Manager of Operations, ShelterCare

House of Friendship of Kitchener; Waterloo; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A community service organization in Waterloo seeks a Manager of Operations for their shelter program. This role involves leading a team to provide essential support services to individuals experiencing homelessness. The ideal candidate will have a relevant degree and at least two years of experience in program management. Responsibilities include overseeing program operations, ensuring compliance, and collaborating with community partners. The position offers a full-time schedule with competitive compensation and benefits.

Benefits

Vacation pay and personal days

Employee & Family Assistance Program

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in program management and supervisory roles in social services or healthcare.
• Strong organizational and computer skills.
• Demonstrated skill in building and maintaining productive relationships.

Responsibilities

• Oversee all aspects of program operation, including budget management and relationship building.
• Lead and support staff, students, and volunteers.
• Ensure compliance with program policies and procedures.

Skills

Leadership

Program management

Community engagement

Conflict management

Crisis intervention

Education

University degree in Social Sciences or related fields

Job description

At House of Friendship, we believe in what we are doing. We get out of bed each day to make a difference in our community; to walk with and to serve. We are not happy with the status quo. We get energy from ongoing learning and growth. We lead with passion and believe without a doubt that everyone deserves to belong and thrive. We live and breathe our values of Compassion, Inclusion, Justice, Dignity and Hope. And we have fun!

Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? It is!

A shelter program that is following the ShelterCare model of providing a place to stay and staff support 24/7. ShelterCare creates opportunities where individuals experiencing homelessness have access to on-site, integrated housing and health supports so they can become healthier and housed – exiting the cycle of homelessness for good. The Manager of Operations will possess and utilize their passion for community-based program operations, development and evaluation. They will provide leadership for the program and team culture by providing support and oversight for achieving program outcomes, while coordinating the daily operations of the program. This position works closely alongside the Manager of People and Culture and Manager Health Integration and Partnerships to ensure strategic leadership and support for ShelterCare.

** This is a contract position, from approximately September 8, 2025 to September 8, 2026.

This is a full-time position, offering 37.5 hours per week. Schedule Monday to Friday, daytime hours. Flexibility required including participation in the supervisory on-call rotation.

Valid G class driver’s license and access to a reliable vehicle required; frequent travel throughout Waterloo Region. Successful completion of a Police Records Check (Vulnerable Sector)

required pre-employment. **

Key Responsibilities:

•Responsible for all aspects of program operation, deliverables and outcomes; including program development and review, program budget, allocation of resources, and relationships with funders, community partners, staff and people we serve

•Lead, develop and support food services coordinator and operations supervisor; provide strategic leadership to students and volunteers supporting the program

•Apply deep knowledge of the inherent risk involved in working alongside the people we serve to coach team members in mitigating risks, and supporting an environment that is physically and psychologically healthy

•Understand, implement and be accountable to program policies and procedures, including and not limited to: incident reporting, harm reduction, fire prevention, privacy/confidentiality, safe substance use on-site, restrictions and restorative practices, storage of personal belongings, etc.

•Champion organizational and program change initiatives, helping team members and people we support to understand the change and inviting feedback through appropriate channels

•Create reports and proposals to support or source funding

•Responsible for the management financial functions, including government grants and donations

•Responsible for property management functions and working alongside property team to ensure a safe physical environment

•Represent House of Friendship at various community development and neighbourhood related meetings and community forums; bringing relevant issues and solutions to the conversation

•Take a lead role in community consultation and community leadership development initiatives

•Responsible for ensuring the program is meeting the performance outcomes and metrics of our Regional agreement

•Facilitate engagement with people we serve, utilizing surveys, start, stop, continue exercises and analyze quarterly results on the development of program outcomes

•Responsible for the 24/7 program operation including day to day operations and crisis/emergency response and participation in the on-call rotation

•Engage as a member of an interdisciplinary team to ensure healthcare & housing services are provided, evaluated and reported upon to meet the diverse needs of participants

•Strategic project management and implementation of shelter, ShelterCare and/or organization wide projects

•Strategic oversite on supporting intensive case management of people we serve accessing the shelter and ensuring tracking, documentation and progression towards a permanent housing through the HIFIS database oversite;

•Strategic oversite on the strategy for engagement of the people we serve to ensure decision making transparency, feedback, and program improvement through a human centered design process

•Collaboration and teamwork across many functions to achieve success including: housing, health, finance, development, police, city/regional officials, finance, and other service providers and partners within Waterloo Region

•Ensure fiscal responsibility of program expenses through the creation and execution of a sustainable budget

•Support the program leaders with administration, creating reports and proposals to support and secure diverse funding opportunities

•Responsible for public relations/community liaison with the program and with external partners

•Engagement with local, provincial and federal associations tied to supportive housing, affordable housing, addictions, mental health and homelessness

•Schedule and consistently co-lead management meetings and program meetings, participant in cross-program meetings and organizational town halls

•Contribute to the organizational strategic planning process and provider leadership for annual planning processes within the program

•Coaching working groups, committees and initiatives that ground the team practice in harm reduction, trauma informed practice, and relationship-centred narratives of accountability for the team and people we serve

Job Specific Knowledge/Skills:

•Passion for providing exceptional services to people experiencing trauma, mental health, addiction, poor health, poverty and/or homelessness

•Demonstrated collaborative approach that values open and honest communication, integrity, respect, consistency and fairness

•Understand behavioral complexity through a lens of curiosity and an invitation to learn and develop relationship through conflict

