Senior Director of Programs and Housing

Calgary, AB; Calgary; On-site; CAD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The Calgary Dream Centre is seeking a Senior Director of Programs to lead all CDC programs, ensure high-quality recovery services, and drive continuous improvement across the continuum of care. Reporting to the Chief Strategy and Resource Officer, this role oversees program design, compliance, staffing, partnerships, and community engagement, fostering a trauma-informed, faith-aligned organization.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years of leadership in human services, advanced degree preferred, and

Qualifications

• Education in social work, psychology, health administration, or related field; Masters preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership in human services, including leading other leaders.
• Experience with government and foundation contracts and funder reporting.
• Valid Class 5 driver’s licence with 2 million liability insurance.
• Clear Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Search.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership for all CDC programs and ensure alignment with CDC’s mission, vision, values, and guiding frameworks.
• Set the standard of care across all programs.
• Ensure programming reflects best practices in addiction recovery, trauma-informed care, and person-centred practice, and aligns with Alberta’s Recovery-Oriented System of Care model.
• Ensure each program has a clearly defined service model, measurable outcomes, and evidence-informed curriculum and programming.
• Translate organizational strategy into program-level execution plans, priorities, and measurable outcomes.
• Identify opportunities for program enhancement, service expansion, and operational improvement.
• Accountable for program development including policies and procedures, funder contract obligations, and partnerships.
• Ensure programs are accessible to participants across the continuum where applicable.
• Accountable for the participant pathway as a single continuum across programs while recognizing various access points to each program.
• Support the integration of continuing care and referral pathways.
• Hold CDC’s relationship with the Alumni Association, providing organizational oversight and ensuring alumni have meaningful pathways to stay connected and contribute.
• Monitors outcomes and quality indicators to drive program effectiveness.
• Leads, coaches, and develops managers, holding a consistent supervision cadence.
• Oversees the performance management system for all program staff in collaboration with Human Resources, ensuring Program Managers execute it consistently.
• Oversees the program staffing model, position design, caseload ratios, and program hiring, in collaboration with Human Resources.
• Ensures accountability and practice standards are applied across managers.
• Oversees staff onboarding, training, and development, ensuring program delivery stays consistent as teams grow.
• Fosters a positive, inclusive, and psychologically safe workplace culture and leadership depth.
• Stewards the faith-grounded culture of CDC’s programs, ensuring faith is extended as invitation, not requirement.

Skills

Leadership

Trauma-informed care

Program management

Strategic thinking

Data literacy

Communication

Collaboration

Cultural humility

Policy writing

Emergency/on-call management

Education

Master's degree preferred

Education in social work / psychology / health administration / public policy / human services

Job description

Who We Are

Compelled by the love of Jesus, the Calgary Dream Centre (CDC) exists to see lasting change across generations by breaking the cycles of poverty, homelessness, and addiction. We provide recovery programs, housing, and vocational training to people in the pursuit of a life worth living. Because no one is beyond hope.

Who We Are

Compelled by the love of Jesus, the Calgary Dream Centre (CDC) exists to see lasting change across generations by breaking the cycles of poverty, homelessness, and addiction. We provide recovery programs, housing, and vocational training to people in the pursuit of a life worth living. Because no one is beyond hope.

MISSION AND VALUES ALIGNMENT

The Calgary Dream Centre is a Christian faith-based organization. Our work is compelled by the love of Jesus, and our programs are built on the conviction that no one is beyond hope.

All employees are expected to understand, respect, and actively support this mission, and to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with CDC’s values. Faith is extended to the people we serve as an invitation. It is offered to everyone, required of no one. Staff are expected to uphold that posture in their work.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Chief Strategy and Resource Officer, the Senior Director of Programs is responsible for the leadership, delivery, and quality of all programs across the Calgary Dream Centre. This role provides oversight across program delivery, people leadership, the continuum of care, compliance, and community engagement to ensure safe, effective, and value-driven recovery services. The Senior Director leads through managers building strong program leadership, setting the standard of care, and ensuring programming remains aligned with CDC’s mission, values, and frameworks as one connected continuum. The Senior Director leads with empathy, accountability, and a trauma-informed lens, fostering a culture that supports recovery, staff wellbeing, and continuous improvement.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITES

Program Delivery & Quality

• Provides leadership for all CDC programs, ensuring alignment with CDC’s mission, vision, values, and guiding frameworks.
• Sets the standard of care across all programs.
• Ensures programming reflects best practices in addiction recovery, trauma-informed care, and person-centred practice, and aligns with the Government of Alberta’s Recovery-Oriented System of Care model.
• Ensures each program has a clearly defined service model, measurable outcomes, and evidence-informed curriculum and programming.
• Translates organizational strategy into program-level execution plans, priorities, and measurable outcomes.
• Identifies opportunities for program enhancement, service expansion, and operational improvement.
• Accountable for program development including policies and procedures, funder contract obligations, and partnerships.
• Ensures programs are accessible to participants across the continuum where applicable.

