Contract, Manager, Employee Services

As we serve vulnerable youth, all employees working for Covenant House Vancouver must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Proof of vaccination status will be required prior to your start date.

About Covenant House Vancouver Since 1997, Covenant House Vancouver has provided relentless support for youth experiencing, or at‑risk of experiencing, homelessness.

We provide support to young people age 16 to 24 who have experienced a wide range of early life and ongoing, complex trauma; including physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect.

Our purpose is to serve all youth, with absolute respect and unconditional love, to help youth experiencing homelessness, and provide a safe and supportive environment for all youth in need.

Working at Covenant House will be one of the most meaningful things that you’ll do in your life. However, you will be confronted with significant issues in this work and frankly, this work is not for everyone. In the course of doing your work, particularly for those doing frontline work, you will be exposed to the trauma of others. The youth we serve may also experience overdose, physical harm perpetuated by self or others and even death.

Because we provide a relational model of care, the harms our youth experience can impact us in varying degrees. While we provide training for youth workers on avoiding what we call vicarious trauma (namely, the trauma you can experience or take on by hearing other’s traumatic stories), and a generous allowance for counselling, it is still difficult work that can and does take its toll on many employees.

Self‑awareness and self‑care are key. Some candidates and employees decide during the recruiting and probationary periods that this work isn’t for them, and that is totally fair. We will provide more information on vicarious trauma during recruiting and on‑boarding, to help you decide if Covenant House is the place for you.

The Impact the Manager, Employee Services can make:

The Manager, Employee Services is responsible to design and maintain the infrastructure to deliver outstanding service to our current and future employees throughout their career at Covenant House, beginning with recruiting and onboarding, through the employment relationship to address their employment questions and needs, and by designing and delivering total rewards solutions.

The role is expected to be highly independent, proactive in identifying and implementing, through a Recruiter and a HR Advisor, positive change and improvements in employee services that are aligned to our culture and serve our agency goals.

You question actions inconsistent with our values. You treat people with fairness and respect independent of their status or disagreement with you. You inspire others with your thirst for excellence. You create an environment where people can flourish and grow. You challenge the status quo to innovate and improve quality. You use data and seek advice, take smart risks and make tough decisions without agonizing.

How you will contribute:

• Responsible for overseeing the Recruiting, Onboarding, Total Rewards, and Employee Relations functions
• Manage the Recruiter and HR Advisors
• Identify strategies to attract the best qualified candidates
• Monitor best practices in talent acquisition, and continually improve agency practices
• Together with Employee Experience Lead, update and propagate agency employer brand
• Oversee employee orientation (online and in‑person) and new hire check‑ins
• Assess quality outcome of onboarding processes
• Monitor best practices in onboarding, and continually improve agency practices
• Oversee the administration of benefit programs and the management of compensation planning (including job evaluation, compensation surveys and annual salary planning)
• Create and share annual total reward statements to all employees
• Together with Director, People & Culture, annually assess benefits programs and recommend changes as required
• Monitor best practices in total rewards, and continually improve agency practices
• Support managers and employees around performance, attendance, immigration
• Manage annual and probationary performance reviews (online using our UKG HRIS)
• Develop and deliver training and guidebooks to managers on employee relations
• Oversee agency role in employee work permits and immigration
• Monitor best practices in employee recognition, and continually improve agency practices
• Oversee the user experience for recruiting and employee maintenance by managers using our UKG Ready HRIS
• Work with Director, People & Culture on projects and leadership
• Other duties as assigned

Who are we looking for?

Education and Experience:

• HR or related certificate or degree, or equivalent combination of education and