Afternoon Front Desk Manager at Therapeutic Clinic

Afternoon Front Desk Manager at NowWhat:

30-40 hrs per week, in person

Mon-Fri , 12pm to close

$55,000 - $65,000 annually

Starting ASAP

(If you can make it to the bottom of this ad, you might be our person...)

About NowWhat Supports:

NowWhat is a flexible, supportive, and joyful working environment, in a beautiful clinic and a lovely community in downtown Ancaster. We are a nature-loving, out-of-the-box therapeutic clinic that provides holistic and creative clinical, social, and educational support to children, youth and adults across a range of domains, including ADHD & executive function, social communication, emotional regulation, anxiety, and behavioural challenges. We run an alternative day program for children on the Autism spectrum or other complex needs, social programs for children and teens, and counselling for people of all ages. Check us out at ) & on our socials ) to get a better idea of our vibe and whether this place could be for you

About the Role:

Our admin needs are growing, and we're doing some internal shifts to cover off the demands, so we're looking for a new administrator to join our team This is one of the key positions in our clinic - the closing front desk manager is the welcoming face of the organization, and holds together all the puzzle pieces for both clients and staff alike, as well as closing and locking the building each weeknight after the last session.

It's a highly respected and responsible role, ideal for a flexible, intuitive, compassionate and self-motivated human who would enjoy contributing to the life of our vibrant, busy organization full of delightfully neurospicy folk We're loaded with ADHD on our team, so our admins really help scaffold our day-to-day operations and keep the cogs moving smoothly. Our team is totally lovely, and we protect our positive, neuro-affirming culture pretty fiercely, so we're extremely discerning when it comes to welcoming new folk onto the team. The front desk manager gets to know everyone really well and enjoys a rich social network as part of the job.

While there are fixed routines and established systems, every day looks a little different, and there are lots of opportunities for a critical thinker to create efficiencies and improve organizational systems. We're looking for someone with solid executive function skills, so they can zoom out to look at the big picture as well as zoom in on the individual tasks.

Knowledge of PHIPA and PIPEDA requirements and experience handling confidential/health information would be helpful, as well as general or medical reception and hospitality experience (but if you think you're perfect for the role other than this - we can absolutely train the right person in the industry-specific bits).

Communication is the heart of this role, so we need someone who is clear, articulate, well-spoken and friendly (in-person and over the phone). Many of our staff and clients are neurodivergent, so clear and direct communication is essential - including adapting our communication to meet the needs of each human we come into contact with.

The front desk manager becomes the 'connective tissue' between all the different parts of the organization. There's a steep learning curve as you find out all about everything that goes on under our roof, so you can eventually become the Knowledge Keeper for everyone else You'll have to deeply understand and embody our vision and values, because you'll be communicating them to the world every time you pick up the phone and answer a new enquiry.

We provide some therapeutic training to our admin team also - things like neurodivergence training, book clubs and DBT skills groups, to help you grow your knowledge base and also expand your professional toolkit. Our admin team is seriously badass and very tight-knit, and we cover for each other and flex as needed when we have personal appointments etc.

We're looking for a very specific human - someone whose life works super well with these later afternoon/evening hours. The last session of the day could occur anytime between around 6-7pm (earliest) and 8-9pm (latest). Fridays are always an earlier night, with Tues-Thurs typically being our later nights. We may have flex within our team to include a weekend day (9-5ish) instead of one weeknight closing shift if that worked better for the right applicant.

This typically ends up being around 35hrs per week, and for someone with a diverse skillset, we could create a 40hr position with some work-from-home projects to make up the balance. We could potentially also make this a 30 or 32 hr position - again, for the right applicant, we can work out the finer details together.

The position will be salaried and stable, and will include some benefits and a Health Care Spending Account. Compensation will depend on what experience and qualifications you bring to the role to jumpstart your learning process (and on how many regular hours we agree on) but starts at $55k+$2k Health Care Spending Account for 40hrs, and can be tailored from there.

We start at 4% vacation pay and 2 weeks vacation, and move up with seniority. We also have up to 7 paid sick days for full timers, and some paid compassionate leave available for life's curveballs.

About You:

If you're our person, you're warm, friendly and personable - and highly professional in your approach. You're looking for a job that leverages your business and people skills at a positive workplace with flexibility to work around your life stuff. You welcome a blend of autonomy and accountability, and you're able to learn and follow systems, as well as create new systems that work for you. You are a vault - knowing how to work confidentially and protect privacy.

