Community Builder (Tri-Cities, BC)

United Way British Columbia; Burnaby; Hybrid; CAD 34,000 - 39,000; Part time

Job summary

United Way BC is seeking a dedicated Community Builder to advance the Hi Neighbour initiative in BC communities. You will work directly with residents, groups, and volunteers to promote engagement, support grants, and nurture caring, connected neighbourhoods.

The role emphasizes relationship-building, equity, and locally driven initiatives, with evening and weekend flexibility and remote/hybrid work options. Applicants should reside in the Tri-Cities area of BC.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent required.
• Strong ties to the local community and at least one year of experience in community work.
• Ability to engage residents, brainstorm ideas, and mobilize volunteers.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement community engagement strategies with residents and partners.
• Promote microgrant opportunities and support resident-led projects.
• Foster social connection, equity, empowerment, and community leadership.
• Represent United Way BC at events and online to raise awareness.
• Coordinate volunteers and collaborate with local businesses for initiatives.

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Resident of the neighbourhood

Community leadership

Relationship building

Event planning

Social media engagement

Equity and inclusion awareness

Volunteer engagement

Communication

Adaptability

Job description

UNITED WAY BC IS PROUD TO BE RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF CANADA'S TOP 100 EMPLOYERS FOR 2026!

ABOUT US – WHY WE’RE HERE:

Across British Columbia, communities are facing urgent and complex social challenges. United Way BC is committed to delivering lasting, community-driven impact in partnership with diverse populations across the province including Indigenous communities whose territories we live and work on. From Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland, and across the Thompson Nicola Cariboo, Southern Interior, Trail and District, and East Kootenay regions, we walk alongside communities to create meaningful and equitable change.

Our mission is to strengthen vital connections that support people in need in our communities.

Our vision is to create a healthy, caring and inclusive community.

How do we deliver on our mission and vision – by delivering resources and support for those who need it most, and by living our values of being collaborative, compassionate, strategic, responsive, accountable and inspiring.

For a more in-depth to look into our work and programs, please visit: www.uwbc.ca.

JOB PURPOSE

The Community Builder works within United Ways "Hi Neighbour" initiative. The Community Builder is responsible for the implementation of outreach strategies to develop opportunities for relationship building and resident engagement, in line with United Ways goals.

About "Hi Neighbour"

"Hi Neighbour", is an opportunity for place-based resident leadership, and a lab for co-creation. Our team works in communities across British Columbia where we support social connectedness, mutual aid, relationship building and participation. Our community engagement staff work hard to build relationships with community members, and build capacity in facilitation, social equity, empowerment, and asset-based community development. Hi Neighbour empowers communities, by supporting residents to move through the theory of change, from engagement to leadership, resulting in citizen-led, caring, connected communities.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

As a Community Builder, you will help strengthen community connections and resident leadership through United Way BC’s Hi Neighbour initiative. Working directly with residents, community groups, businesses, and volunteers, you will foster engagement, support community-led projects, promote microgrant opportunities, and help create caring, connected, and resilient neighbourhoods.

ABOUT YOU

You are a passionate community champion with strong local connections and a genuine commitment to building inclusive, thriving communities. You enjoy bringing people together, inspiring action, and supporting resident-led initiatives. You are relationship-focused, adaptable, comfortable working independently, and able to engage diverse community members through collaboration, outreach, events, and social media.

* This is a regular part-time position of 21 hours per week, scheduled to end on March 31, 2027. We welcome applications only from candidates who reside in the Tri-Cities, BC (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, or Port Moody).

