Senior Manager, People Development & Labour

WISH Drop-In Centre Society; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 93,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4 weeks paid vacation

Wellness hours

Health and dental benefits

Life insurance

AD&D

Long-Term Disability

Job summary

WISH Drop-In Centre Society seeks a Senior Manager, People Development & Labour Relations in Vancouver. You will coach five Program Managers, guide them through collective agreements, and participate in labour relations matters and strategy.

Lead coaching frameworks, training approaches, and fair, trauma-informed practices as part of a senior leadership team. This is a full-time, on-site role with flexible remote work.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to coach managers or supervisors beyond frontline staff.
• Experience working in a unionised environment with collective agreements and grievances.
• Solid understanding of HR principles and labour relations.
• Comfort coaching people through difficult conversations and maintaining trust.

Responsibilities

• Provide structured 1:1 coaching to five Program Managers with development plans.
• Guide through collective agreement processes, discipline, and grievances with People and Culture support.
• Represent Management in labour relations matters related to direct services.
• Sit on Senior Leadership Team and shape organization-wide HR practices.
• Step in on operations, budgets, and critical incidents when needed.

Skills

Coaching

Unionised environment

HR fundamentals

Labour relations

Tough-conversation coaching

Accountability with trust

Equity and inclusion

Job description

Senior Manager, People Development & Labour Relations

Shaping skilled practitioners into exceptional leaders.

WISH Drop-In Centre Society is Canada's largest sex worker support organization, working on the frontlines of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside for over 40 years.

WISH’s programs are delivered by skilled unionized staff who are supported by five Program Managers. These Managers are experts in their programs and are seasoned practitioners in harm reduction, traumainformed care, and emergency response. We are seeking a coach who can help them grow further as confident, capable people-leaders. That’s what the Senior Manager, People Development & Labour Relations, will do.

The Senior Manager, People Development & Labour Relations, will have real autonomy in this role, building coaching frameworks, training approaches, and management practices that don’t yet exist.

What you’ll do

• Provide structured 1:1 coaching to five Program Managers, building individualized development plans
• Guide Program Managers through the Collective Agreement, discipline processes, and grievances, with support from the People and Culture team
• Represent Management in labour relations matters related to direct services
• Sit on the Senior Leadership Team, shaping organization-wide strategy and HR practices
• Step in on operations, budgets, and critical incidents when needed

What you bring

• A track record of developing managers or supervisors (not just managing front line staff directly)
• Experience in a unionized environment: collective agreement administration, progressive discipline, grievances
• A strong grasp of foundational HR principles and labour relations
• Comfortable coaching people through tough conversations
• Confidence holding accountability while maintaining trust
• Support for sex workers' rights within an intersectional feminist framework that is decolonial and anti-racist

See the job description for a full list of responsibilities and qualifications: Senior Manager, PeopleDevelopment & Labour Relations Job Description

A non-profit background isn't required. Leadership and labour relations experience from corporate, government, healthcare, or elsewhere transfers well. What matters is your ability to develop people and lead fairly in a unionized environment.

Salary: $93,000 to $95,000 per year, commensurate with experience

Benefits:

• 4 weeks paid vacation
• 100 wellness hours
• 100% employer-paid health and dental benefits
• life insurance
• AD&D
• Long-Term Disability, available immediately

Location: Vancouver, Downtown Eastside, on-site, with flexibility to work from home roughly 8 hours a week

Hours: 8-hour days, M-F, typically between 10 am and 7 pm with some flexibility. Occasional late evening, overnight or weekend availability will be required to support operations or respond to emergencies.

Employment: Full-time, permanent, excluded management position

Closing date: Open until filled.

WISH is committed to equitable hiring and to building a team that reflects the communities we serve. We especially encourage applications from Indigenous, Two Spirit, Black, and racialized women and gender diverse people, and those with experience in sex work.

WISH is mandated to require a criminal record check for employees. Records relating to sex work, substance use or poverty-related criminalized activity are not relevant to this position and will not be considered.

WISH is located on the unceded, stolen lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.