Tamarack ‐ An Institute for Community Engagement is seeking a big picture leader with exceptional growth management skills to build on the legacy of Vibrant Communities, Canada’s premier, collaborative poverty reduction initiative as Director, Vibrant Communities Canada – Cities Reducing Poverty.

Between 2002 ‐2012, Vibrant Communities built an impressive Pan‐Canadian learning community of 13 comprehensive community initiatives designed to improve the lives of more than 202,930 people living in poverty. To learn more, please visit www.vibrantcommunities.ca. Building on this momentum and learning, in 2012, Vibrant Communities Canada – Cities Reducing Poverty was launched with the vision of connecting 100 cities across Canada and reducing poverty for 1 million Canadians. To date, more than 55 cities are included in this growing network.

As Director, you will bring your leadership skills to Tamarack while leading an outstanding team of staff, leadership volunteers, donors, and community partners working together to grow and strengthen the network of communities. You will have the opportunity to expand the ac on learning work in communities including our emerging policy, systems change and knowledge development agenda.

Supervision and Reporting:

The Director, Vibrant Communities Canada – Cities Reducing Poverty will report directly to Tamarack’s President. You will be a part of Tamarack’s Directors Team and lead a network of senior leaders responsible for building an ac on plan for Advancing Poverty Reduction over the next five years. The Director, Vibrant Communities Canada – Cities Reducing Poverty is a member of the Tamarack team and will contribute to the achievement of Tamarack’s overall strategic goals and deliverables.

Work Environment:

This job is full-time and, as with most jobs at Tamarack, can be home‐based or performed at Tamarack’s office at the University of Waterloo.

To apply go to http://events.tamarackcommunity.org/vcdirector and register your interest. Upon submitting your interest you will receive a leer of instruction to complete your application.

The Director will be an active member of Tamarack’s team of directors, contributing directly to the organization’s success and growth through participation in the ongoing development and implementation of the Institute’s strategic plan. The Director is responsible for working with a senior leadership team of partners and key stakeholders to develop and implement a five‐year ac on plan by leveraging community‐based poverty reduction efforts across the country.

On-Going Responsibilities Include:

• Steward the overall direction, strategy and design of Vibrant Communities in cooperation with key partners, donors and city leaders.
• As a member of the Tamarack Directors team you will normally spend 30% of your time leading Vibrant Communities, 30% of your  time writing and teaching within Cities Reducing Poverty and Tamarack learning communities and 30% of your  time supporting groups within and outside Canada on a fee for service basis. The remaining 10% is a specific contribution to the overall success of Tamarack based on your skills.
• Be an active member of Tamarack’s senior management team involved in the overall planning and implementation of Tamarack’s bold agenda. Leverage Vibrant Communities’ contribution and participation in the Tamarack Learning Centre and Custom Services as a mechanism for enhancing the community and stakeholder engagement strategy.
• Coordinate the various elements of Vibrant Communities in support of the initiative’s overall vision, mission and goals including the development of a community and stakeholder engagement strategy and securing financial and human resources to support the implementation of the action plan.
• Stay rooted in the real work of communities involved in the project by providing hands-on coaching and consulting to community partners.
• Provide day to day management functions for the initiative in accordance with Tamarack’s policies and procedures. This includes managing staff resources, finance, communication, operational planning and funder reports.
• Mobilize resources for the effort through fundraising, grant development and revenue generation.
• Represent Vibrant Communities at regional, national and international events.
• Generate revenue for Tamarack by actively leading the learning agenda, providing workshops and other training sessions and fee-for-service consultation to selected Tamarack and Vibrant Communities Canada clients

Qualifications:

• A deep commitment to poverty reduction and knowledge of the field preferably leading large scale collective impact initiatives.
• A minimum of five years senior management experience, in particular in situations of organization/program growth.
• Education equivalent to an M.A. with strong written and verbal presentation skills.
• Experience working in community settings with demonstrated capacity to work on pan‐Canadian initiatives that combine national and local membership.
• Familiarity with work related to community ac on, systems change, and community learning.
• Commitment and ability to provide leadership in a collaborative work environment. Skilled in working in partnership with organizations to provide overall leadership in initiatives.
• Ability to work in a continually evolving organizational environment and demonstrated capacity to multi-task.
• Experience in designing and delivering a variety of workshops and leadership development sessions.
• Demonstrated growth management experiences an asset.
• Donor relations and fundraising experience is an asset.
• Bilingual (English and French) a definite asset.
• Willingness/ability to travel (about 5+ days a month).

Reporting:

As a member of Tamarack’s team of directors you will report to the President. You will work very closely with the Vibrant Communities Canada – Cities Reducing Poverty team.

Salary & Benefits (Director Level)

Tamarack provides a competitive salary with benefits, vacation and an RRSP package. We operate within a progressive management philosophy.