Status: Permanent, Full-time

Salary Range: $85,659 to $135,448

Summary of Responsibilities

The Director, Public Affairs and Communication is responsible for leading Coast Mental Health external relations, public affairs, public policy and advocacy, strategic communications, community engagement, corporate planning, and performance reporting functions.

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Director ensures the achievement of organizational objectives through effective leadership, strategic planning, and operational excellence.

The Director sets the direction for the department, and oversees a team of managers, advisors and specialists. They/he/she works closely with Coast Mental Health Foundation, Coast Social Enterprises, and key funders to foster a unified, coherent brand and build mutually beneficial relationships.

Reporting

• Reports to the Chief Operating Officer, Coast Mental Health.
• Member of the Senior Leadership Team.
• Sits on key internal committees and working groups.
• Oversees excluded staff.

Key Responsibilities

Fundamental Principles

• Ensures that functions are managed and operated in accordance with Coast’s Mission, Vision, Values, Policies, and Procedures.
• Strives toward achieving Best Practice Standards for areas of responsibility.

Leadership

• Develops vision and operational plans for the department consistent with Coast’s Strategic and Operational Plans.
• Champions Coast’s commitment to mental health, housing, equity, inclusion, belonging, and Reconciliation in all activities.
• Sets direction and fosters effective teamwork within the department and across Coast.
• Represents Coast at community activities, public events, and with media, government, and partners to enhance the organization’s profile.

Financial Planning and Management

• Works with the Finance Department prepare and finalize a comprehensive department budget.
• Monitors financial performance and prepares variance reports to the attention of the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Operating Officer.
• Approves expenditures within the delegated authority. Administers the Department budget and monitors monthly financial statements.
• Ensure the Department operates within allocated budget. Identifies causes of variances, provides solutions, and ensures implementation of necessary changes in a timely manner.

Human Resource Planning & Management

• Establishes a positive, healthy and safe work environment in accordance with appropriate legislation and to foster equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
• Interviews, selects, hires, orients, supervises, schedules, and trains employees.
• Provides ongoing support, coaching/mentoring, recognition, direction, and performance reviews to employees to enable them to achieve a high standard of practice.
• Ensures that ongoing professional development and training are provided for employees.
• Manages performance in alignment with Coast policies and in partnership with People and Culture.
• Ensures appropriate documentation is prepared and provided to human resource for files and records.
• Participates in the development and administration of policies, procedures and guidelines.

Strategic Communications & Engagement

• Working closely with the COO, develops and implements comprehensive communication strategies to support organizational goals.
• Oversees development of Coast Foundation Society content for internal and external channels, ensuring consistency with approved messaging and brand standards while upholding trauma-responsive and equity-informed practices.
• Develops and implements plans for engagement with clients and community members on projects, initiatives, and priorities.
• Collaborates with Coast Mental Health Foundation and Coast Social Enterprises to ensure a consistent narrative and brand strategy.
• Manages crisis communications and acts as a spokesperson when required.

Indigenous Relations

• Working closely with the CEO and COO, develops and implements strategies to strengthen relationships with First Nations and Indigenous organizations.
• Provides guidance to help ensure strategies and practices advance Truth and Reconciliation.
• Monitors legislative and policy developments related to Indigenous relations.

Corporate Planning & Performance Reporting

• Working closely with the Senior Executive Team, coordinates development of Strategic Plan and annual operational (corporate) plan.
• Working closely with the COO, oversees performance reporting; supports departments to advance continuous improvement through data-informed decisions.

Government Relations & Advocacy

• Working closely with the CEO and COO, develops and implements government relations strategies and advocacy campaigns.
• Supports Manager of Governance with maintaining accurate records of lobbying activities and preparing required reports.
• Collaborates with sector organizations on shared advocacy goals.
• Monitors legislative and regulatory developments.

Innovation & Business Development

• Explores new opportunities for programs, partnerships, and initiatives that enhance Coast’s impact in the community.
• Leads the cross-functional coordination of responses through Request for Proposal (RFP) processes to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with Coast’s values and strategic objectives.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

Education and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, humanities, business, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in external relations, communications, advocacy, corporate affairs, strategy, or related fields, including at least 5 years in a leadership role
• Significant experience in non-profit and/or public sectors, with preference for health, housing, and social services.
• Significant experience with equity, Indigenous Relations, strategic planning, stakeholder relations, government relations, crisis communications, digital media, marketing, content strategy, and community engagement.

