BES Executive Search is thrilled to be partnering with Canadian Mental Health Association as they invite nominations and applications for the role of Executive Director.

Canadian Mental Health Association

BC Division (Lower Mainland Branch)

Executive Director

We respectfully acknowledge xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Lkwungen (Songhees) and Wyomilth (Esquimalt) peoples on whose traditional, unceded lands the CMHA BC offices are located.

Founded in 1918, the Canadian Mental Health Association (C MHA) is Canada’s most established and extensive community mental health organization. With a federated structure that spans 87 locations across the country, CMHA provides advocacy, resources, and programs that promote mental health, prevent illness, support recovery and resilience, and enable Canadians to thrive. CMHA BC is committed to advancing the goals of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, working in partnership with Indigenous communities, and promoting culturally safe and inclusive services.

CMHA BC operates with a deep commitment to transparency, accountability, person-centred support, and the inclusion of people with lived experience in decision-making. Through its wide-reaching network of community-based programs, including those focused on mental health promotion, suicide prevention, peer navigation, housing, and youth services, CMHA BC is a trusted leader in transforming mental health care across the province.

It is within this context that CMHA BC invites nominations and applications for the ro le of Executive Directo r (ED) o f the Lower Mainland Branch—a unique opportunity to lead a new entity in the context of the changing landscape of mental health needs in the province. This is a pivotal leadership moment, offering the chance to help build one of CMHA’s most historically significant branches and co-create a renewed, values-aligned organization with an experienced, steady team already in place.

The Executive Director will be responsible for anchoring the newly reconstituted Lower Mainland Branch through a period of transformation and renewal. This is a mission-critical hire. Reporting to the Board of Directors and supported by CMHA BC and CMHA National, the ED will bring clarity, confidence, and compassion, working to stabilize operations, to continue fostering community trust, and to thoughtfully optimize internal functions, particularly in finance, HR, and corporate services.

Rather than prioritizing immediate expansion or aggressive growth, this role demands a grounded, servant leader: someone who listens deeply, leads with empathy, and builds relationships across program areas, funders, and partners. The successful candidate will understand BC’s mental health and social service systems and demonstrate strong, felt leadership.

Qualifications

Among the qualifications being sought in candidates, the incoming leader must have a deep and abiding commitment to advancing reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in all its forms and must believe, intrinsically, in the importance of leading with curiosity and welcoming ideas that can later be synthesized and turned into possibility. While all candidates are encouraged to apply and, in so doing, share how they see themselves adding value to the CMHA BC environment, the following credentials and/or experiences are seen as possible markers of the candidates most likely to realize success in the role: A) senior leadership experience in community-based mental health, housing, addictions, or social services within the BC context; B) a demonstrable track record of stabilizing, building, or reconstituting teams and organizations through complexity or transition; C) an empathetic, trauma-informed leadership style rooted in humility, collaboration, and relationship-building; and D) a commitment to governance transparency, operational accountability, and inclusive engagement with staff, volunteers, funders, and communities.

How to Apply

CMHA BC is an equity employer and encourages applications from women, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people, people of all sexual orientations and genders, and others who may contribute to our further diversification.

CMHA BC is partnering with BES Executive Search, a firm committed to ensuring every search mandate engages a pluralistic, inclusive, and intersectional range of candidates. Applicants are guided through what BES calls The BES Experience—a thoughtful, candidate-centred process that meets candidates with support and care at every point of the search process.

All interested applicants are encouraged to apply by clicking here .

In accordance with the Accessible British Columbia Act (ABCA), applicants living with a disability will be provided with accommodation throughout the search process, at no cost and without bias. Should accommodations be require d, please mak e Helen Mekonen awa re by emailing hmekone n@bessearch.com.

BES is deeply grateful to all who express interest in this opportunity and recognize the time and effort that goes into submitting an expression of interest. While only those most closely aligned with the position requirements will be contacted for an interview, all applications are reviewed with thoughtfulness and will receive correspondence from the firm as part of our commitment to delivering a respectful and inclusive candidate experience.

This is a new role created in the context of reorganization and strategic renewal. The role represents a fresh start and redefinition of leadership for the Lower Mainland Branch.