Senior Manager, Community Programs

The Senior Manager, Community Programs plays a pivotal leadership role within the organization, leveraging extensive experience in homelessness services to drive innovation, enhance program effectiveness, and align operations with the agency's strategic vision. This position is essential for fostering cross-functional collaboration, mentoring emerging leaders, and engaging with key stakeholders, including the CEO, community partners, and funders.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Programs, the Senior Manager leads the Program Oversight stream and is responsible for the oversight and strategic leadership of contract performance, oversight and compliance across the funded program portfolio; Homeward Trust's role as a supportive housing system intermediary, as supportive housing capacity grows by about 60%, from 447 to 714 units; and program standards, evaluation and knowledge mobilization, as the single owner of evaluation frameworks and key performance indicators. The position leads the Manager, Supportive Housing Systems; the Specialist, Program Standards (Projects Officer); and the Manager, Housing Supports.

Duties & Responsibilities

Contract Performance, Oversight and Compliance

• Lead the execution of an annual program oversight schedule for each funded program (about 61 programs with 24 external agencies and 7 Homeward Trust programs in 2026–27), monitoring alignment with contracted activities and program model fidelity.
• Oversee fair and transparent procurement, including open RFPs with published criteria, Project Review Committee and Indigenous Advisory Council review where applicable, and rules that meet the strictest funder requirement.
• Uphold Indigenous commitments in contracting, including Indigenous-specific programs operated by Indigenous organizations and cultural positions and budget lines in contract models.
• Oversee the review cycle through the Manager, Housing Supports: the annual Contract Accountability Review, the twice-yearly Program Impact Review and, with Finance, the Annual Financial Review.
• Maintain one contract model and one Homeward Trust standard across a portfolio with multiple funders, absorbing detailed funder reporting so agencies report once, to one standard.
• Lead the shift toward long-term operator agreements tied to property and affordability obligations as supportive housing grows, including operator contracts on Homeward Trust-owned sites.
• Ensure participant protection and voice through the complaints process, the annual Participant Experience Survey and critical incident reporting, investigating complaints as necessary and working to create resolutions that meet the needs of all affected parties.
• Ensure accurate ETO/HMIS records as a contract requirement, and uphold consent and information-sharing rules.
• Plan safe transitions and wind-downs for every program closure or operator change, drawing on lessons from past closures and operator changes.
• Oversee Good Neighbour Statements of Operation and Engagement Plans, reviewed yearly.

Supportive Housing System Intermediary

• Lead Homeward Trust's shift from supportive housing portfolio manager to system intermediary: building capital, quality, capacity and cross-system integration around supportive housing, without operating it directly.
• Oversee the supportive housing portfolio (21 active supportive and short-term supportive housing programs as of September 2026) and five pending projects adding 267 units.
• Move Homeward Trust's involvement upstream to pre-development, shaping service model, population, engagement and operating budget, including a local development program for operator teams.
• Build operator capacity through onboarding, an operator community of practice, and specialized training delivered with Sector Training.
• Integrate supportive housing referral with the By Name List (BNL), including data-driven identification of people who repeatedly use crisis systems, working with health, recovery and justice system partners.
• Contribute to Senior Leadership's supportive housing funding strategy as a major contributor, providing the program, cost and outcome evidence needed to braid health, municipal, federal and operator funding on a documented cost offset, and flagging risks from the expiry of time-limited federal funding on which supportive housing supplements depend.
• Work with property management on integrated asset and program planning, including reserves, affordability obligations, and building and service fit.

Program Standards, Evaluation and Knowledge Mobilization

• Own standards development for the department, leading the Specialist, Program Standards (Projects Officer) through a sequenced plan: supportive housing standards first, then prevention and diversion standards, then Coordinated Access standards for the mental health and addiction interface.
• Serve as the single owner of evaluation frameworks and key performance indicators across funded program streams, and ensure excellence in the collection and reporting of client outputs and outcomes.
• Maintain and refresh the department's core standards and review tools, including program models and logic models, Program Operating Standards, the Housing Supports Framework, the Housing First Service Manual and outcome dashboards.
• Develop a sector-wide review offer that makes Homeward Trust's review tools available to agencies it does not fund, so the standard applies across the system.
• Partner with the Senior Manager, Access, Prevention and Supports so each new standard has a matching Sector Training module, and adoption is supported rather than only audited.
• Establish, nurture and support communities of practice that connect funded agencies, operators and frontline teams around shared learning and best practice.
• Lead sector efforts to identify, translate and mobilize evidence-based and promising practices, and monitor emerging research and practice trends for their implications for Homeward Trust's programs and the broader sector.
• Use outcome and cost evaluation to make the public case for supportive housing and program investment.
• Represent Homeward Trust in provincial, national and cross-sector forums on evidence-based practice and knowledge exchange.