Skills and Knowledge

• Proven ability to build inclusive, diverse teams, including in distributed and/or hybrid workplaces.
• Professional and/or lived expertise and a commitment to equity, inclusion, belonging, and Reconciliation.
• Demonstrated commitment to lifelong learning, such as through accreditation in public relations or communications (e.g., APR, CMP).
• Experience developing and managing budgets.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as the drive to build strong relationships internally and externally.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and adapting to shifting priorities.
• Expertise in digital applications including Microsoft 365 (Office, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint), strategic applications of Generative AI, social media and media monitoring platforms, website management and hosting platforms, and database applications.
• A high degree of judgment, initiative and discretion.
• Proven ability to be innovative, collaborative, and self-driven.
• A personal passion and commitment for the attainment of Coast’s vision and mission, including a deep commitment to mental health, addictions, and housing.

Competencies

• Coaching: Clearly establishes performance criteria, finds solutions to problems by consulting team members, understands and listens to the concerns of all individual team members, gives ideas in clear and appropriate language.
• Problem Solving: Identifies problem situations within an appropriate time frame, develops several alternative solutions to problems, analyses situations and highlights important issues, suggest adequate valuable and feasible solutions.
• Planning and Organization: Defines objectives and the means to achieve them, determines all required resources, anticipates future situations and establishes work plans, efficiently allocates or makes use of available resources, acts according to plans and establishes priorities, uses efficient methods, systems and work tools.
• Interpersonal: Get to know others and forms relationships, maintain very good relationships with colleagues, respect the ideas and opinions of others.
• Communication: Both verbally and in writing, communicates openly, honestly and in a respectful, professional manner. Listen to and consider the ideas and opinions of others before responding.
• Leadership: Positively influences others, easily obtains cooperation from others, and is concerned with people as much as with results.
• Team Player: Shares knowledge and experience, cooperates and makes self available, listens, gathers information, takes into consideration the needs, ideas, opinions of others.
• Technical: Masters concepts, tools and methods related to job, meet or exceed professional requirements of field of work, keeps abreast of progress in field.
• Learning: Focuses on continuous learning and professional and personal development.

Pay Range

The Pay Range is the estimated minimum and maximum annual salary based on full‑time equivalent hours. This range is currently under review with HEABC and is subject to confirmation.

Incumbents are typically hired, transferred, or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the range, based on their knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience in relation to the role requirements.

The top 10% of the pay range is reserved for incumbents who are industry experts in the role and bring an exceptional combination of experience and competencies required to perform all duties and responsibilities at a superior capability level.

About Coast

Coast Mental Health (Coast) is one of the largest mental health non-profit societies in Canada and operates a large array of innovative housing and community-based rehabilitation services for people with a mental illness living in and around Vancouver. Coast operates in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia providing approximately 1000 people with supportive housing and 4000 clients living in the community with a wide variety of programs and services.

Coast fosters a client-driven, recovery-oriented environment that promotes restoring health, personal growth and a return to society for individuals with a mental illness through advocacy and providing direct programs and services. Coast is deeply invested in cultural safety, reconciliation, and anti-racism. Our employees receive training on cultural humility, trauma-informed practice, and inclusive leadership. We strive to reflect the communities we serve and value lived experience alongside professional qualifications.

Why Coast

• We recognize safety as a top priority for the organization.
• We believe in our people and recognize hard work.
• We operate client-centered care under the principles of psychosocial rehabilitation.
• We offer a variety of work placement opportunities within the organization.
• We strive to be the best that we can be.
• We hold Exemplary Standingwith Accreditation Canada.
• We have been recognized with numerous awards for our innovative programming.
• We care about our employees, and believe in living our values and culture throughout the organization.

Some of the Benefits we Offer

• 100% employer-paid benefits for employees and their families.
• Vision Care, Dental Care, Prescription Drugs, Naturopath, Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Group Life, Massage therapy, Physiotherapy, and Unlimited Out-of-Province and Out-of-Country Emergencies.
• General sick-leave accruals.
• Long-term disability programs. Short-term disability programs available to exempt positions only.
• 5 days of paid leave for Indigenous Employees for Ceremonial, Cultural, and Spiritual events per year.
• 8 weeks of paid leave for gender affirming care for medical procedures for transgender and gender diverse employees, cumulative total.
• Employee and Family Assistance Program, which includes personal counselling, Life Coaching, Financial Coaching, Legal Referral and Advisory Services, and Health Coaching. In addition, Coast provides a cognitive behavioural therapy program (CBT abilities program) and Headversity for managing a variety of life issues and includes self-paced therapeutic support.
• Municipal Pension Plan with guaranteed lifetime monthly pension when you retire. More information can be found at: https://mpp.pensionsbc.ca.

***For any unionized positions, current/internal Coast employees must apply within seven (7) days of the posting date with their internal UKG account (using their Coast email address), in order to be considered as an internal applicant. Current/internal Coast employees who apply to a unionized position using an external account (or email), or after the seven (7) day deadline will be considered an external candidate. In this case, seniority will not be considered.***

Coast Mental Health is committed to creating a culture of diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or disability.