Director, Member Services

Job Posting: Director, Member Services

 

The Opportunity:

The Ontario Dental Association (ODA) seeks a dedicated and innovative Director of Member Services to lead strategies that enhance member satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Due to an upcoming retirement, we are seeking someone to join the organization in early 2025. 

This position is pivotal in shaping the member experience and driving the association’s long-term success. Reporting to the Chief Member Services Officer, this role ensures that member services align with the ODA’s strategic goals and contribute to the organization’s growth.  You will lead a team of five-member service professionals to support the team’s objectives.

Who We Are:

The Ontario Dental Association represents over 90% of the dentists in Ontario.  We advocate for our members, promote optimal oral health, and support successful professional lives and general well-being. To achieve this, we:

• Promote the highest standards of dental care.
• Work with governments, the private sector, and other health-care professionals.
• Advocate on public policies that affect the practice of dentistry and the oral health of people in Ontario.
• Raise public awareness of how important oral hygiene is and its connection to overall health.
• Provide our member-dentists with programs, services, and products to support their role as leaders of the oral health care team.

 

The ODA is committed to excellence, community impact, and continuous improvement. Our team values collaboration, integrity, and innovation as we strive to advance dental care and support our members’ needs.

 

What You Will Do

As Director of Member Services, you will oversee a range of strategic initiatives to optimize the member experience. Key responsibilities are highlighted in the following eight areas:

Develop and Implement Member Engagement Strategies

• Strategy Development: Design comprehensive strategies to enhance member satisfaction, engagement, recruitment and retention. This includes identifying key touchpoints and creating personalized experiences that resonate with members at different stages of their careers.
• Program Implementation: Oversee the execution of engagement programs, ensuring they are effectively rolled out and meet the desired objectives.

• Feedback Mechanisms: Establish and maintain channels for member feedback to continuously refine and improve engagement strategies. To achieve this, the role will engage in close collaboration with the Director of Research, leveraging their expertise to refine and optimize feedback mechanisms.

Operational Management

• Daily Operations: Oversee the day-to-day activities of the Member Services department, ensuring smooth and efficient operations.
• Process Improvement: Identify areas for operational improvement and implement best practices to enhance service delivery to members, volunteers and staff.
• Budgeting and Financial Management: Oversee the budgeting process ensuring accurate financial planning. Conduct financial analysis to support decision making and improve operational efficiency. Monitor and report on financial performance, identifying areas for cost savings and revenue enhancement
• Resource Allocation: Ensure optimal allocation of resources, including staff and technology, to meet operational demands.
• Performance Management: Train, supervise and evaluate the performance of the team.

Collaboration

• Cross-Departmental Coordination: Work closely with other departments to integrate membership programs and services with broader organizational goals.
• Team Leadership: Lead and mentor the Member Services team, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Collaboration with Chief Member Services Officer: Work closely with and support the Chief Member Services Officer to ensure alignment of strategies, seamless execution of member services initiatives, and continuous improvement in member satisfaction and engagement. Act as the designated back-up to the Chief Member Services Officer, stepping in as needed to ensure continuity and seamless service delivery.
• Strategic Partnerships: Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with external organizations to enhance member services.

Data Analytics and AI

• Data Utilization: Leverage data-driven analysis and AI tools to gain insights into member behaviour and satisfaction, using these insights to inform strategic decisions and improve service delivery. This includes analyzing membership data to identify trends and areas for improvement in member retention and developing and implementing targeted strategies to address member drop-off.
• AI Integration: Identify and implement AI tools to enhance service delivery, streamline processes, and improve member interactions. 
• Reporting: Develop and maintain dashboards and reports to track key performance indicators and measure the success of member services initiatives.

Partner Relationship Management

• Relationship Building: In collaboration with other senior management leaders, build and maintain strong relationships with key partners, including members, external organizations, and internal departments.
• Communication: Ensure clear and consistent communication with partners to keep them informed and engaged.
• Conflict Resolution: Address and resolve any issues or concerns raised by partners in a timely and effective manner.
• Volunteer/Committee Support: Provide comprehensive support to various volunteers, committees, tasks forces and working groups, ensuring effective communication, coordination, and facilitation of meetings. This includes preparing agendas, developing meeting materials, and following up on action items. Collaborate with volunteers and committee members to address any concerns and ensure alignment with organizational policies, procedures and strategic plan goals.

Product Development

• Enhancement of Existing Services: Continuously improve existing products and services to better meet member needs and expectations.
• New Product Development: Lead the development of new products and services, from ideation to launch, ensuring they align with member needs and organizational goals.
• Market Research: Conduct market research to identify trends and opportunities for new product offerings.

