Senior Director, Operations (English Applications Only)

About Us

The David Suzuki Foundation is a Canadian environmental non-profit organization, founded in 1990. We operate in English and French, with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. We are a Canadian settler organization striving to protect climate, nature and communities, respecting the rights and title of Indigenous Nations. We believe that Indigenous leadership is key to our collective future. We aim to work with many different peoples across Canada, including First Nations communities, all levels of governments and citizens who care for environmental justice, to find solutions to create a sustainable Canada.  We use research, traditional ecological knowledge, innovative policy and legal environmental solutions, communications and public engagement.

The vision we work toward at DSF is that we all act every day on the understanding that we are interdependent with nature, and with each other. To address the intersections of the climate and biodiversity crises with social justice and equity, the Foundation is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. As an organization, we are on a transformative journey to embed these values, decolonize our practices and become an anti-racist organization. Join us in creating a socially and environmentally just world, where diverse identities, lived experiences and world views are valued as essential to our collective future.

www.davidsuzuki.org

TITLE: Senior Director, Operations

TERMS: Permanent full-time (34 hours/four-day week) 

LOCATION: Flexible; proximity to one of our three offices in Vancouver (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ territories), Montreal (Kanien’kehà:ka territory), or Toronto (Tkaronto, the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples) is preferred.

REPORTS TO: Executive Director 

SALARY: $140K – $150K

ABOUT THE ROLE  

The Senior Director of Operations will play a key leadership role in driving the strategic direction and operational effectiveness of the organization.  This senior level role requires a hands-on leader with a strong understanding of non-profit management, operations, and efficient systems that support our organization’s mission. This role is responsible for daily operations in service of long-term organizational goals, including the ongoing strengthening of DSF’s operational functions, systems, processes and overall management.  They will also lead supportive change management strategies to strengthen management practice and culture as the organization undergoes unionization.  

The Senior Director of Operations leads the Director of People, Culture and Equity, the Director of Development and the Manager of Planning and Reporting.  They oversee DSF’s Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) program, and are  accountable for the operational oversight of facilities of DSF’s three offices (Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal). Partnering with the Executive Director, and serving on the senior leadership team, this strategic leader will ensure that all operational activities are aligned with the DSF’s strategic priorities, including achieving an organizationally healthy, equitable, and anti-racist workplace.  

RESPONSIBILITIES  

1. Operational leadership  

• Lead and manage the daily operational activities across the physical facilities in a geographically dispersed organization with a hybrid work model, ensuring alignment with the strategic goals and EDI.   

• Develop and implement operational plans, policies, and processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness. 

• Oversee the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of operational systems to streamline program delivery, administrative processes, and other key functions so that they are effectively meeting DSF’s needs and are grounded in our values. 

• Update organizational structure and design as needed to support strategic delivery in partnership with the People, Culture, and Equity team (PC&E). 

• Ensure clear, simple and communicated operational processes are established and rolled out across DSF, so that staff are trained in the processes and know where to find them. 

2. Financial and Resource management  

•  Support the Development Director on revenue management and oversight, and transparency.   

• Collaborate with the finance Director and team in aligning annual planning and budgeting processes and reporting.   

3. Team Leadership and Development 

• Lead and inspire the core Operational functions and teams – PC&E, Development, Planning and Reporting, to foster collaboration and ensure organizational health, capacity and competence with a strong healthy, safe and EDI lens. 

• Collaborate with the Director of PC&E to engage internal leaders to collaboratively build an equitable and inclusive culture and ensure the principles are central to all DSF policies, processes, and practices, and that the organization provides sustainable physical, cultural, and psychological work conditions that maximize the health and well-being of all staff. 

• Provide vision and leadership to coach and develop management as a whole to manage effectively in a unionized context, and align with the strategic priorities.   

4. Program Support and Coordination  

• Collaborate with program directors to implement and oversee program, project governance and decision making (e.g. project management office), and ensure ongoing oversight, measurement and review of work management processes. 

• Collaborate with Planning and Reporting Manager and program directors for effective reporting to ensure improvement and iteration for projects and programs, as well as external stakeholders.  

5. Strategic Planning and Execution 

• Oversee annual planning activities, and support strategic planning.  

• Oversee the design and facilitation of inclusive, participatory processes that support directors and staff to collaborate effectively, make plans, and navigate change.  

•  Play a lead role on board-related planning and reporting process and activities, informed by innovative and decolonized approaches to governance in the nonprofit sector, including supervising the Board, Planning, & Reporting Manager. 

6. Compliance and Risk Management  

• Identify risks and lead proactive management of risk and work with the Leadership team and with other Directors as appropriate, to mitigate those risks, including cybersecurity and incident management 

• Ensure overall organizational compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, in partnership with other Directors as appropriate (e.g. employment legislation, union requirements, CRA charitable regulations, privacy, data security e.g. PCI and CRA) 

• Ensure that operational practices adhere to best practices in nonprofit governance, ethics, and transparency. 

EXPERIENCE  

• 7+ years senior progressive and leadership experience in operational capacity, preferably in a nonprofit organization, with similar values, diversity, and size and complexity as DSF 
• Previous experience working in and leading People and Culture (HR) and Finance functions, including managing complex HR situations and budgets, an asset. Experience leading technology and development (philanthropy) teams also preferred.  
• Experience in a senior leadership team, leading, mentoring and motivating diverse staff through strategic planning, transformational organizational change and embedding EDI practices.  
• Demonstrated success developing, renewing and/or modernizing operational systems and processes to increase efficiency and enable implementation of the organization’s strategic priorities.  
• Financial oversight including knowledge with budgeting processes and managing large and complex budgets  
• experience managing and leading in a unionized context is an asset 
• Strong organizational design and development experience/ skills 

SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE  

• Strategic thinker with the ability to identify key priorities and make sound, data-based decisions while fostering trust within a complex organizational system. 

• Expertise in reporting, budgeting, forecasts, and financial planning, particularly with complex grant funding streams. 

• Knowledge of legal and regulatory requirements for nonprofits and charities, including privacy and security compliance. 

• Proficiency in core people and culture practices/HR functions, with the ability to address HR tensions equitably and trauma-informed. Experience with transformative or restorative justice is an asset. 

• Skilled facilitator capable of navigating difference, ambiguity, and conflict while fostering common ground and aligning with DSF’s mission. 

• Emotionally intelligent, transparent leadership style that thrives in moments of complexity and supports team and organizational resilience. 

• Effective communicator with strong coaching skills, adept at building trust and accountability, especially with equity-deserving groups. 

• Inclusive, systems-oriented project manager with a process improvement mindset. 

• Bilingual (French and English) skills and experience in bilingual workplace leadership (strong assets). 

WHAT WE OFFER 

• Four-day workweek 
• Competitive salary and generous benefits package 
• Hybrid work opportunities 
• Supportive work culture 
• Chance to make a difference and help improve the health of our planet and all life on it 

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit your resume and covering to https://davidsuzuki.org/careers/

The David Suzuki Foundation is strongly committed to equity and diversity and to creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace. We especially encourage applications from equity-deserving groups; specifically Indigenous and racialized people, members of the LGBTQIA2S+, trans and gender-diverse communities, women and people with disability, chronic illness and/or neurodiversity.