Manager, Social Action

Grow with us

Family Service Toronto (FST) helps people face a wide variety of life challenges. For over 100 years, we have worked with individuals, families and communities destabilized by precarious mental health and/or socioeconomic circumstances, to achieve greater resilience, stability, and equity.

We achieve this through our understanding of poverty and the harmful effects of marginalization, discrimination, and oppression. We direct our energies to support individuals and families in our core service areas – community counselling and mental health, gender-based violence and developmental disabilities. At the same time, we work to influence policy, build knowledge, strengthen communities and advocate for system change.

We’re proud of our people and culture We are constantly evolving what we do and how we do it. Our work is grounded in the lived experience of the clients and the community. We celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and excellence. We are agile, learning and always willing to try new things.

FST hosts the National and Ontario Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty in Canada, which are broad coalitions of community organizations committed to community engagement, public education, research and policy change to eradicate poverty in Canada.

FST’s Social Action (SA) department focuses on driving system-level change for more just and supportive communities at the local, provincial and national levels. Our community building, research, public education and advocacy work is focused on influencing the systems and institutions that shape the lives of all community members and we’re looking for a Manager, Social Action to provide strategic guidance and leadership in these areas.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Senior Director, Strategy and Innovation/National Director, Campaign 2000, the Manager, Social Action will play a key role in shaping and delivering on the department’s goals. A self-starter with a bias towards innovation and action, the Manager, Social Action will help to solve public policy challenges with respect to social and economic issues that affect individuals, families, and communities locally, provincially and nationally. The Manager, Social Action will have a community development ethos and experience inspiring a range of diverse stakeholders to work collaboratively on shared goals. The Manager, Social Action will identify and foster strategic relationships, track trends in policy, provide strategic advice to the senior leadership and coach a small dynamic team of professionals while helping to advancing a culture of social action and advocacy throughout the organization and community social services sector in Toronto and nationally.

Responsibilities

Planning

• Proactively identify issues and risks that affect diverse people living in poverty in Canada. Work collaboratively to find community development and policy solutions to address them.
• Participate in the development of the organization’s annual operational plan and budget.
• Monitor achievement of the department’s operational plan, reporting results as required.

Public Policy Research and Communications

• Facilitates engagement, consultation and collaboration with a diverse range of people including but not limited to community partners, government representatives, academics, and key stakeholders to ensure policy and program approaches are accountable, and rooted in the needs, experience and expertise of those most impacted.
• Utilize policy research tools and analytical techniques (e.g., evidence-based policy development processes, and program evaluation) to develop and assess options, interpret research findings, provide strategic advice, and develop recommendations.

External Relationships

• Liaise with the government, regulatory agencies, and international organizations, building and maintaining relationships with local communities, municipal, provincial and federal departments, NGOs, academics, media and other relevant organizations to identify common goals.
• Strategically identify, develop and maintain new relationships across sectors.
• Proactively coordinate and communicate internally to align messaging and provide colleagues with a thorough understanding of public policy developments.

Internal Relationships

• Work closely with Development Services (DS), Violence Against Women (VAW) Services, and Mental Health Services to help them further the overall goals of FST to drive system-level change within their respective programs for more just and supportive communities.

Operations

• Keep up to date with pertinent legislation, trends and developments in government policy and determine relevancy.
• Support high-complexity, high-profile programs or projects that cross program areas or are critical to poverty eradication.
• Advise and guide on strategic communications and government relations, leveraging and growing the credibility of Family Service Toronto and Campaign 2000
• Conduct, coordinate, and manage policy research, policy development and other activities related to FST social action priority areas, including poverty, immigration and settlement, income security and employment, health, and housing.
• Manage and meet competing deadlines and produce high-quality policy products including correspondence, submissions, position papers, and briefings at short notice.
• Oversee the day-to-day operation of the work of Campaign 2000 office.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Articulate commitment to diversity, challenge the status quo, hold others accountable, and makes diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority.
• Act as a change agent for integration of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), anti-oppression and social justice principles within FST policies, practices, culture, programs, and activities, and within the sector, and community.
• Accountable for development of and progress toward organizational EDI goals.

Key Qualifications

• You have a post graduate degree in social work, political science or a related field or equivalent combination of education and 5 years experience in a similar role.
• Demonstrated strategic, analytical, innovative mindset to understand issues and problem solve creatively
• An entrepreneur mindset to general new approaches; spot and leverage opportunities as they arise and initiate action
• High degree of agility and openness to changing directions, adopting new practices and learning new things
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, changing environment; energetic, collaborative, and willing to take on a variety of assignments as part of a small but dynamic team.
• Demonstrated experience navigating and managing complex internal and external stakeholder relationships.
• Strong understanding of the policy landscape, policy development, protocol and trends in government and the sector; established networks in relevant institutions, industry, NGOs, and/or communities as they relate to poverty eradication.
• Ability to think and analyze a situation and act strategically to determine the best course of action, keen interest in public policy, politics, human rights and civic engagement.
• Detail-oriented, self-initiating, well-organized, and capable of managing multiple projects simultaneously and independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent understanding of the impact of socio/economic issues, including child and family poverty, immigration and settlement, income security and employment, health and housing and experience developing strategies to address these issues.
• Ability to work in intersecting frameworks relevant to the project: strengths-based, feminist, anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-oppression, etc.
• Well-developed knowledge of provincial and municipal government social and economic policy, jurisdiction and government relations
• Experience developing media relations, working with the media, and acting as a media spokesperson.
• Successful experience developing and executing communications strategies for campaigns.
• You are an experienced partnership builder and can work in a variety of sectors and capacities and at different levels of the community.
• Experience working with diverse groups, marginalized people and using community building models.
• You are a strategic thinker with political acumen who can represent the organization effectively in the wider community.
• You have generating and stewarding successful funding proposals.
• You are able to produce high quality written reports and presentations.

Want to learn more?

Please indicate file number SA #21-24 on your application and submit cover letter and resume by June 19, 2024, by 5:00 PM to .

Our goal is to attract, develop, and retain highly talented employees from diverse backgrounds allowing us to benefit from a wide variety of experiences and perspectives.

We actively encourage applicants from all equity seeking groups. First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Black and People of Colour, people with disabilities, people of diverse gender expression, members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities and people with lived experience of poverty are encouraged to apply.

In accordance with Ontario Human Rights Code, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, and FST’s Equity and Inclusion policy, accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.