Program associate Jobs in North York, ON

SUMMARY

The Utility Program Lead supports the successful delivery and continuous improvement of utility management services by leading client transitions, coordinating cross-functional projects, and managing client reporting and governance activities. The role converts service requirements, utility information, operational inputs, and stakeholder commitments into clear plans, accountable actions, timely deliverables, and decision-ready reporting. Working across Utility Operations, Utility Processing and Payments, Energy Services, account teams, finance, technology, clients, and third-party providers, the Utility Program Lead helps ensure that utility programs are organized, risks and dependencies are visible, and commitments are completed to the required quality and schedule.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Client Transition & Mobilization

• Leads or coordinates the utility workstream for new client transitions, expansions, contract renewals, and material service changes.
• Develops and maintains transition plans, milestones, responsibility matrices, data and document requirements, risks, dependencies, and readiness criteria.
• Coordinates the collection, review, and handoff of property, account, meter, supplier, billing, authorization, historical consumption, reporting, and payment information required for service commencement.
• Works with internal teams, client representatives, incumbents, utility providers, and third parties to resolve information gaps and advance account setup, data access, system configuration, reporting, and operating readiness.
• Coordinates stabilization activities following go-live, including issue tracking, backlog visibility, ownership confirmation, escalation, and transition closeout.
  
  

Project & Program Management

• Manages assigned utility initiatives from definition through implementation and closeout, including scope, work plans, schedules, actions, decisions, risks, dependencies, and status reporting.
• Facilitates project and governance meetings; develops agendas and decision requests; records actions, owners, and due dates; and follows through to completion.
• Coordinates cross-functional contributions from utility operations, payment, finance, energy, reporting, technology, procurement, account teams, and other subject-matter experts.
• Identifies schedule, scope, resource, data, financial, and service-delivery risks and escalates unresolved issues with a clear summary and recommended path forward.
• Supports the implementation of new tools, workflows, reporting products, and process improvements by documenting requirements, coordinating testing and user feedback, and tracking implementation readiness.
  
  

Client Reporting & Governance

• Coordinates recurring client reporting, governance packages, and executive updates to ensure deliverables are accurate, consistent, complete, and issued on schedule.
• Consolidates utility performance information, data-quality matters, operational issues, commitments, project status, financial or consumption variances, and improvement activities into clear client-ready reporting.
• Maintains integrated action, issue, decision, risk, and opportunity registers and ensures reporting clearly identifies accountability, timing, blockers, and required decisions.
• Works with utility specialists, analysts, managers, and account teams to validate source information and convert detailed findings into concise, decision-useful narratives.
• Tracks client questions, requests, and commitments and coordinates timely, documented responses and closure.

Service Coordination & Continuous Improvement

• Supports consistent utility service delivery by maintaining current process documentation, reporting calendars, stakeholder lists, governance routines, and program records.
• Identifies recurring coordination, reporting, or workflow gaps and recommends practical improvements, standardization, automation, or clearer ownership.
• Supports development of templates, transition protocols, reporting standards, quality controls, and reusable project-management practices across clients.
• Provides coverage and coordination support for priority client issues, service escalations, and time-sensitive deliverables as assigned.
• Other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• College diploma or university degree in business administration, project management, accounting, energy, engineering technology, data analytics, or a related field.
• 5 to 7 years of relevant experience in utility management, project or program coordination, client reporting, transitions, professional services, finance operations, or a comparable service environment.
• Demonstrated project management capability, including development and maintenance of work plans, schedules, action and decision logs, risk and issue registers, and executive status reporting.
• Strong written communication and synthesis skills, with the ability to convert complex operational, financial, technical, and client inputs into clear reports, presentations, meeting materials, and decision documents.
• Ability to coordinate multiple concurrent priorities and obtain timely contributions from cross-functional stakeholders without relying on direct authority.
• Strong client-service orientation and ability to build effective relationships with client representatives, account teams, utility providers, and internal subject-matter experts.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and persistent in following commitments through to completion while exercising sound judgment regarding escalation.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint, with the ability to quickly learn proprietary utility, finance, reporting, and workflow systems.
• Working knowledge of utility accounts, invoices, consumption and cost data, account setup and closure, reporting cycles, payment processes, and common utility service risks is preferred.
• Knowledge of utility tariffs, energy units, budgeting and forecasting, data validation, and utility information systems is an asset.

Licenses and/or Professional Accreditation

• Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), or comparable project-management training is an asset.
• Certified Energy Manager (CEM), Certified Measurement & Verification Professional (CMVP), or other relevant utility or energy accreditation is an asset.

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