•Demonstrated exceptional leadership in program oversight, implementation, assessment and reporting

•Experience with evaluation, tracking and reporting on program outcomes and metrics

•Stellar problem solving to navigate change and implement evidence-based practice

•Experience using online communication platforms, such as Microsoft Teams, is an asset

•Knowledge of local community agencies and resources is an asset

•Experience in keeping financial records is an asset

•Familiar with healthcare and housing systems is an asset

Education/Experience:

•University degree Social Sciences, Social Work, Healthcare or other related fields is required (Masters preferred)

•At least two (2) years related experience in program management and supervisory work, ideally within a social services or healthcare environment

•Strong organizational and computer skills, ability to work under pressure and manage multiple tasks and deadlines are required

•Experience with coaching and mentoring for personal growth and development, including the ability to coach others through conflict

•Demonstrated skill in building and maintaining productive relationships (staff, community partners, funders)

•Demonstrate innovative approach to providing supports and programming in a residential setting or services for persons experiencing homelessness is required

Critical Skills:

•Grounded in the value of relationship-centred coaching for teams and relationship-centred healing for the people we serve and community

•Commitment to understand and uphold the mission and values of House of Friendship is expected

•Maintain connection to your personal reasons for doing this work and how your purpose connects to the mission, vision and values of the organization and program

•Experience or strong interest in working with diverse and vulnerable populations including people from various cultural backgrounds, income levels, and sensitivity to their needs

•Commitment to consistently upholding the policies and procedures for the program and organization, even when circumstances make it difficult to do so

•Exemplary emotional intelligence, resilience, communication, conflict management and problem solving skills required

•Ability to build effective teams and creating an atmosphere of belonging and collaboration that values diversity and individual strengths

•Ability to foster relationships with key partners, effectively build formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization to increase opportunities for innovation and positively impact outcomes

•Strong intercultural competency, with the ability to recognize and respect cultural diversity, able to be diplomatic and sensitive to the dynamics of a culturally diverse workplace

•Experience with and commitment to using an anti-racism, anti-oppressive and trauma informed approach in consultation, program design, evaluation processes and service delivery

•Respectful, supportive and engaging approach to persons with physical and/or cognitive disabilities, addictions, mental health and other life challenges

•Excellent organizational and time management skills – attention to detail including skills in logistics, planning and objective note keeping

•Able to model effective problem solving by recognizing the human, interpersonal and technical sides of a problem, seeking additional information, developing and weighing alternatives, and choosing the more appropriate course of action given the circumstances

•Ability to provide clear direction and expectations for performance, which can involve being firm, assertive, stepping up to difficult decisions and openness to inviting/receiving feedback

•Strengths in coaching resiliency and solution-focused thinking with individuals and the team

•Supporting the team through ongoing and low impact debriefing that grounds people in why we do what we do, at times challenging personal perceptions

•Navigating team discussion and disagreement in high crisis situations and able to make decisions with confidence when there are disagreements on best next steps; while balancing a trauma informed lens with the safety of the program in mind at the same time

Compensation:

At House of Friendship, we know that our team members are the key to the success of our organization and our ability to provide essential services to the community. In support of our mission and in alignment with our values, House of Friendship is committed to ensuring fair, market competitive, and rewarding compensation practices for all of our team members. We aspire to support our team members to create a great work environment where our team is able to thrive, succeed, and have a positive work experience.

House of Friendship compensation practices including our pay grid, have been developed using documented leading pay practices in the not-for-profit sector including Pathways to Decent Work (Ontario Nonprofit Network) and Ontario Living Wage Network. We value the experience that new team members bring to the organization and have a process in place to review previous related experience for placement on our pay grid.

We value the work that you do with fair pay and benefits:

·Time off includes vacation pay and 2 personal days per year

·Employee & Family Assistance Program

Rate of Pay:

At House of Friendship all compensation ranges are categorized under a series of “grades” and we base our payment structure on internal equity.When determining rate of pay, a candidate’s past related experience will be taken into consideration.

Grade: 6 Manager I

Min: $33.94

Mid: $38.58

Max: $43.23

Working Conditions:

•37.5 hours per week; generally daytime with pre-planned evening and weekend work to support the 24/7 program operation

•On-call 24/7 for program leadership and direction during times of crisis

•Encountering participants at program sites who may be under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, and/or experiencing symptoms of mental illness can be expected.

•This role is responsible to de-escalate hostile situations involving individuals with tact and diplomacy

House of Friendship is open and inviting to qualified candidates with lived experience.

House of Friendship supports justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace. We strive to be a workplace free of harassment and discrimination and we are committed to removing barriers and being an inclusive, work environment. House of Friendship is a place where each person can bring their true selves and feel that they belong. We aspire to be an organization that is anti-racist and anti-oppressive so that our team, and therefore our community, can truly belong and thrive.

We invite applications from all qualified candidates and actively encourage applications from members of groups with historical and/or current barriers to accessing employment including, but not limited to Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized groups, persons with disabilities, women, and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

If you require accommodations to be able to participate fully at any stage in the recruitment process, including applying for this position, please let us know so that we can discuss accommodation options. Accommodations will be provided upon request.

If you are as passionate as we are about serving the community, let’s talk.

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter here:

https://house-of-friendship.hirehive.com/manager-of-operations-sheltercare-waterloo-on-6jUx2W

By end of day August 22, 2025.