Senior Technical Operations Advisor

At Nelson, we've been shaping the future of education for children and youth across Canada for over 110 years. As the country's largest K-12 education content provider, we remain dedicated to our legacy of looking forward, paving the way in creating boundless, accessible, and engaging learning experiences for all. 

Our innovative solutions, including Edwin, our digital learning platform, provide curriculum-aligned content that support diverse learning styles while fostering critical thinking, creativity, and lifelong learning. We listen intently to the unique needs of educators, students, and administrators everywhere, and continuously evolve what we do and build to improve their lives daily. 

When we're searching for individuals to join our team, we look for bold, innovative team players with a passion for education and making a positive difference in our communities. If this sounds like you, we want to hear from you Apply to join our team today. Let's Create Possible, one learner at a time. 

Reporting to the Vice President of People & Employee Experience, the Senior Technical Operations Advisor serves as a hands-on technical expert responsible for guiding Service Desk operations and strengthening the organization's IT infrastructure and security posture. As a trusted consultant to the Service Desk team, this role blends daily technical support, infrastructure and network oversight, security best practices, and mentorship. The Advisor ensures IT services are reliable, secure, and efficient across the organization while championing an outstanding technical support experience for all employees.

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to the Service Desk team by offering expertise, guidance, and escalation support for complex issues while remaining actively hands-on.
• Oversee and coordinate daily IT support activities, ensuring timely resolution of requests, smooth onboarding/offboarding, and adherence to ITIL-based best practices.
• Support and maintain core infrastructure systems, including servers, networks, cloud environments (Azure/AWS), and identity platforms (Active Directory, SSO, MFA).
• Enhance the reliability, security, and performance of end-user devices—laptops, desktops, and mobile—through proactive monitoring, updates, and endpoint management.
• Collaborate with Service Desk and IT teams on initiatives such as upgrades, cloud migrations, and office technology improvements, helping ensure structured change management and minimal disruption.
• Engage with vendors to manage contracts and support the full lifecycle of hardware and software assets.
• Contribute to the development and reinforcement of IT policies related to security, backups, disaster recovery, and compliance.
• Assist in security and continuity efforts by monitoring systems for vulnerabilities, supporting incident response activities, and participating in business continuity planning.
• Analyze service performance metrics, identifying trends and presenting recommendations to drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with the VP of People & Employee Experience to help shape a modern, employee-centric IT Operations function that emphasizes reliability, security, and service excellence.

Requirements

• A degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related discipline; or comparable practical experience.
• Over 5 years of advancing experience in IT operations, particularly in networking and infrastructure.
• Demonstrated capability in configuring, managing, and troubleshooting the following:
• Network systems (LAN/WAN, VPN, wireless, firewalls, DNS/DHCP)
• Server systems and virtualization technologies
• Cloud platforms (such as Azure, AWS, or similar)
• Identity and access management solutions (including Active Directory, SSO/MFA)
• Proven experience in mentoring smaller IT teams.
• Strong understanding of IT Service Management frameworks and practices (ITIL certification is preferred).
• Experience in vendor management and contract negotiations.
• Outstanding problem-solving, troubleshooting, and communication abilities.
• A customer-centric approach with significant experience in delivering front-line support to employees at all levels and collaborating across departments.
• Willingness to work in a hybrid setup (minimum of 3 days per week in the office) is required.
• Project Management certification is a plus.

Benefits

What We Offer

At Nelson, we believe in taking care of our people.

Your well-being, growth, and work-life balance matter to us, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support you - professionally and personally.

The below benefits apply to this temporary contract position:

• This role is a hybrid position (M-F, standard business hours, 3-days per week in-office)
• Commuter friendly location (Sheppard & Don Mills)
• Free, convenient shuttle bus service from Don Mills Subway Station to and from the office
• Access to on-site fitness center and fitness classes
• Access to Linkedin Learning for continuous skill growth
• Mentorship and professional development opportunities
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providing confidential support spanning from mental health services to financial counselling, and many things in-between.

This is a 6-month contract position, with the opportunity for extension at that time, based on the needs of the business and performance.

Don't have 100% of the above qualifications? Do you still think Nelson is a great fit for you? We encourage you to apply anyway

Our EDI Statement

Nelson teaches the world by learning from everyone in it . 

We are committed to fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplace environment. This is an integral part of our company's culture and mission that aligns with our four key pillars of Employee Diversity, Developing Authentic and Accurate Content, Amplifying External Voices, and Supporting the Local Community and Beyond.

We believe in the power of education and our ability to impact social change.  Truth, honesty, integrity, and respect guide our decisions and actions in the development of learning solutions that empower success for all educators and learners. 

We value a respectful, inclusive, and safe workplace that nurtures belonging and represents many different cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and opinions.  Everyone is free to be who they are. 

We foster and continue to build relationships that are equitable, diverse, and inclusive with existing and future partners in education.

We commit to holding ourselves accountable by creating measurable short and long-term goals that place equity, diversity, and inclusion at the core of what we do in our resources, the workplace, the educational community, and in the larger society. 

We strive to build an inclusive world for everyone.  We are stronger together.

Our Commitment

Nelson is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. As part of this commitment, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status. 
Should you require any accommodation during our recruitment and selection process, please reach out to