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Key Responsibilities: Community Development

• As a Community Builder, you’re a resident of the neighbourhood. Work with the Community Impact and Investment Team , implementing pre-determined strategies to support community members through the HN journey – from initial engagement opportunities, to mobilizing and collaborating alongside residents, to supporting community leadership development. As the HN strategies change in response to community, you are able to adjust your working style to meet residents where they are at


• Develop sustainable community initiatives alongside residents, that will last long after United Way’s neighbourhood work. Utilize United Way engagement theory to support initiatives like the community-led trail-building and mountain biking work in Chilliwack that brings together Indigenous youth, or a temporary community garden in a development site, a new parklet on your street corner, or a youth leadership council in the local government


• Work directly with your neighbours and motivate the informal community champions in the neighbourhood to work with you. You will use your connections and willingness to build relationships to navigate resident’s networks and connect directly with groups and agencies about their participation in our work


• Promote United Ways Local Love Fund microgrants, of up to $1,000, to catalyze resident action through funding their community initiatives. You will work with residents to generate and refine ideas, as well as work together on projects


• Act as a brand ambassador and the neighbourhood face of United Way, working to spread our mission publicly. You will be active on social media, at community events, and out in the streets and bumping places


• Through a volunteer engagement lens, you’ll bring in organizers and volunteers to increase opportunities with our United Way initiatives and develop relationships with local businesses for revenue generation

Key Responsibilities: Other

• Performs other duties related to the qualifications and requirements of the job

QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS

Education:

• High School Diplomaor equivalent

Experience

• You live in the neighbourhood, so you have deep ties to the community and can lean into your connections to start working with resident leaders on day one.


• As a passionate community leader, you know the people on your block and sometimes the next block over. You’ve started community initiatives, and have at least one year of experience working and/or volunteering in your community

Skills:

• You can share an inspirational message and can catalyze people to use their ideas to strengthen their community


• As a creative, you are happy to sit with a resident and generate ideas for ways they can contribute to their community; You have confidence in the process and can lean into discomfort and ambiguity to make things happen


• You have a natural ability to develop relationships between residents and can flow easily between meeting with an isolated neighbour about their food insecurity, to a meeting with business leaders about their contributions to the neighbourhood


• You are able to lead a community event, from planning to execution, and work alongside residents, business owners and city staff to make it happen


• Working in the gray is easy for you, and you are comfortable and excited about space to set your own priorities and a work plan in line with our CES’s strategy


• You understand the barriers to engagement in your community and you are willing to and can speak to the role of equity and targeted engagement in community development work


• You’re detail oriented and can work between volunteer engagement, budget spreadsheets, tech platforms, and a barrage of emails


• You are comfortable using social media as a platform to engage with residents and promote community initiatives

WORKING CONDITIONS

• You must live in the neighbourhood that you are working in and have the full capacity to work remotely in your own home. You’re comfortable getting around neighbourhood or community– by bike, walking, transit, or car


• Demands on work time will exist outside normal business hours. You have a flexible schedule which allows you to work evenings, weekends, and whenever works best for your neighbours and community


• Working from home is viral; we connect virtually and you need to be comfortable with meetings, laptop work, and meeting with residents without a formal office. You provide your own computer and phone.

CHARACTERISTICS

For success at UWBC and in this role, certain demonstrable characteristics will be required:

• A commitment to building healthy, caring and inclusive communities


• Embodying the organization’s core values to be collaborative, compassionate, strategic, responsive, accountable and inspiring


• Self-aware and have a willingness to learn, explore new ideas and take risks


• Ability to navigate ambiguity and comfortably operate in it


• Drive to succeed as an individual and as a team member

Community Builders work directly with the residents we serve. We wish to build capacity and leadership with residents, including the diverse and intersecting identities we know our neighbours share. Candidates with relevant lived experience or who are representative of a historically marginalized group are encouraged to apply. Please consider your lived experience as an asset in your application.

At UWBC, we don’t just accept difference - we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, programs, donors, and the communities we live and work in. At UWBC, we encourage all applicants regardless of age, sex, gender identity, colour, religion, sexual orientation, or any other basis to apply.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women, people of colour and indigenous people are less likely to apply to roles unless they meet every qualification. At UWBC, we are dedicated to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, so if you are excited about this role, but your experience and qualifications are not perfectly aligned, we still encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this, or other roles.

This is a bargaining unit role with CUPE Local 1760. This position is at pay grade 26, which is $30.87 hourly.