Senior Director, Program Services
As we serve vulnerable youth, all employees working for Covenant House Vancouver must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Proof of vaccination status will be required prior to your start date.
About Covenant House Vancouver
Since 1997, Covenant House Vancouver has provided relentless support for youth experiencing, or at-risk of experiencing, homelessness. We provide support to young people age 16 to 24 who have experienced a wide range of early life and ongoing, complex trauma; including physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. Our purpose is to serve all youth with absolute respect, to help youth experiencing homelessness, and provide a safe and supportive environment for all youth in need.
Working at Covenant House will be one of the most meaningful things that you’ll do in your life. However, you will be confronted with significant issues in this work and frankly, this work is not for everyone. In the course of doing your work, particularly for those doing frontline work, you will be exposed to the trauma of others. The youth we serve may also experience overdose, physical harm perpetuated by self or others and even death. Because we provide a relational model of care, the harms our youth experience can impact us in varying degrees.
While we provide training for youth workers on avoiding what we call vicarious trauma (namely, the trauma you can experience or take on by hearing other’s traumatic stories), and a generous allowance for counselling, it is still difficult work that can and does take its toll on many employees. Self-awareness and self-care are key. Some candidates and employees decide during the recruiting and probationary periods that this work isn’t for them, and that is totally fair.
We will provide more information on vicarious trauma during recruiting and on-boarding, to help you decide if Covenant House is the place for you.
The Impact a Senior Director, Program Services with Covenant House Vancouver can make:
As the Senior Director of Program Serves, you will lead Covenant House Vancouver’s (CHV) front line program teams and clinical teams. With a passion for youth service excellence, you will work alongside the Chief Programs Officer to ensure quality programming for youth, exceptional supervision and support for front line staff, consistent policy, practice, and program evaluation, and lead strategic initiatives within program services. You will work to increase our reputation as a thought leader in delivering exceptional care in the service of youth at-risk of and experiencing homelessness.
How you will contribute:
Program Strategy, Implementation, and Quality Improvement
- Operationalize and implement Program Services strategy in alignment Covenant House International program model, CHV mission and values across all programs, ensuring a culture of continuous quality improvement
- Embed best practices and evidence-based approaches into program delivery, through operationalizing standardized procedures and quality improvement methodologies to drive excellence and innovation
- Translate organizational strategy into program specific plans with actionable goals, measurable outcomes, and embedded quality benchmark
- Implement youth engagement strategy including incorporating youth feedback
- Oversee the design, development, implementation, and ongoing enhancement of programs to meet evolving client needs, incorporating evidence-based quality improvement practices
- Monitor and report on program performance and quality by partnering with the Research and Evaluation team to leverage data-driven insights, ensuring outcomes, impact, and compliance with quality standards are consistently achieved
- Establish and maintain clear process documentation for all program operations, applying trauma-informed principles and integrating quality assurance protocols to ensure consistency, accountability, and continuous improvement across teams. Including conducting file reviews for quality assurance inclusive of file audits and redactions
- Implement and conduct systematic quality review processes (e.g. file audits, peer reviews, client feedback analysis) to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement, ensuring that programs remain responsive and effective
- Establish and maintain effective communication and coordination with internal and external stakeholders including Covenant House International and other Covenant House sites, community agencies, service providers and government- while promoting transparency and shared learning around quality improvement initiatives
Safety and Compliance
- In partnership with Program Directors ensure all programs operate in a safe, trauma informed, and inclusive environment for youth and staff
- Responsible for ensuring compliance with MOU’s and contracts with community partners
- Ensure compliance with CHI obligations including and not limited to Site Child & Youth Protection duties
- Proactively identify and mitigate risks to safeguard the wellbeing of programs, staff and the youth we serve
- Accountable for reviewing and updating program services policies, procedures and practice guidelines
Team Leadership and Development
- Lead, mentor and inspire a team of 4 direct reports, including, 3 Directors and 1 Program Coordinator
- Foster a value aligned culture of Equity, Inclusion, Respect, Integrity and Courage
- Champion Equity Diversity and Inclusion across all programs
Partnerships and Committees
- Proactively identifies and cultivates new partnerships while strengthening relationships with current service partners to drive long term collaboration and well-resourced program delivery
- Participate in and lead internal and agency wide committees and working groups
Other
- Develops, monitors and updates annual budgets, tracks variances, and balances expenditures within program and services allotments
- Analyzes financial data to inform decisions around viability, expansion, reduction, and restructuring of programs and services.
- Responsible for writing briefing notes, issue notes, quarterly reports, drafting MOU’s
- Overseeing/maintaining service partnerships
- Leads and/or participates in internal and external committees and working groups
Who are we looking for?
Education and Experience:
- Masters of Social Worker, or equivalent.
- Minimum 10-15 years experience in a social services setting.
- Minimum 7-10 years of progressive leadership experience in leading, managing and motivating a diverse workforce, ensuring effective teamwork, providing resolution to issues, ensuring high standards of work quality and organizational performance, continuous learning and encouraging innovation in others.
- Considerable experience embedding equity, reconciliation, accessibility and inclusion lens into workforce planning, budgeting, programs and processes.
Competencies:
- Alignment with Covenant House Vancouver’s values and principles
- Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to negotiate, resolve conflict, problem solve and interact with all levels of the organization to forge effective internal and external relationships.
- Ability to establish effective working relationships with all stakeholders, and built effective relationships within a large, diverse, multidisciplinary environment.
- Ability to lead change within a complex organization while managing stakeholder’s needs and interests
- Builds trust and strong supports to push objectives forward and develop win/win solutions
- Familiarity with relevant government legislation in the area of governance, budgeting, financial reporting, service delivery, employee and labour relations and occupational health and safety.
- Knowledge of adolescent developmental theory and specific issues related to homeless and trafficked youth.
- Skilled in practicing and delivering services rooted in trauma informed and harm reduction based practice
Compensation
The successful candidate can expect a starting annual salary of between $102,957.40 and $128,692.20 depending on factors such as internal equity, experience, competencies, and education.
Total Rewards
This position has flexible working arrangements with a hybrid in office expectation; excellent extended health and dental benefits for you and your spouse & children, including generous counselling benefits. During the first year, employees receive three weeks’ paid vacation, increasing to four in the second year; we have paid sick and personal leave and a matching Registered Pension Plan, investment in professional development, and more. If you’d like more information on what we offer, please ask!
In 2024, we were recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Covenant House Vancouver is a secular organization that welcomes and serves young people from all backgrounds. While the international federation to which we belong was founded in the 1970s by members of the Catholic Church, we are not aligned with any specific faith traditions.
CHV is committed to upholding diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace. We actively encourage applications from members of groups with historical and/or current barriers to equity, including, but not limited to:
- Persons from groups marginalized due to race, ancestry, colour, religion/spiritual beliefs, or place of origin;
- Persons with visible (physical) and/or invisible (mental) disabilities;
- Persons who identify as women;
- Persons of marginalized sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions; and
- Indigenous persons.
We recognize that many of these identities intersect and that therefore, diversity, equity, and inclusion can be complex. We value the contributions that each person brings and are committed to ensuring full and equal participation for all at Covenant House Vancouver.
We love what we do and try to make a difference every day. Covenant House Vancouver offers a competitive salary with a great benefits package and excellent opportunity for training and career advancement. If you are looking to join a place where we have a purpose and aim to achieve positive outcomes, please join us by applying.
If our recruitment process does not work for you, let us know. Let’s see how we can work together to get to know you and see what might be a great fit!