The Role:

We’re looking to add a deeply aligned and true impact focused team member this fall.

This is a  fast-paced, full-time, managerial role that will require active and intentional leadership. This very engaging position will have you working directly with community and focussing on food as a mechanism to feed, train, employ, advocate, and convene.

The right applicant will have the ability to balance multi-tier organization with real boots-on-the-ground and hands-on tools action where you’ll get to see, touch and feel the impact of your work while building relationships with the humans who benefit from it.

The DTES is one of the most interesting, diverse, loving, and creative communities in the world. It is also one of the most deeply maligned. 

This position is critical to the success of our mission by coordinating, facilitating and reconciling the data and components of our various programs and being an essential part of the creative team that plans the logistics and execution of our fundraising campaigns, communication efforts and forward facing presence that allows us to grow and scale our impact. 

It is perfect for the unique individual who is energized by seeing events and programs come to life and thrive and also excels in spreadsheets and data organization. It is a role for those who not only want to see change in the world but have their hands actively involved in that change. 

 

The Organization:

A Better Life Foundation was conceived and operates out of Save On Meats, which has been operating at 43 West Hastings Street since 1957 and has seen our community change, develop and has always been a welcoming place of refuge, respite, and acceptance.

Food is the cornerstone of the foundation that we build our community and upward development on. We do so by 4 main channels:

1. Daily Meal Program which provides upwards of 1,500+ meals a day (4.5 million and counting)
2. Plenty of Plates – 3 dinners/week offered for free to the community and executed by teams of volunteers (120 advocacy and inclusion dinners to date)
3. Food Waste Recovery Program – receives donated surplus ingredients to use in 250 meals/day and approximately ~15 hampers/day to community kitchens. We have recovered over 100,000 kilograms of food since we started in 2020 – which translates to 260,000+ meals and 190,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions saved
4. Token Window – providing extremely accessible meals (approximately 75/day) to street-facing community members (250k meals served and growing)

We are proud of our team and culture, over half of our employees have lived experience with mental and/or physical disabilities, a history of addiction, criminal records etc – in other words, they represent the community we serve. We welcome candidates from all walks of life, cultures, genders, identities, races and abilities and strive to create an environment where all can thrive. 

We are energetic, passionate optimists who are driven by the conviction of seeing our community grow more resilient and stronger through our efforts. We believe food is love. 

 

Profile of Who is Successful:

The perfect candidate will have a passion for organization and eagerly shows off a perfectly executed spreadsheet. Armed with a penchant for overcoming challenges, the kind of person who gets excited when the solution to a complex problem is solved. A talented written and verbal communicator, who can connect with a variety of stakeholders, equipped with the patience and persistence to take a breath and synthesize the message into an action plan.  

Above all, the person who will succeed in this world will be an unrelenting optimist with an unwavering commitment to make this world a better place. 

 

A Broad Description of the Duties and Responsibilities:

Organization & Project / Event Management  – 40% of workload 

• Monthly reconciliation of social impact statistics from all departments 
• Team and events calendar management 
• Very light bookkeeping (data entry/invoice creation)
• Compiling data and statistics for grant reporting 
• Maintaining and optimizing our donor, program and media databases
• Coordinating volunteers to assist in our various programs 
• Attending and facilitating our events 
• Working with Google Docs/Sheets/Slides/Forms, Asana (our other project management software), Keela (our donor CRM) and other platforms – being technologically literate is a strong asset 

Communications & Fundraising – 40% of workload 

• Internal and external communications requiring extremely sharp written and verbal communication skills
• Creating compelling grant and subsidy applications with sharp attention to funding calendars and schedules 
• Presenting, hosting and facilitating a variety of events as a spokesperson for the organization
• Working on fundraising campaigns including input on data driven strategy, copywriting for social media/newsletters and direct donor communication 
• Scheduling social media campaigns using Later (or comparable scheduling platform) – being familiar with the intricacies of Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn & TikTok a definite asset
• Analyzing donor data to inform targeted communication plans 
• Tracking and measuring KPIs from our campaigns 

Practicum / Intern / Volunteer Management –  20% of workload

• Managing the various skills assets we have available. To achieve our ambitious goals with limited budget, we have tapped into excellent resources with universities, government-funded job placements and like-minded volunteers
• Writing applications to practicum and internship opportunities
• Answering interested volunteer candidates and ascertaining which skills are applicable to our work 
• Logging and tracking hours and making sure work plans are in place and adhered to
• Maintaining and updating the job description/requirements and supporting onboarding material for these positions 

 

Requirements: 

• A bachelor degree or relevant college certificate completion 
• Ability to work in Canada for a minimum of 3 years 
• Ability to work frequently in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, sometimes late into the night when facilitating evening events

 

Compensation & Workplace Culture:

• $55,000 – $70,000 base salary based on proven, relevant experience 
• Significant bonus structure beyond salary
• Wrap around health plan with life insurance 
• Full-time, in-person work
• Expected start date is Monday, October 2 

 

How to Apply:

 

In this age of point and click job applications, only applications with thoughtful cover letters explaining why this position excites you will be considered. This is an opportunity to really showcase your written communication skills.

After top candidates are selected to a video call interview, candidates will be invited to produce a presentation (details to follow). We’ll proceed to in person trials where you’ll attend one of our events or daily programming to meet the team and participate in the action. We are appreciative of every applicant, but only those selected to participate in the video call and beyond will be notified.

Our work serves a broad ethnically, gender and ability diverse community – we strive for our employees to represent these communities and strongly recommend candidates who identify as non-conforming in any way to apply. 

Applications will close on Monday, September 18, but interviews will begin to be scheduled immediately.

 

Thanks for your interest and support of our work!