Continuum of Care

• Accountable for the participant pathway as a single continuum across programs while recognizing various access points to each program.
• Supports the integration of continuing care and referral pathways.
• Hold’s CDC’s relationship with the Alumni Association, providing organizational oversight and ensuring alumni have meaningful pathways to stay connected and contribute.
• Monitors outcomes and quality indicators to drive program effectiveness.

People Leadership & Culture

• Leads, coaches, and develops managers, holding a consistent supervision cadence.
• Oversees the performance management system for all program staff in collaboration with Human Resources, ensuring Program Managers execute it consistently; provides guidance on escalations, formal discipline, and terminations.
• Oversees the program staffing model, position design, caseload ratios, and program hiring, in collaboration with Human Resources.
• Ensures accountabilities, practice standards, and expectations are applied consistently across the manager layer.
• Oversees staff onboarding, training, and development in CDC's programs and practice standards, ensuring Program Managers keep delivery consistent as teams grow.
• Fosters a positive, inclusive, and psychologically safe workplace culture, and builds leadership depth and succession across the program layer.
• Stewards the faith-grounded culture of CDC’s programs, ensuring faith is extended to participants as an invitation rather than a requirement, and that spiritual care is available to those who want it.

Safety, Risk, & Compliance Practice

• Accountable for every program meeting licensing, accreditation, contractual, and regulatory requirements in daily practice, within the compliance framework owned by the Chief Operating Officer.
• Ensures programs are always inspection-and-audit ready; supports the COO through audits, inspections, and accreditation reviews, and is accountable for addressing program-level findings.
• Ensures discharge practice is lawful, defensible, and appropriately applied to each program.
• Manages critical incidents within programs, reports them through the incident framework, and ensures resulting practice changes are implemented.
• Owns program quality, the standard of care, consistency of delivery across programs, and continuous improvement of practice.
• Accountable for participant and staff safety practice across all program sites.

Financial & Resource Stewardship

• Develops and managers program budgets in collaboration with Finance, under direction of the CSRO.
• Monitors expenses, staffing levels, and resource utilization to ensure the portfolio operates within budget, remaining accountable to the CSRO for budget outcomes.
• Supplies the program evidence, outcomes, and narratives that grant applications and resource development depend on.
• Names and escalates any conflict between program quality and funding pressure.

Stakeholder & Community Engagement

• Owns program reporting to all funders and regulatory bodies, including the accuracy of what is submitted. This excludes financial reporting, which is owned by the Finance department.
• Represents CDC across the recovery, healthcare, and housing ecosystem, and builds relationships with referral partners, funders, and community stakeholders.
• Stewards Indigenous partnerships
• Acts as an ambassador for CDC’s mission and recovery-focused services

Experience And Education Required

• Education in social work, psychology, health administration, public policy, human services, or a related field, or equivalent experience. Masters preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership in human services or a related field, including experience leading other leaders.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing program design and service quality, not only program delivery.
• Multi-site or scattered-site portfolio experience preferred.
• Experience with government and foundation contract management and funder reporting.
• Registration with a regulatory body is considered an asset (e.g. ACSW, CAP, etc.).
• Valid Class 5 driver’s licence with 2 million liability insurance.
• Clear Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Search

Skills And Abilities

• Personal alignment with the CDC’s mission and values, and the ability to work within a Christian faith-based environment.
• Deep understanding of recovery-oriented systems of care, trauma-informed practice, and person-centred care
• Comprehensive understanding of marginalized populations relating to poverty, addictions, violence, trauma, and mental health.
• General knowledge of 12 Step and other recovery-based models.
• Able to lead through managers, holding them accountable without taking over their work.
• Demonstrates sound judgment when managing high-acuity situations, ambiguous circumstances, and competing time-sensitive priorities.
• Sound strategic thinking, with the ability to translate organizational strategy into program-level execution.
• Strong data literacy and a disciplined focus on outcomes, with the ability to critically examine and validate figures before approving or submitting them.
• Financial acumen, including budget development, and oversight.
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to raise difficult issues upward.
• Cultural humility.
• Demonstrated ability to write and communicate policy, process, and procedure.
• Able to manage confrontation and complex participant situations, including on-call emergency situations.
• Knowledge of local social service agencies and the Alberta recovery and housing landscape.
• Lived or living experience with recovery or mental health is considered an asset.