Director, Program Operations and Services

About this position

POSITION TITLE: Director of Program Operations and Services
LOCATION: Toronto - 54 Wolseley
APPLICATION CLOSING DATE: March 7, 2025 by 4:00p.m.

ABOUT STELLA’S PLACE: 
Mission: Partnering young adults and professionals to provide a collaborative, innovative model of mental health services.
Vision: Healthy, resilient young adults living the lives they choose.
Values: At Stella’s Place, we fundamentally value the capabilities and contributions of young adults, as we seek breakthrough innovations that benefit our community and society as a whole.

JOB DESCRIPTION: 
Join the Executive Leadership Team at Stella’s Place, an innovative mental health service provider for young adults (16-29 years), where your leadership will have a visible impact.  We are at a critical and exciting stage in our growth.  We have built the foundation and infrastructure for and are now delivering a menu of innovative, and impactful services within an integrated model of mental health care.  We have developed a strong profile amongst young adults in Toronto and beyond, and our evaluation and feedback data indicate that we are changing lives. We have earned a reputation within the health sector - more than 70% of our participants have been referred by health care professionals.  We have built a strong network of service delivery and research partners and continue to evaluate and adapt services to ensure quality, responsiveness and impact. Co-designed with young adults, our delivery model ensures access to integrated peer and clinical support, signature evidence-based interventions and training programs, and holistic wellness services.

Reporting to the Executive Director as a key member of the leadership team you will work closely with the Board of Directors, Chief Development Office, Director of Research & Evaluation and the Finance Manager. The Director of Program Operations and Services (DPOS) is responsible for the direct leadership planning, delivery, and evaluation of all aspects of Stella’s Place, programs, and services to maximize their delivery outcome to our participants. You will directly oversee the program managers, including supervision of the Manager of the Clinical & Recovery Program, Manager of Expressive Art Therapy, and Senior Peer Initiative Manager.  Stella’s Place ensures that appropriate and effective operational support and supervision is provided to staff in the delivery of its current programs as well as any new initiatives.Our goal is to provide strong leadership to ensure that clients have the required services within the agency and in the community, when necessary.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Deliver high-quality, culturally appropriate programs and services for young adults.

• Reinforce, promote, and lead by example around Stella’s Place core values and a culture of inclusion, open and honest dialogue, and accountability.

• Provides strong leadership to ensure that participants have the required services within the agency and in the community, when necessary.

• Build and nurture relationships with community-based programs, service providers, and stakeholders.

• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of emerging trends and development in services and programs related to young adults experiencing mental health challenges 

• Proposes and implements new initiatives; develops and implements action plans; conducts performance evaluations; and ensures that reports on all service and program areas are delivered within the timelines required.

• Ensure standardization of practice across programs and greater team collaboration.

• Ensure that work plans are developed and implemented in alignment with Stella’s Place's strategic priorities and the priorities are achieved.

• Recruit, hire, train, supervise, and coach the Program Management Team and Manager Staff.

• Ensures that appropriate and effective operational support and supervision is provided to the Program Management Team.

• Build a cohesive team based on values of service excellence, accountability and integrity, creativity and initiative, equity, partnerships, and self-determination.

• Work closely in collaboration with the Director of Research & Evaluation to monitor and support quality assurance and improvement initiatives to foster a learning environment.

• Ensure the clinical programs are effectively measured and monitored; and service quality is improved on a continuing basis to meet the standards of best practice in the sector.

• Ensure compliance with Stella’s Place’s policies, federal/provincial legislation, and standards.

• Represent Stella’s Place at community events and engage in public speaking with key stakeholders.

• Work in collaboration with the Leadership Team to: operationalizing strategic priorities; program planning; compliance with all standards and policies; budget oversight and management; and collaboration with community stakeholders to secure services for our participants;

• Work with the Leadership Team to ensure that the organizational vision is carried out in service delivery systems that subscribe to the strategic direction of the organization as set by the Board of Directors and the CEO.

