Human Resources Advisor

Distress Centre Calgary; Calgary; On-site; CAD 85,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous Vacation Entitlement

RRSP matching

Health Spending Account

Extended health and dental benefits

On-site gym access

Staff development days

Supportive, mission-driven workplace

Job summary

Distress Centre Calgary is seeking a People & Program Partner, Crisis & Navigation, to serve as a trusted HR advisor across a 24/7 crisis team. This full-time, on-site role reports to the Director of People and Culture and covers recruitment, onboarding, performance, and offboarding for staff and volunteers.

You will promote wellbeing, coach leaders, address high-stress dynamics, and drive inclusive people practices in a demanding environment.

Qualifications

• Degree or diploma in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, or related field.
• 5+ years in HR, HRBP or generalist roles.
• Experience in high-stress environments such as crisis services.
• Ability to advise leaders and influence decisions.
• Knowledge of burnout, trauma-informed practices.

Responsibilities

• Provide responsive HR guidance for 24/7 crisis staff and volunteers.
• Develop and optimize people processes and documentation for a 24/7 environment.
• Foster a culture of dignity, respect, and psychological safety.
• Support staff wellbeing, burnout prevention, and early intervention strategies.
• Partner with leaders on complex people matters (performance, accommodation, return-to-work).
• Promote health and safety practices tailored to crisis work.

Skills

HRBP experience

Employee relations

Coaching leaders

Wellbeing programs

Interpersonal skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Job description

(People & Program Partner, Crisis & Navigation)

This is a Full-Time , permanent position starting October 1, 2026

Location & Hours

Work location: On-site at Distress Centre Calgary (999 8 St SW, Suite 500).

Hours: Weekdays, 35 hours a week , with occasional evenings or weekends as required.

What We Offer

• Generous Vacation Entitlement
• RRSP matching and Health Spending Account
• Extended health and dental benefits
• Access to on-site gym (999 site) at no cost
• Paid development days and a staff development fund
• A supportive, mission-driven workplace where you can grow, take on new challenges, and collaborate with colleagues that value integrity, hard work, and making a meaningful community impact

Who We Are

For over 50 years, Distress Centre has served Calgary and Southern Alberta by providing 24-hour crisis support, information, and resources at no cost. Distress Centre does not define crisis. We do not judge. Anyone can call us day or night.

We are committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive workplace where employees are valued, experience a sense of belonging, and are confident being their most authentic selves. We welcome and encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and members of equity-deserving groups. We value all the ways that our community is diverse – in identity, experience and perspective.

What to Expect

The People and Program Partner acting as a HR Advisor s erves as a trusted, embedded HR partner to the 24/7 Crisis and Navigation department, reporting to the Director, People and Culture while working closely with the 24/7 Crisis and Navigation People Leaders to lead HR delivery across the full staff and volunteer lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding through to offboarding. Main responsibilities are as follows:

• Deliver a responsive, accessible people presence for a department that operates 24/7, ensuring staff and volunteers get timely, decisive HR guidance and support regardless of shift or schedule.
• Build and strengthen people and culture systems and processes, from documentation to workflows, that are efficient, consistent, and tailored to the realities of a 24/7 crisis response environment, cutting friction so leaders, staff and volunteers can focus on the work that matters.
• Drive a culture of dignity, respect, and psychological safety for a workforce that carries emotionally demanding, high-stakes work every day, ensuring people practices reflect genuine duty of care rather than a purely transactional approach.
• Apply hands-on expertise in supporting staff and volunteers experiencing compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout, translating that expertise into practical wellness supports, workload guidance, and early intervention strategies.
• Partner directly with the Director, 24/7 Crisis and Navigation on complex people matters (performance, accommodation, conflict, and return-to-work), exercising sound judgment and making confident calls that balance organizational needs with individual wellbeing.
• Promote a safe, healthy work environment by driving health and safety practices tailored to the unique risks of crisis response work.

What You Bring

• A degree or diploma in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, Social Sciences, or a related field. A CPHR designation or progress toward CPHR is considered an asset.
• Progressive People & Culture experience with 5+ years of HR experience in an HRBP, HR generalist, HR Advising, Volunteer Manager or employee-relations role. You have led work across the full employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding through performance, development, employee relations, and offboarding, for both staff and volunteers, and are confident advising leaders and influencing decisions.
• Experience in high-stress or emotionally demanding environments, ideally supporting teams in crisis services, 988 or crisis lines, healthcare, social services, emergency response, contact centres, or other frontline/24-7 environments, along with an understanding of the realities of shift work, high workloads, and secondary or vicarious trauma.
• A practical, results-driven approach to wellbeing, psychological safety, and duty of care, with strong employee-relations and conflict-resolution skills. You can translate an understanding of burnout, compassion fatigue, and resilience into practical strategies, going beyond simply referring staff to an EAP, that help leaders build healthier, sustainable teams in a 24/7 environment.
• A confident, grounded HR professional who understands the realities of supporting people who work in crisis and high-pressure environments. You bring a calm, decisive approach, are comfortable making judgment calls in complex situations, and can build trust and credibility with people at all levels of the organization. You are resilient, direct, and able to have difficult conversations when needed.
• Proven interpersonal and cultural competency skills to work effectively and respectfully with people from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

Additional Employment Requirements

As a condition of employment, all successful candidates are required to complete and maintain a Police Information Check. For those in direct service user-facing roles, a Vulnerable Sector Search is also required.

Distress Centre is an inclusive workplace. If you are invited for an interview and require accommodation, please let us know. If you require accommodation during the application process, please call our main office and ask to speak to Human Resources.

We may also use AI-enabled tools to support aspects of the recruitment process. All hiring decisions are made by people and are guided by our commitment to fairness and inclusion.

We thank all applicants for their interest; only those selected for an interview will be contacted.