Summit Search Group has been retained by the Rainbow Resource Centre on the recruitment of a Director of Programs, Space & Services. Rainbow Resource Centre is Winnipeg’s primary support hub for Manitoba’s Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ communities, offering counselling, education, and programming for individuals from youth through to 55+, as well as families, friends, and employers of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. Rainbow operates from its location at 514 St. Mary Ave in Winnipeg and is supported by funders including Women and Gender Equality Canada, United Way of Winnipeg, and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Rainbow’s programming is wide-ranging and deeply community-rooted: it includes individual and group counselling, a robust youth program, Spirit Day Camp and Camp Aurora, the Over the Rainbow program for adults 55+, social groups across age cohorts, a Drag Artist in Residence program, a community arts and events calendar, housing-related programming and a seniors housing partnership, and education workshops and eLearning for workplaces, schools, and organizations across the province. The organization also hosts and supports a broad range of community-led groups and events, making its spaces a vital gathering point for the communities it serves.

Rainbow is advancing the development of Place of Pride, Canada’s first dedicated 2SLGBTQ+ campus, which will significantly expand the organization’s space and programming capacity in the coming years. This is an exciting and consequential moment in Rainbow’s organizational history, and the incoming Director will play a meaningful role in shaping how that space is activated and sustained in service of community.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Programs, Space & Services provides strategic and operational leadership for Rainbow’s programs, counselling services, community spaces, housing-related programming, volunteer engagement, and service partnerships. As a senior member of Rainbow’s leadership team, the Director ensures that services remain responsive, accessible, and community-informed, while bringing front-line insight and program data into broader organizational conversations. The Director leads three direct reports, each of whom carries their own team, and is responsible for their own portfolio budget. The board and leadership team are looking for a senior leader who brings a generalist orientation, a genuine connection to 2SLGBTQ+ communities and their needs, and the strategic vision to grow Rainbow’s programs and spaces in intentional, community-responsive ways. The ideal candidate is someone who can also hold a forward-looking perspective: identifying emerging needs, developing new approaches, and thinking proactively about how Rainbow’s programming and spaces can show up in new and meaningful ways for the communities it serves.

Space activation is a particular area of growth. As Rainbow prepares to move into the contiguous Place of Pride campus, the Director will play a lead role in developing the structure, systems, and partnerships needed to rent and activate that space, including business development, community rental agreements, and programming calendars. A collaborative leadership style and a genuine interest in working across organizational silos are equally important, as this role works closely with the Director of Collaborations & Systems Change and the Executive Director to bring internal programs perspectives into Rainbow’s broader advocacy, communications, and fundraising work.

Key Responsibilities

Provide strategic and operational leadership for Rainbow’s programs, counselling services, volunteer engagement, housing-related programming, and service partnerships, ensuring all services remain accessible, trauma-informed, and community-informed. Lead, support, and develop three direct reports and their respective teams, managing work planning, coaching, performance, and wellbeing in a unionized, community-based environment with care and accountability. Manage Rainbow’s spaces for internal and external use, including programming calendars, room bookings, and rentals; lead the development of systems and structures needed to activate and sustainably operate the Place of Pride campus as the organization grows into that space. Provide oversight for seniors housing-related programming, tenant and community engagement, and the property management partnership, ensuring service coordination and accountability across relevant teams and partners. Set, monitor, and report on program targets, outcomes, budgets, and grant deliverables; support evaluation, environmental scanning, and data-informed decision-making across the programs and services portfolio. Collaborate actively with the Director of Collaborations & Systems Change and the Executive Director, translating program insights, community feedback, and service trends into organizational learning, shared strategy, and proactive program development.

Qualifications

Post-secondary education in social work, counselling, community development, public administration, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education, lived experience, and professional experience will be considered. Demonstrated strategic and people leadership experience in a non-profit, community-based, or social service setting, including supervision, coaching, and team development; experience in a unionized environment is an asset. A genuine and demonstrated understanding of 2SLGBTQ+ communities and the intersecting systems of oppression that shape their experiences; strong knowledge of trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, harm reduction, and culturally safer approaches to service delivery. A generalist orientation with the ability to hold strategic oversight across multiple distinct portfolios, paired with the vision and initiative to identify emerging community needs and develop new or innovative ways to meet them. Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills, with a genuine interest in working across organizational teams to share insights, align priorities, and break down silos. Experience with program evaluation, grant reporting, budget management, space or facility use, housing-related programs, volunteer engagement, or community partnership development is considered an asset.

For more information or to submit your resume, please reach out to Matt Erhard at Summit Search Group, matt.erhard@summitsearchgroup.com.

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