You're totally excited about being able to sleep in, work out and run errands in the mornings and start your workday a bit later because it works perfectly for your life/family/disposition. You enjoy dogs and animals - this is pretty important as we have two hypoallergenic therapeutic dogs on site regularly, and a veritable menagerie of small therapeutic pets (lizards, hamsters, gerbils, turtles and fish) that you will be exposed to regularly.

You're looking for a long-term in-person position where you feel valued as a human, confident in your ability to contribute to a team, and challenged to grow and learn.

You're quick to laugh and willing to work through conflict and challenges with humour and positivity. You can work to a deadline and pick up new processes quickly. You are confident when it comes to speaking with parents, staff, and kids. You can present professionally (as long as you're clean, comfy, covered and non-offensive, there's plenty of room to dress to express here Everything from jeans and company hoodies all the way to runway chic wardrobes graces our halls).

You feel you have a gift for making people feel welcome, seen, and heard. You relish problem-solving, and get a little bit excited by solving scheduling puzzles (like lining up 3 siblings with 3 different therapists around their soccer, hockey, and music lessons ....).

We have had some very successful introverts in this role, but be forewarned that there can be a LOT of energy, movement, noise and unpredictable requests to manage at the front desk - all while answering the phone, greeting clients, and maybe patting a passing dog. As the front desk manager you are right out there in the open with nowhere to hide - so the ability to 'extrovert' (whether innate or learned) and maintain your compusure under pressure is pretty key. We do have quiet moments and predictable busy times, and there is always plenty of support available - especially while you're learning the role.

The front desk manager ends up becoming a bit of a house parent - noticing what needs doing to make things run smoothly and quietly getting it done. Sometimes when people call in they are having a tough moment, so it takes skill to manage and co-regulate with upset humans compassionately while also being able to hold fair boundaries.

This position could suit an empty nester looking to stay sharp and active, a parent whose co-parent has a complementary schedule, or a night owl whose best cognitive hours start at noon

This role is definitely not for everyone ... but if it's for you, this description should light you up (rather than scare you off).

Requirements:

• You've had a few years of experience in general reception/customer service/admin/medical admin/mental health and you're familiar with general administrative and reception demands (we love the wisdom that comes with grey hair around here)
• You're willing, able and happy to work a regular afternoon/evening shift (~12pm to 8pm)
• You enjoy being around children, people in general, and animals
• You are awesome at empathetic, compassionate and non-judgmental communication
• You live locally (Hamilton area) and have reliable transport for in-person work
• You can pick up new systems quickly and you're excited about learning the industry and taking on a challenge
• We have therapeutic pets on site, including a couple hypoallergenic dogs, so you need to be comfortable with animals
• Comfort with the Google Business Suite (Google Docs, Sheets, Forms etc) - bonus points if you've worked with Owl Practice CRM (or any clinic management software) before
• Personal or professional experience with neurodivergence is super helpful - at the minimum, we require an excitement and humility about learning about this world and a willingness to adapt to different 'norms'.
• Extra bonus points if you are tech-savvy and can talk sense to printers
• Super-duper bonus points for solid office-friendly Spotify playlist curation

Duties Include::

• Answering the phone and directing/managing enquiries, cancellations and reschedules
• Setting up new client files and communicating closely with our intake team
• Timely and clear communication with therapists and the admin team
• Documentation of all client interactions in client files (there's a lot of this)
• Light kitchen & housekeeping duties - loading/running dishwasher and tidying kitchen & waiting room at the end of each shift, refilling toilet paper, keeping the lobby organized etc if needed (we have external janitorial services daily)
• Closing checklists - checking each space and ensuring building is secure before locking up
• Greeting clients and letting their therapist know they've arrived
• Guiding clients to the waiting room, helping with anything they need
• Keeping an eye on our coffee cart and waiting room, sanitizing if you notice someone sneezing etc
• Making calls and sending emails
• Watering and feeding the small animals in the evening
• Occasionally printing, binding or laminating resources in quiet moments for busy therapists
• Solving on-the-ground challenges that pop up - or finding someone who can

If you made it this far and you're still reading, let's talk We're going to be accepting resumes and interviewing candidates for as long as it takes to find the right human - hopefully wrapping by mid-February.

Please submit a resume and cover letter telling us why you think you'd be a good fit We love receiving thoughtful cover letters that have not obviously been written by feeding this ad into ChatGPT ... that gets you bumped to the top of the list : -)

We'll be booking short virtual screening conversations to begin, and potential matches will move on to an in-person interview in Ancaster.

Please note, while we truly appreciate the effort & bravery it takes to submit your application, we will only be reaching out to those candidates we would like to move ahead with.