Job Title: Director, Donor Engagement & Operations
Position Type (FT, PT, Relief, etc.): Full-time - Permanent
Location: 1280 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC, with hybrid work possible (i.e., 2-3 days/week in the office).
Salary Range: $100,000 - $120,000
Contact Person: Christoph Clodius, The Discovery Group: christoph@thediscoverygroup.ca
Deadline: January 9, 2026
Link to Candidate Brief: https://thediscoverygroup.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Covenant-House-Vancouver-Candidate-Brief.pdf
Covenant House Vancouver is an essential institution in Vancouver, supporting street youth and other people in need through a variety of life-sustaining and harm-reducing programs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. CHV supports young people, aged 16–24, who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, youth who are experiencing human trafficking, and youth in need. Its mission is to champion every young person’s right to health and well-being and provide a continuum of programs and services to support youth on their journey to dream of a brighter future.
Covenant House Vancouver is predominantly funded by an amazing group of passionate supporters – over 50,000 in number last year - who believe in its vision and work, and in fact, they provide the large majority of CHV’s budget.
CHV has grown significantly in recent years, including a major campaign that allowed for significant new buildings and upgrades, and has allowed for significant growth in impact in its programs. This recent growth, combined with its significant capacity to deepen community support, has led Covenant House to create and recruit a Director, Donor Engagement and Operations to integrate, enable, and support best practices across its entire philanthropic program. This new leadership role will be a key player on the philanthropic leadership group as one of three Directors that report to the Chief Philanthropy Officer.
The Director will ensure strategic and thoughtful case and priority project development, work closely with fundraisers and strategies for major donors, and ensure back-of-house operations related to stewardship, recognition, and donor services are thoughtfully curated, effective, and efficient. The Director will join an incredible team of 40 fundraising staff who raise $20 million every year.
This is a compelling opportunity for a generalist fundraiser with a passion for systems to:
Join an organization with an incredible reputation doing impactful front-line work;
Be a leader of one of Vancouver‘s most inspired and mission-driven philanthropic teams that truly values the whole person;
Bring their fundraising expertise to hone and elevate an already high-functioning team;
- Convene and organize key support functions programs in support of philanthropy.
About the Role:
Reporting to the Chief Philanthropy Officer, the Director will be part of the Philanthropy Team’s senior leadership group, accountable for achieving CHV’s $24.2M fundraising goal.
The Director will play a crucial role in strategic and operational planning for the Philanthropy team, and their feedback will play into larger planning across CHV. To support their work, the Director will have immediate oversight of both the Volunteers and Gift-in-Kind and Database and Donor Services teams, comprised of two direct reports and a total team of 16.
The Director role has been created to ensure consistency, clear and efficient processes, and best practices needed in a large and sophisticated fundraising operation. With an overall mandate to facilitate the growth of the philanthropy team’s successes
A collaborative, adaptable, and optimistic leader will thrive in this new Director role. Someone with an entrepreneurial spirit and strong fundraising expertise, especially in donor engagement, recognition, and funding strategies, would be ideal.
Specifically, the ideal candidate possesses:
Education and Experience:
Significant generalist fundraising experience with a knowledge and understanding across giving streams, such as major giving, annual giving fundraising, case development and proposal writing, and others.
A background in donor engagement, recognition, and stewardship best practices would be particularly welcome.
An understanding of fundraising data management, moves management, and trends in analytics and AI.
Experience fundraising for social services organizations with a variety of programs and evolving priorities.
Experience leading people and direct reports to success.
Demonstrated project management skills; experience leading projects through their full cycle from identifying priorities, creating a plan, and executing on it.
Strong administrative and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate vision and strategy into tactics and actions.
Exceptional communication skills with the ability to craft clear, engaging and donor-centered messaging across a variety of stewardship materials and channels.
Some financial acumen and understanding of budget building and management.
Undergraduate degree (preferred) or related experience and education.
Further, the following competencies & traits would position the Director for success:
A strong alignment with CHV’s mission; a passion for issues facing youth overcoming homelessness.
Fundamentally humane and authentic; they see themselves and others as whole people. Kind, generous, and thoughtful.
Adaptable and thrives in ambiguity, yet keen to pursue clarity in designs and processes.
An entrepreneurial mindset with an excitement and motivation to bring new ideas and creativity to established thinking.
Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
Strong budgeting, project management, and communication abilities.
Ability to manage long-term plans while meeting short-term objectives.
Assertiveness and persistence coupled with tact and diplomacy. Influential and motivating.
A commitment to upholding principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and Truth and Reconciliation.
A collaborative and confident leader, able to manage and support subject matter experts.
Big-picture focused and visionary, while also grounded in execution, thoroughness, and detail.
Strong emotional intelligence; low ego, takes responsibility for actions, owns mistakes, and seeks to improve.
How to Apply:
This search is being led by Covenant House Vancouver’s search partner, Christoph Clodius at The Discovery Group, at christoph@thediscoverygroup.ca. If you or someone you know is interested or curious, please be in touch. We welcome questions and enquiries.
Application Timing and Selection Process
All submissions should be received by January 9, 2026. Please apply to Christoph with a cover letter/expression of interest and resume/CV, together in a single document.
Compensation & Benefits:
The successful candidate can expect a starting annual salary of between $100,000 and $120,000. Our benefits include two options for Health, Dental, and Disability Coverage, and a group savings (RPP/TFSA) plan. In addition, CHV also offers generous vacation time, personal days to promote work-life balance, participation in our fortnight program, and other perks like tuition support.
Location:
This is a full-time permanent role based at CHV’s offices located at 1280 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC, with hybrid work possible (i.e., 2-3 days/week in the office).