Status: Full-time, Term (12 months) (Hybrid)

Location: Vancouver, BC

Schedule: 35 hours per week

Salary Range: $127,951-$191,927 (midpoint: $159,938)

The Organization

Coast Mental Health Foundation (the Foundation) raises funds to support innovative and enhanced recovery programs at Coast Mental Health.

Coast Mental Health (Coast) is one of the largest mental health non-profit societies in Canada and operates a large array of innovative housing and community-based rehabilitation services for people with mental illness. Coast operates in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia providing approximately 1,100 people with supportive housing and thousands of clients living in the community with a wide range of mental health and support programs and services.

Coast fosters a client-driven, recovery-oriented environment that promotes restoring health, personal growth, and a return to society for individuals with a mental illness, through advocacy and providing direct programs and services.

The Foundation team is a group of dedicated individuals who believe that recovery and achieving one’s potential, despite a mental illness diagnosis, are possible. The Foundation and Coast are currently considering embarking on a significant project aimed at increasing the organizations’ ability to impact the lives of people living with mental illness.

Position Overview

The Foundation is seeking a highly experienced and collaborative Temporary Acting Executive Director (Acting ED) to provide leadership during a planned leave of absence of the permanent Executive Director. The appointment is for a period of 12 months (the “Term”).

The Acting ED will lead the Foundation in all aspects of the Foundation’s operations through a critical period as the organization prepares for a significant project in support of its affiliated operating charity, Coast Mental Health.

The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership, operational oversight, donor stewardship, and campaign readiness management, working closely with the Foundation’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), fundraising staff, volunteers, and Coast senior leadership.

The Acting ED’s primary mandate is to maintain organizational stability, advance readiness for a significant project, and support strong donor relationships while ensuring the Foundation continues to meet its mission and regulatory responsibilities as a Canadian registered charity and public foundation during the permanent ED’s leave of absence (the “Leave Period”).

The Acting ED reports to the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Key Areas of Responsibility

1. Organizational Leadership and Stability

Provide steady executive leadership during the Leave Period.
Ensure continuity of operations and maintain organizational effectiveness.
Supervise and support direct and indirect reports and foster a collaborative working environment.
Act as the primary executive contact for, and maintain strong communication with the Board, including regular reporting on organizational performance.
Maintain existing Foundation strategic direction, unless otherwise approved by the Board through a new strategic plan.
Provide executive oversight of all fund development activities and planning.
Provide leadership for the planning and implementation of preliminary steps towards the new project and recruit new staff, as needed.
Oversee the process of developing new policies or updating existing policies to facilitate the Foundation’s new project.

2. Donor and Stakeholder Engagement

Oversee the identification of potential new donors to the Foundation.
Maintain and strengthen relationships with major donors and prospective donors.
Work with volunteers and Board members to advance leadership gifts.
Act as interim executive presence and represent the Foundation with key stakeholders, including:
donors and sponsors
community leaders
partner organizations
Coast Mental Health

3. Board Relations and Governance

Work closely with and support the work of the Board of Directors and Board committees.
Prepare or oversee the preparation of ED Reports, risk-assessments, and materials for Board and Committee meetings.
Escalate issues requiring Committee or Board input.
Support and advise the Board Chair and the Board to ensure good governance, well-informed decision-making, sustainability and continuity of operations.
Ensure the Board receives timely information to support effective decision-making.

4. Partnership with Coast Mental Health

Maintain strong alignment between the Foundation and Coast.
Operate within existing Foundation-Coast agreements and practices.
Support joint/coordinated strategic planning.

5. Financial Oversight and Compliance

Oversee the Foundation’s financial stewardship, including budgeting, reporting, proper accounting of restricted funds and fund transfers to Coast, and cash flow monitoring.
Ensure compliance with approved Foundation budgets and policies, and that all financial and operational controls remain strong during the Term.
Ensure that the Foundation meets all CRA requirements applicable to registered charities/public foundations.

· Support external auditors and prepare any compliance documentation required during the Term, including during the annual audit.

Ensure that the Foundation maintains accurate and secure donor records, with strict adherence to privacy, confidentiality, and donor-data access protocols.

6. Risk Management & CRA compliance

Monitor and manage key risks related to fundraising, governance, receipting, use of restricted gifts, financial management, campaign activity, and donor relations.
Ensure the Foundation’s activities remain compliant with:
CRA regulations/provisions, including fundraising and receipting regulations;
Restricted/Designated gifts documentation and management;
Related charity transactions and shared-service arrangements;
Applicable privacy laws and regulations.

7. Transition and Knowledge Transfer

Throughout the Term, maintain thorough documentation of fund development and campaign progress, donor engagement, and strategic decisions.
Prepare a structured transition briefing document for review by the permanent Executive Director upon their return.

Qualifications and Experience

Experience

Senior leadership experience in a Canadian registered charity/fund development organization.
Demonstrated success in major gift fundraising and capital campaign leadership.
Experience working with Boards of Directors and senior volunteers in a fundraising environment.
Experience managing donor relationships at the $100K–$1M+ level.

Knowledge

Understanding of Canadian registered charities laws and regulations, particularly those affecting public foundations.
Understanding of laws and regulations affecting British Columbia societies.
Knowledge of capital campaign planning and management.
Familiarity with the Vancouver philanthropic sector/community.

Leadership Skills

Strategic and collaborative leadership style.
Strong relationship-building and diplomacy skills.
Ability to provide calm and steady leadership during a leadership transition.
Excellent communication and presentation skills.

Personal Attributes

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

High professional integrity and sound judgment
Strong political acuity and discretion
Ability to build trust with donors, volunteers, and staff
Strategic thinking combined with operational discipline
Comfort representing the organization publicly
Ability to successfully work in partnership with an affiliated organization.

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time term role for a period of 12 (twelve) months. The successful person can expect a competitive yearly base salary between $127,951 and $191,927 (midpoint: $159,938) depending on skill and experience. Upon hire as a full-time term role, most new employees will be placed at a starting salary between the minimum and midpoint of the stated salary range. In some circumstances, candidates may be eligible for compensation beyond the midpoint. Factors influencing salary decisions include qualifications and years of experience in similar roles. We offer a hybrid work arrangement, with the flexibility to work remotely depending on operational requirements. The candidate must be able to commute to our head office in Vancouver for donor meetings and other in-person meetings and events as required. Flexible working hours can also be offered, depending on operational requirements.

Benefits for the full-time term role include:

100% employer-paid benefits for employees and their families.
Vision Care, Dental Care, Prescription Drugs, Naturopath, Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Group Life, Massage therapy, Physiotherapy, and Unlimited Out-of-Province and Out-of-Country Emergencies.
Life Insurance up to $10,000.
General sick-leave accruals.
Employee and Family Assistance Program, which includes personal counselling, Life Coaching, Financial Coaching, Legal Referral and Advisory Services, and Health Coaching. In addition, Coast provides a cognitive behavioural therapy program (Telus Health CBT) and Headversity for managing a variety of life issues and includes self-paced therapeutic support.
Municipal Pension Plan with guaranteed lifetime monthly pension when you retire. More information can be found at: https://mpp.pensionsbc.ca.

We welcome applications from Indigenous persons, visible minority group members, persons with disabilities, people of all sexual orientations, genders and gender identities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities.

NOTE: Successful completion of a Criminal Records Check will be required.

This recruitment is being led by Gerard Search on behalf of Coast Mental Health Foundation.

Application deadline: We are accepting rolling applications until the position is filled.

Check the status of the search process here

Coast Mental Health Foundation jobs

Acting Executive Director

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