Description

About the client:

Their Mission

Kinbrace Community Society welcomes refugee claimants with housing, education, and support.

Their Vision

For each refugee claimant: a world of welcome, a community of belonging, and a life of opportunity.

Their Core Values

Welcome, Trust, Mutual Transformation, Celebration, Prayer

Their Roots

Kinbrace is an interfaith community, rooted in faith, hope, and love. They honour and encourage each person’s spiritual journey in their shared quest to create a world of welcome with and for those who are forcibly displaced.

Founded in 1998 by a small Christian community pursuing hospitality and justice for all, the Kinbrace community’s inclusive and lasting five core values continuously shape who they are, how they live and work together, accompanying refugee claimants, sharing daily life, and fostering a community of safety and belonging.

Position Summary

They are seeking an Executive Director who will steward their mission while providing strategic leadership for their next chapter of growth and impact. Currently, Kinbrace operates with a staff of 13 and an annual operating budget of $1.7 million, providing housing and other supports in East Vancouver while providing resources for refugee claimants across Canada.

The best candidate lives out Kinbrace’s five core values, is alive to their own spiritual journey, curious and humble, non-judgmental. This person is confident in engaging and communicating in varied faith-traditions and non-faith settings, and fully supportive of Kinbrace’s mandate.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director of Kinbrace provides strategic leadership, vision, and operational oversight while maintaining our client’s organization’s commitment to dignity, community, and transformative welcome. This role requires a collaborative leader who can balance stewardship of their local community relationships with leadership of programs, all while embodying Kinbrace’s values and working within a founder transition context.

The successful candidate will lead strategic planning, build strong team capacity, ensure financial sustainability, and represent Kinbrace’s mission externally while fostering internal organizational health and equity.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

  • Lead collaborative strategic planning process within first 12 months, engaging board and staff in defining organizational priorities and measurable outcomes
  • Provide strategic oversight that maintains focus and prevents scope creep while remaining flexible for necessary adaptations
  • Hold and integrate the big picture of both sector trends and organizational mission, making strategic connections across programs
  • Guide decision-making about organizational growth and scaling approaches
  • Develop and monitor key performance indicators aligned with strategic objectives
  • Oversee strategic resource development to secure sustainable funding and partnerships in alignment with the organization’s mission

Mission Oversight and Integration

  • Oversee mission at the strategic level, focusing on organizational direction, stakeholder relationships, and ensuring program alignment with values rather than operational program delivery
  • Steward balance between local depth and reach, maintaining organizational heart while responding strategically to growing service demand
  • Ensure programs work cohesively toward shared outcomes and organizational vision
  • Champion Kinbrace’s five core values throughout all organizational activities
  • Navigate change management sensitively, honoring organizational culture while enabling necessary evolution

Team Leadership and Development

  • Continue to build and nurture a high-performing team through collaborative, participatory leadership approach
  • Work with direct reports on goal-setting, performance management, and professional development
  • Foster organizational culture that supports staff wellbeing, advancement opportunities, and inclusive practices
  • Develop internal leadership capacity
  • Address equity gaps in advancement and leadership development

External Relations and Advocacy

  • Represent Kinbrace with key stakeholders including government partners, funders, and sector organizations
  • Build strategic partnerships that advance organizational mission and sector goals
  • Engage appropriately in advocacy and policy discussions affecting refugee claimants
  • Maintain and cultivate community relationships essential to organizational sustainability
  • Communicate organizational impact and needs to diverse audiences

Governance and Financial Stewardship

  • Work collaboratively with Board of Directors, supporting governance while maintaining appropriate executive authority
  • Ensure fiscal responsibility, contract acquisition, and sustainability, working with development and finance teams on resource mobilization
  • Provide regular reporting to board on organizational performance, challenges, and opportunities
  • Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements

Required Qualifications

Education and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree plus a minimum of 7 years of progressive senior leadership experience in nonprofit organizations, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
  • Demonstrated experience in strategic planning and implementation
  • Experience working with diverse communities and multicultural teams
  • Demonstrated expertise in at least one area critical to Kinbrace’s work: the refugee protection process, refugee settlement services, supportive housing for vulnerable populations, interfaith engagement, or trauma-informed organizational practice.

Leadership and Management:

  • Proven ability to lead collaborative, participatory processes
  • Experience building and managing staff teams with clear accountability structures
  • Track record of developing and coaching staff and creating advancement opportunities
  • Change management experience, particularly in organizational transitions
  • Experience working with boards of directors and governance structures

Strategic and Financial Competencies:

  • Strategic thinking and systems perspective with ability to integrate multiple priorities
  • Financial management experience including budget oversight and sustainability planning
  • Grant management and compliance experience
  • Understanding of nonprofit operations including HR, risk management, and legal requirements

Communication and Relationship Skills:

  • Excellent written and verbal communication in English
  • Ability to represent organization professionally with diverse stakeholders
  • Conflict resolution and relationship-building skills
  • Inter-cultural competency and trauma-informed training

Preferred Qualifications

  • Understanding of extending welcome in the current immigration policy landscape
  • Experience navigating refugee claimant processes in Canada
  • Knowledge of British Columbia’s settlement and housing sectors
  • Advanced degree with demonstrated grounding in international refugee law, leadership, management and coaching
  • Lived experience of displacement or migration, or a deep personal understanding of the refugee protection system through close relationships, advocacy, or accompaniment with individuals and communities affected by forced migration
  • Previous experience in founder transition or organizational change contexts
  • Multilingual capabilities, particularly in Arabic, Spanish, or other languages relevant to refugee communities

Core Competencies and Personal Qualities

Values Alignment:

  • Deep commitment to dignity, welcome, and justice for refugee claimants
  • Demonstrated understanding of and respect for diverse spiritual and cultural traditions
  • Authentic alignment with Kinbrace’s five core values through lived experience and practice

Leadership Style:

  • Collaborative approach that empowers staff expertise rather than directing from above
  • Servant leadership orientation with ambition for the mission rather than personal advancement
  • Disciplined yet flexible approach to strategic implementation
  • Ability to influence through relationship-building rather than positional authority

Personal Attributes:

  • Cultural humility and competency working across diverse communities
  • Resilience and high emotional intelligence for demanding nonprofit leadership environment
  • Intellectual curiosity and commitment to continuous learning
  • Integrity and transparency in all professional relationships

Compensation and Benefits

  • Salary: $100,000 to $125,000 annually, commensurate with experience
  • Comprehensive health and dental coverage
  • Group RRSP with employer matching
  • 5 weeks vacation plus personal and professional development time
  • Flexible work arrangements including hybrid options
  • Professional development funding
  • Participation in sector learning and networking opportunities