• Collaborate with the finance department to manage financial claims in line with organizational policies.

• Lead the annual program budget creation and monitoring

• Monitor department operations to ensure budget variances are within prescribed limits.

• Work closely with the Chief Development Officer to develop proposals, grants, and funding proposals and develop key tracking systems to ensure services meet their targets.

• Builds and maintains positive relationships with funders (e.g. City of Toronto, Provincial Government, Federal Government), and ensures programs meet all reporting and regulatory requirements of funders

• Monitor and ensure that programs meet all funder reporting, submission, and proposal requirements; Human Rights, Health and Safety Legislation, PHIPA, and any other legislation that pertains to the operations of Health Services..

• Work in a collegial and respectful manner with other directors and maintain effective communications on joint and multi-departmental projects.

• Carry out other duties as assigned by the Executive Director  

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

The ideal candidate is a highly motivated, self-directed professional with extensive experience in community engagement and program management. You possess a profound understanding of mental health challenges experienced by young adults.  

To be considered for this position, a Masters degree in a related field is preferred and a combination of three to five years of educational preparation and applicable work experience is required. The successful candidate will have:

• Held progressively-responsible clinical positions (from front-line to management) in a mental health and/or addictions, health, or community organization.  

• Exceptional leadership skills with demonstrated experience leading and growing highly effective management team that can respond to organizational and operational needs.

• Ability to analyze and apply data to decision making, including familiarity with computer software applications.

• Knowledge of current mental health care legislation.

• Commitment to quality improvement and advancing strategic priorities.

• Experience working within an interdisciplinary team environment.

• Ability to develop and nurture strategic partnerships.

• Excellent organizational, interpersonal, communication and time management skills.  

In addition, you will have:

• A commitment to, and experience with, building and leading an organizational culture that practices from an anti-oppression approach that embeds trauma-informed practice

• Proven abilities in program development, management, change management and organizational growth and capacity building

• Experience providing clinical services to young adults (16 – 29 years of age), including management-level contribution to a service delivery environment

• Interest in collaborative policy development and implementation of equity-enhancing practices across the organization

• A well-developed and broad network within the community of mental health/addictions, health, and community service providers

• A demonstrated commitment to peer support and recovery-oriented practice, and  a program development and evaluation orientation that is founded on principles of co-design and youth engagement 

• Demonstrated understanding/working knowledge of information management and data reporting requirements of health funders

• Proven experience with Client Information Management Systems, Personal Health Record management and Health Information Custodian requirements

• Strong technology skills and an interest in developing and delivering innovative hybrid services to address the preferences of young adults

• Proven experience with program financial management, forecasting, budgeting, and reporting, and with grant and government operating fund reporting

• Experience with human resources planning and oversight   

SALARY & BENEFITS:

Stella’s Place offers a competitive annual salary commensurate with experience and total rewards package; including comprehensive medical, dental and vision health benefits.  

HOURS & REPORTING:

This position reports to the ED and is a member of the Leadership Team. Stella’s Place is a hybrid work environment.   

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND ACCOMMODATION:

Stella’s Place is committed to having a workforce that is reflective of the diversity of the City of Toronto in general and of our participants in particular. We strongly encourage applications from racialized persons, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression and all those who can provide and contribute to diversification of perspective at Stella’s Place. 

Stella’s Place is committed to hiring practices that are inclusive and barrier free. Stella’s Place will provide reasonable and appropriate accommodation during all stages of the hiring process in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code in order to ensure the equal and fair assessment of all job applicants. Applicants are asked to make any accommodation request in advance.

YOUR APPLICATION:

Interested and qualified candidates are invited to submit their cover letter outlining your interest in working with Stella’s Place along with a detailed CV by March 7, 2025 at 4:00p.m..

We thank all candidates for their interest. We regret that only those selected for an interview will be contacted.