Association Management System (AMS) Leadership

• System Requirements: Lead the Member Services’ contribution to the new Association Management System (AMS), shaping system requirements and ensuring it meets member needs and enhances service delivery.
• Deployment Oversight: Oversee the deployment of the AMS in collaboration with other teams leading the project, ensuring a smooth transition and minimal disruption to member services.
• Leveraging System Functionality and Workflow Development: Maximize the use of the new system functionality to enhance member engagement and satisfaction, identify opportunities to expose members to additional services and ensure seamless integration into daily operations. 
• Ongoing Management and Support: Ensure the continuous oversight of the membership database, including data integrity checks and system enhancements. This involves coordinating with IT and other departments to address any issues, implementing best practices for data management, and ensuring the database meets the evolving needs of the organization and its members.

Continuous Improvement

• Innovation: Foster a culture of innovation within the team, encouraging the team to explore new ideas and approaches.
• Performance Metrics: Establish and track performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of member services initiatives and identify areas for improvement.
• Professional Development: Advance/champion the professional development of the Member Services team, ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to excel in their roles.

Additional Duties

• Other Responsibilities: Perform other supportive duties as assigned to advance the overall functionality and outputs of the Member Services department.

 

What We Are Looking For:

We are looking for a self-starter who has the experience and ability to lead and advance, the continuous improvement of the Member Services team operations. As the ideal candidate, you will have a minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience in member services, non-profit, or customer service, with a successful record of leadership and people management.  You have completed a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, or a related field; master’s degree or Certified Association Executive designation preferred.  

You’ve enhanced your career success through ongoing self development in courses or learning opportunities to expand your knowledge in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) for service enhancement and/or new software applications.  

The following items describe important skills, experience and competency areas you will have demonstrated in your current or previous roles to be successful in this role: 

• You have a customer-centric mindset with a deep understanding of member, volunteer, partner and staff needs and the ability to translate these into actionable service strategies.

• Strong communication and collaboration skills to effectively engage with partners and build consensus across departments. and able to operate with diplomacy, tact and empathy.

• Experience in working with governance-oriented structures including advisory committees/boards, and/or other external stakeholders. 

• Strategic Leadership: Ability to set a vision, inspire teams, and drive organizational goals in member services.

• Operational Excellence: Expertise in managing day-to-day operations and ensuring adherence to quality standards while driving continuous improvement.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Proficiency in interpreting complex data sets to inform strategy and improve service delivery.

Critical and independent thinker and problem solver, yet a flexible team player who can work through issues. 

• Change Management: Skills in managing organizational change and driving innovation within the department to meet evolving member needs.

• Financial Acumen: Ability to manage budgets, allocate resources effectively, and demonstrate ROI for member service initiatives.

• Essential personal qualities – strong starter/finisher, conscientious, efficient and proactive. 

• Committed to personal growth through informal and formal ongoing professional development, and networking. 

• Working knowledge of membership software applications and Microsoft Office applications.

It would be great if you had the following as we consider this as an asset: 

• Experience in a non-profit organization in a health-related industry.

 

What Success Looks Like:

• You have reviewed our current member products, services, and programs and you have a solid understanding of these and ready to offer solutions for advancing innovative engagement strategies, improved operational efficiencies.
• You have built strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders including members and partners.

• Through your people leadership skills, you will have gained the trust of the Member Services team’ and implemented measures to advance team performance. 
• You will have contributed to the successful launch, deployment and integration of the new AMS, enhancing member satisfaction.

 

Working at the ODA:

This is a full-time, permanent position, with hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In addition to a competitive salary, you’ll have access to a benefits plan that includes dental (of course!) as well as plenty of vacation days, personal days, and access to a health spending account.

The position is ideally suited for those open to flexible work arrangements, with a combination of remote and onsite work (hybrid). The ODA occupies a large, open, and beautiful space that used to be a copper factory. Located in the heart of Yorkville, parks, transit, and everything downtown Toronto has to offer.

The ODA is proud to be one of the GTA’s Top Employers 2024 – we think that says a lot about the culture and work environment we’ve built over the last 150+ years. We are all about growth and learning: every position in our organization offers both challenges and opportunities, and we encourage all our staff to establish themselves within and beyond their individual roles. Through our employee recognition program, we make sure that support and opportunity are always within reach.

 

To Apply:

Please take the time to tell us about yourself in a cover letter – we want to hear your story – your background, your accomplishments, and why this role is suitable for you based on the skills/competencies we’ve described. Please submit your cover letter and résumé to HR@ODA.ca by Noon – Thursday, December 12, 2024. All applications will be acknowledged, and selected candidates will be contacted for an interview.  We know that suitability for a role goes both ways - You may have other questions – so feel free to email us in advance of applying. We anticipate the 1st round of formal interviews to be scheduled the week of January 6, 2025.

The Ontario Dental Association is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

We strive to build a team that reflects the diversity of the community we serve and encourage applications from traditionally underrepresented groups such as Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, people identifying as 2SLGBTQI, veterans, women, and people with disabilities.

If we can make this easier through accommodation in the recruitment process, please contact us at HR@ODA.ca.