Senior Shelter Manager

Resident Services

On Site

Full Time, Permanent

Level 10

Requisition Number: RES-2026-016

Covenant House helps youth ignite their potential and reclaim their lives. As Canada’s largest agency serving youth who are homeless, trafficked or at risk, we offer the widest range of services to hundreds of young people every day.

More than a place to stay, we provide life-changing care with unconditional love and respect. We meet youth’s immediate needs and then we work together to achieve their future goals. We offer 24/7 crisis shelter transitional housing options on-site and, in the community, health and well-being support, training and skill development, and ongoing care once youth move into the community.

For over 40 years, Covenant House has been dedicated to its mission of serving youth on the street and to protect and safeguard all youth with absolute respect and unconditional love. Since 1982, Covenant House has supported more than 100,000 young people.

Overview

The Senior Shelter Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for a crisis shelter serving homeless and at-risk youth. This role oversees multiple roles including leadership and ensures the delivery of safe, trauma-informed, and youth-centered services. The Senior Manager is responsible for program quality assurance, staff leadership, operational oversight, and ensuring that services support youth stabilization, safety, and pathways to achieve youth centered outcomes.
The position requires strong leadership in a fast-paced environment and the ability to support staff managing complex youth needs including mental health, trauma, substance use, and housing instability.

We are currently hiring for 1 Senior Shelter Manager. This is a new position.

Responsibilities:

Leadership & Staff Management

• Provide leadership, coaching, and supervision to program leaders.
• Foster a supportive, accountable, and trauma-informed workplace culture.
• Lead recruitment, training, performance management, and professional development for management staff.
• Support team in addressing complex staffing, client, and operational challenges.
• Ensure strong communication and alignment across shelter teams, shifts and additional stakeholders.
• Provide leadership oversight for new staff training, on-boarding and scheduling.

Program Oversight

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the youth crisis shelter.
• Provide leadership oversight on quality assurance and deliverables.
• Ensure services are youth-centered, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed.
• Monitor program effectiveness and ensure service delivery aligns with organizational standards and additional mandates such as Covenant House International and the City of Toronto.
• Support implementation of case management, safety planning, housing supports, and life-skills programming.
• Ensure consistent intake, risk assessment, and crisis response procedures

Crisis and Risk Management

• Provide leadership during critical incidents and high-risk situations involving youth, staff, or facility safety.
• Support leaders in de-escalation strategies and crisis intervention.
• Ensure policies related to shelter procedures, safety, harm reduction, and incident reporting are followed.
• Collaborate with community partners such as emergency services and mental health agencies when required.
• Ensure all documentation expectations and requirements are met and consistent throughout entire shelter.

Operational Management

• Oversee shelter capacity management, occupancy levels, and service mandates/flow.
• Monitor program budgets in collaboration with senior leadership.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety, and regulatory standards.
• Support implementation of operational policies, procedures, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Strategic Planning & Program Development

• Contribute to organizational strategic planning related to youth homelessness services.
• Identify service gaps and support development of new initiatives or program enhancements.
• Use data and outcomes to inform program improvements.
• Support program evaluation requirements.

Community & Stakeholder Engagement

• Maintain strong relationships with community partners including housing providers, social services, healthcare providers, and youth-serving organizations.
• Represent the shelter in community meetings, collaborative networks, and system planning tables.
  Advocate for services and resources that support homeless and at-risk youth.

Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Social Services, Psychology, Public Administration, or a related field (Master’s degree considered an asset).
• 7–10 years of experience working in social services, youth services, or homelessness programs.
• Minimum 5 years in a leadership or management role overseeing staff and programs.
• Experience working in crisis environments or residential/shelter settings strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of the Toronto Shelter Standards.
• Strong understanding of youth homelessness, trauma-informed care, and harm reduction principles.
• Demonstrated leadership and team management skills.
• Strong crisis management and problem-solving abilities.
• Knowledge of case management, risk assessment, and youth development approaches.
• Excellent communication, conflict resolution, and decision-making skills.
• Experience managing multiple teams simultaneously.
• Strong critical thinking skills
• Demonstrated competencies including: Leadership and Team Development, Crisis Management, Situational Judgement, Strategic and critical thinking and operational oversight, Trauma-informed practice, Collaboration and partnership building and Equity, diversity, and inclusion awareness.

Don’t meet every requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet all qualifications. If you are excited about the role but your resume doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the description, apply anyway. You may still be the right candidate for this or other roles.

What we Offer:

• Meaningful work.
• Competitive compensation.
• Benefits such as Health, Dental, Vision, Personal Days, Employee Assistance Program, Tuition Reimbursement and more.
• Employee perks which include discounts on gym membership, city bike rentals, auto & home insurance and more.

Interested candidates are welcome to apply directly to this posting on or by April 14th , 2026. Only those selected to move forward in our recruitment process will be contacted. No agencies or phone calls please.

Use of AI and Technology in the Hiring Process

Covenant House Toronto does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to make or inform hiring decisions. However, we do use an external applicant tracking system (ATS) to help manage applications efficiently.

While our ATS may apply automated filters or sorting functions, all applications are reviewed and evaluated by human recruiters. No hiring decisions are made by AI.

Commitment to Equitable Recruitment

At Covenant House Toronto we believe in a workplace culture of inclusion that is welcoming, respectful and safe for all staff. It is critical to Covenant House Toronto success to eliminate barriers and promote the inclusion of equity groups. Equity groups have been, and continue to be, underrepresented and marginalized in the workforce, leadership roles, and in some specific occupations. Equity groups include but may not be limited to Indigenous persons, racialized people, gender diverse people, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and people with disabilities.

In accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code, Accessibility for O**ntarians with Disabilities Act and Covenant House Policy on Accommodation, a request for accommodation will be accepted as part of the Covenant House recruitment process.