Organizational and Sector Leadership

• Provide direct leadership, supervision, development and performance management to the Manager, Supportive Housing Systems; the Specialist, Program Standards (Projects Officer); and the Manager, Housing Supports.
• Work with Data and Analytics, Finance and property management on cross-system data, contract and financial reviews, braided funding and asset planning.
• Develop and target key departmental priorities and lead the workplan execution in support of the organization's strategic plan.
• Working in an integrated and supportive manner with all other functional and support areas within Homeward Trust.
• Representing Homeward Trust on committees, meetings, conferences, symposiums, workshops and the like, as requested and when necessary.
• Participating in and supporting other initiatives within Homeward Trust.
• Preparing reporting for the CEO, Senior Director, Programs, management team and stakeholders on emerging issues, successes, weaknesses and opportunities.
• Preparing reports on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis (or at other intervals as requested) on the operations and results of programs within portfolio.
• Preparing materials for Homeward Trust Board Meetings, as requested.
• Accepting other duties as assigned.

Measures of Success and First Year Deliverables

Success in the first year will be measured by the candidate's ability to:

• Publish supportive housing standards as the foundation of the intermediary model.
• Establish pre-development involvement and an operator onboarding approach for the five pending supportive housing projects.
• Lead the refinement and execution of the annual program oversight schedule, including the Contract Accountability Review, Financial Review and Program Impact Review cycle.
• Consolidate evaluation frameworks and key performance indicators under a single owner, with a sequenced standards plan beyond supportive housing.
• Develop a long-term operator agreement model tied to property and affordability obligations.
• Contribute program, cost and outcome evidence to Senior Leadership's supportive housing funding strategy.
• Stand up the Program Oversight stream: Manager, Supportive Housing Systems and Specialist, Program Standards (Projects Officer) onboarded with distinct mandates, and the Manager, Housing Supports reprofile complete.

Education & Experience

• University degree or diploma, preferably in the social sciences or human services, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of vulnerable populations - which may include such disciplines and fields of study as: social work; sociology; psychology; social planning; public health; psychiatry; counseling; Indigenous Studies; etc.
• Minimum 3 years of related experience in a program management or supervisory role.
• Prior work in non-profit sector, preferably with organizations working on homelessness or housing.
• Experience in housing related programs is preferred.

Knowledge Skills & Abilities

• In-depth understanding of homelessness and housing, as well as the needs of particular vulnerable and/or over-represented populations (for example, Indigenous people; youth; newcomers; etc.), and issues affecting many homeless and low-income people (mental health and wellness; substance use and harm reduction; poverty; conflict with the law; trauma; victimization and exploitation; chronic health conditions; etc.)
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of the systems, supports, resources and linkages available for successful delivery of access to housing services and supports for persons challenged homelessness. This includes income supports, housing programs, health, mental health and addiction services.
• Experience in supportive housing development, operations or funding, including work with operators, capital partners and health systems.
• Demonstrated experience developing program standards, fidelity reviews or evaluation frameworks, and managing contracts across a multi-funder portfolio.
• Strong understanding of the core concepts and service orientation of the Housing First philosophy, and the application of Intensive Case Management and/or Assertive Community Treatment in the delivery of Housing First. Awareness of adult learning strategies.
• Thorough working knowledge of Evidence Based Practice techniques.
• Understanding of business processes associated with non-profits and government, as well as the oversight of funding agreements relative to outcomes achieved.
• Understanding of communities of practice, and the ability to establish, nurture and support these communities.
• Ability to work with comprehensive client data systems, analyze outputs and track outcomes as it relates to program delivery.
• Strong writing skills to prepare written reports, emails and develop other communication materials in a timely, concise, and accurate manner, distilling complex issues to salient points.
• Impeccable interpersonal skills and the ability to engage with stakeholders of diverse and at times competing interests to work towards achieving a common agenda.
• Maturity and experience managing complex issues that do not always have an easily identifiable solution.
• Proven ability to teach and coach others -- as well as problem solve client and community issues - in a non-threatening, supportive, reflective and professional manner.
• Experience working independently in fast-paced environment with competing demands and often tight timelines.
• Demonstrated excellence in leadership and management of teams.
• Valid driver's license and vehicle, First Aid certificate, and provide a satisfactory Child Welfare Intervention Record Check and Criminal Record Check.