Learning Space.

• Prepares correspondence and schedules appointments for coordinators and Associate Director.

• Provides support to CWP courses running in the spring term by responding directly to partners and student inquiries, and in particular when CSL Coordinators are on summer lay-off.

Co-operative Education Support

• Assists with Co-op frontline operations which includes scheduling and revising a high volume of complex and conflicting interview schedules under tight timelines, according to employer requests and administrative functions related to the co-op admissions process.

• Responds to inquiries in-person, by email, web, and telephone from students, employers, community partners, staff, and faculty.

Customer Service and Reception

• Manages departmental reception, main phone extension (and phone extensions for six staff when forwarded). Provides accurate and timely information when responding to inquiries in-person, by email, web, and telephone from students, employers, community partners, staff and faculty about Community & Workplace Partnerships policies and procedures.

• Triages the nature and complexity of inquiries and determines actions to be taken, advising customers as appropriate and solving problems. Provides proactive, customer-friendly and quality front-line service in person, by phone and by email to students, employer/community partners, staff and faculty.

Event and Marketing Administration

• Coordinates food services requirements for on-campus events, audio visual and room bookings for workshops, presentations, and training and reflection sessions and the physical set-up of on-campus activities.

• Coordinates administrative requirements of student orientation and preparation including updating documents, posting information online, direct mail campaigns, and logistics.

• Assists with materials, logistics and online resources and functionality for workshops, seminars and industry/community events throughout the year.
• Assists in administrative functions related to developing marketing and communication materials using special software such as MS Publisher and Adobe Acrobat and completes website updates.

• Contributes to the creation of departmental Annual Reports by generating analytical reports and adapting written material.

• Responsible for the administration of social media.

Training and Documentation

• Provides training to staff and faculty on use of the Navigator system to view information, generate reports, track forms and monitor student progress through an experience.

• Keeps informed of and assists in documenting department policies and procedures, advises students about them and appropriate action, and provides students with related documents and forms.

• Reviews business practices, makes suggestions for improvement as needed, and communicates, documents and implements changes.

General Office Administration

• Tracks and verifies departmental budget transactions including travel expenses for five coordinators and one Associate Director. Monitors and orders office supplies and processes purchase requisitions.

• Assists with updating and maintaining department databases. Involves gathering information from outside sources such as organization websites, LinkedIn, and the Volunteer Action Centre.

Qualifications

• Minimum college diploma.
• Minimum two years of recent administrative work experience and customer service, preferably in a work environment related to student service, social services or employment assistance.
• Excellent communication, customer service and interpersonal skills
• Strong computer and keyboarding skills, proficiency (accuracy and speed) in Word and Excel and experience using Publisher and Adobe Acrobat. Experience in financial systems and website updates.
• Experience working collaboratively in a team environment.
• Adaptability, flexibility, good judgment and problem-solving skills.
• Organization and time management skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks.
• Ability to support a culture focused on a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and Indigenization.

Hours of Work

This is a Full-time, Limited-term opportunity with an anticipated end date of April 30th 2027. The normal hours of work are 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. Flexibility in hours may be required, including evening and/or weekend work due to periods of high volume. When possible, the manager will adjust hours to ensure no more than 35 hours are worked in a week.

This role requires daily in person attendance and is not eligible for a flexible work rrangement as per Policy 8.14 (Flexible Work Policy).

Compensation

• Level: C

• Rate of pay: $35.15 to $37.17 per hour with an annual step progression on anniversary date up to $40.19 per hour. 

Considerations for new hire step placements include, qualifications and length/depth of required experience, relevant market rates for similar jobs, internal equity, and estimated learning curve in starting the job.

Wilfrid Laurier University endeavors to fill positions with qualified candidates who have a combination of education, experience, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position while demonstrating Laurier's Employee Success Factors.

Equity, diversity and creating a culture of inclusion are part of Laurier’s core values and central to the Laurier Strategy. Laurier is committed to increasing the diversity of faculty and staff and welcomes applications from candidates who identify as Indigenous, racialized, having disabilities, and from persons of any minority sexual and gender identities. Indigenous candidates who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact the Office of Indigenous Initiatives. Candidates from other equity deserving groups who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact Equity & Accessibility. We have strived to make our application process accessible, however if you require any assistance applying for a position or would like this job posting in an alternative format, please contact Human Resources. Contact information can be found at careers.wlu.ca/content/How-to-apply/

Should you be interested in learning more about this opportunity, please visit www.wlu.ca/careers for additional information and the online application system. All applications must be submitted online. Please note, a resume and cover letter will be required in electronic form.

Please note, when pre-screening questions are used as part of the application process, AI is utilized to score responses. All other aspects of the hiring process are reviewed by our Talent Acquisition team.