Director of Care

Socket.dev; St. Catharines; On-site; CAD 96,000 - 106,000; Full time

Job summary

Hospice Niagara seeks an experienced Director of Care (RN) to lead a new 10-suite hospice residence in Fort Erie, opening Jan 2027. You’ll shape clinical programs, ensure safe, family-centered care, and drive quality and regulatory compliance across operations.

Collaborative leadership and Indigenous cultural safety are central. You will oversee staffing, training, and partnerships with colleges and universities to broaden palliative care capacity in Niagara.

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse in good standing with the CNO.
• BScN or equivalent; master’s preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of leadership in clinical settings, hospice or palliative care ideal.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical and operational leadership for a 10-suite hospice residence.
• Deliver safe, compassionate, evidence-informed hospice care.
• Embed cultural safety and equity in operations and care delivery.
• Oversee staffing, budgeting, and resource use for the residence.
• Lead professional practice, standards, policy implementation, and quality improvement.
• Develop and coach the interdisciplinary team, including nurses and support staff.
• Engage with Indigenous and community partners to improve access and care quality.
• Oversee documentation, reporting, and regulatory compliance.
• Support education, student placements, and safety initiatives.
• Represent the organization in health and safety activities and after-hours leadership.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Nursing leadership

Change management

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Cultural safety

Equity & inclusion

Communication

Negotiation

Education

BScN or equivalent

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

EHR systems

MS Office

Job description

Role: Director of Care (RN)

Status: Permanent, Full-Time
Location: Fort Erie, Ontario
Reports to: Senior Director, Clinical Services
Salary: $95,536 - $105,860 annually

Join Hospice Niagara

Hospice Niagara is seeking an experienced and compassionate clinical leader to join our team as Director of Care at our new 10-suite hospice residence in Fort Erie, scheduled to open in January 2027.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Clinical Services and working collaboratively with the Medical Director and other clinical and organizational leaders, the Director of Care provides overall clinical and operational leadership for the residence. As a member of Hospice Niagara’s Leadership Team, the Director is accountable for safe, high-quality, person-centred and family-focused care, professional practice, effective use of resources, and a healthy, collaborative and high-performing workplace.

The Director will also help shape the development of the Fort Erie residence and contribute to broader organizational quality initiatives, strategic priorities and the continued growth of hospice palliative care across Niagara.

Cultural Safety, Equity & Community Partnership

Hospice Niagara is committed to providing equitable, culturally safe and inclusive hospice palliative care that reflects and respects the communities we serve. In Fort Erie, this includes strengthening relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities and supporting care that respects Indigenous cultures, traditions, values and approaches to health, dying, death and grief.

The Director of Care will demonstrate cultural humility and a commitment to Indigenous cultural safety and reconciliation, fostering an environment where residents and families can express what is important to them and where cultural, spiritual and traditional practices are respected and incorporated into care whenever possible.

What You'll Do

• Provide clinical and operational leadership for a 10-suite hospice residence, ensuring services align with Hospice Niagara’s mission, values, strategic priorities and standards of care.
• Lead the delivery of safe, compassionate, evidence-informed hospice palliative care for residents and their families.
• Embed cultural safety and equity into residence operations and care delivery, building meaningful relationships with Indigenous and other community partners to strengthen access, trust and culturally responsive care.
• Manage residence operations and support the effective use of staffing, financial and material resources.
• Lead professional practice, clinical standards, policy implementation, regulatory compliance, quality improvement, risk management and accreditation activities.
• Lead, coach and develop the interdisciplinary residence team, including the Transitions Coordinator, Counsellor, Registered Nurses and Personal Support Workers, while providing guidance and direction to residence volunteers.
• Oversee workforce planning, scheduling, performance management, staff development and debriefing, while mentoring staff in clinical decision-making and resident care planning.
• Build positive and respectful relationships with residents and families, responding proactively to questions, concerns and evolving care needs.
• Identify learning needs and coordinate education, in-services and professional development opportunities, including education that strengthens cultural safety and equitable care.
• Oversee clinical documentation, resident records, statistics and reporting to support quality, evaluation and organizational accountability.
• Support partnerships with colleges and universities to provide meaningful student placement opportunities.
• Participate as a management representative in occupational health and safety activities, including the Joint Health and Safety Committee.
• Provide after-hours leadership and direction for urgent clinical or operational matters, as required, on rotation with other Directors of Care.
• Develop collaborative relationships with healthcare and community partners and contribute to building palliative care capacity across Niagara.
• Promote awareness and understanding of hospice palliative care and Hospice Niagara’s programs and services.
• Participate in organizational, community and fundraising activities as part of the broader Hospice Niagara team.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What You Bring

You are an experienced nursing leader who combines strong clinical judgment with compassionate, collaborative leadership. You understand the complexity of end-of-life care and know how to support teams in delivering exceptional care while maintaining professional, regulatory and organizational standards. You bring:

• Registration as a Registered Nurse in good standing with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO).
• A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) or equivalent degree; a master’s degree in health, business administration or a related discipline is preferred.
• At least five years of progressive clinical and leadership experience, preferably including hospice palliative care, end-of-life care, oncology or another relevant clinical environment.
• Experience leading or supervising clinical practice and interdisciplinary healthcare teams.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, cultural humility and culturally safe healthcare, including an understanding of Indigenous cultural safety and reconciliation in healthcare.
• An ability to build respectful relationships with people from diverse communities and engage community partners in improving access and quality of care.
• Strong knowledge of professional nursing standards, relevant legislation, occupational health and safety, quality improvement and evidence-informed practice.
• An understanding of local and regional healthcare systems and the importance of strong partnerships across care settings.
• Demonstrated ability to lead clinical and organizational change; experience leading within a unionized healthcare environment is strongly preferred.
• Strong coaching, team-building and people leadership skills.
• Excellent judgment and demonstrated strengths in problem-solving, conflict resolution and critical thinking.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, negotiation, influencing and consensus-building skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English; proficiency in French or other languages is considered an asset.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and comfort working with electronic clinical and organizational systems.

The following would be considered assets:

• Canadian Nurses Association CHPCN(C) certification.
• CAPCE education or certification.
• Advanced education or training in hospice palliative care.
• Education or demonstrated experience in Indigenous cultural safety, anti-racism, health equity or trauma-informed care.
• Experience supporting accreditation, quality improvement or clinical risk management initiatives.

Additional Requirements

The successful candidate will be required to provide or complete:

• A satisfactory Vulnerable Sector Police Check completed within the previous 12 months.
• Fundamentals of Palliative Care, if not already completed, within 12 months of hire.
• First Aid/CPR certification, if not already completed, within 12 months of hire.
• Mask Fit testing, as required.
• Safe Food Handling certification, if required for the role.
• Occasional travel between Hospice Niagara locations and community partner sites. Access to reliable transportation and appropriate insurance coverage is required.

Why Hospice Niagara?

At Hospice Niagara, our work is grounded in compassion, dignity, equity and a commitment to ensuring people and families receive exceptional hospice palliative care when they need it most. Our leaders play an important role not only in delivering excellent care today, but also in building trusted community relationships and shaping how hospice palliative care continues to evolve across Niagara.

If you are a collaborative clinical leader who wants to help establish and shape a new hospice residence, develop people, strengthen quality and professional practice, build meaningful community partnerships, and make a difference for residents and families, we welcome your application.

Hospice Niagara is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility. We welcome applications from qualified candidates with diverse backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives, including Indigenous candidates and those with demonstrated experience working alongside Indigenous communities. Accommodations are available throughout the recruitment and selection process upon request.