JOB OPPORTUNITY

Position: Shift Program Lead
Organization: Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley
Location: Canmore, Alberta

Application deadline: Wednesday 24 April, 2024

About the Position

The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley is a non-profit organization with charitable status and the mission to “empower community leadership to address environmental challenges.”

We seek a Shift Program Lead who will lead our Shift: Climate Transitions program. The Shift Program Lead develops, implements, and manages our community education and engagement programs related to climate action and sustainability. The position builds and maintains relationships with diverse partners, and assists the Executive Director in identifying and securing funding opportunities.

This will be a full-time salaried position with benefits, to cover a maternity leave, and will end after 12 to 18 months. The position will be based out of our office in Canmore, Alberta; given the nature of this work, the successful applicant must be physically in our office or working in the Bow Valley community for the majority of the time. Although the vast majority of hours are worked weekdays during regular office hours, the Shift Program Lead will very occasionally work irregular hours on evenings and weekends.

Key Responsibilities

Program Implementation

• Deliver on a suite of existing programs. Our webpage at https://www.biosphereinstitute.org/bow-valley-shift gives a sense of some of our work.
• The work will include an emphasis on accelerating uptake on sustainable building practices in the Bow Valley, including engaging with and supporting the contractor and real estate community, and supporting our second annual Building for Sustainability symposium
• Work with our Community Engagement Lead as you plan and execute on a variety of community education and engagement events (workshops, open houses, etc.) related to climate action and sustainability. This will include strategic engagement of community members, management of volunteers, and facilitating community ownership of local efforts.
• create and deliver educational products such as presentations, brochures, digital content, posters and take-away items
• Research, author and design monthly newsletters for the Bow Valley Shift program
• Work with and collaborate with our four other staff.

Program Development

• Undertake strategic program planning, together with the Executive Director and relevant staff, to ensure a consistent and intentional approach to climate action and sustainability programs
• Identify funding opportunities, including government- and foundation-based grants, and help draft grant applications

Program Oversight

• Help to track program budgets to ensure budgetary spending is in line with current funds
• Create and maintain databases to track project results and indicators of success
• Draft project reports to funders and partners

Partnerships

• Establish and maintain relationships with governmental organizations, business and industry, other non-profits, and private citizens to implement program activities and to plan new initiatives

Public Relations

• Advertise program activities and disseminate project results via social media, local news, and other formats
• Create and maintain relevant pages and resources on our website
• Host booths at public events
• Update displays and information materials as needed

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have experience in:

• educational program development and delivery
• community-level strategies to support, climate mitigation and adaptation
• stakeholder relations in a non-profit setting
• public and media relations
• volunteer management
• event management
• online and in-person communications

The ideal candidate will demonstrate competencies in the following areas:

• strong written and oral communication skills
• presenting factual information to diverse audiences in various forms
• project management, including the ability to prioritize and multi-task across multiple projects with various stakeholders, and manage project budgets
• be sensitive and receptive to the diverse backgrounds and views of others
• work independently with a consistently high degree of quality and detail

Other Requirements

• a valid Alberta Operator’s License (Class 5) or equivalent and reliable access to a vehicle
• legally eligible to work in Canada

Education

• A degree from a recognized university with specialization in Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Sustainability, or Education will be helpful; other degree disciplines and/or an acceptable combination of education, training and experience relevant to this position will be considered.

To apply for this position:

Application submission via e-mail is preferred, however alternative methods of submission such as in-person and video will be accepted. 

If you are applying by email please send your cover letter, resume, and work references as a single pdf to Tanya Pacholok (Tanya [at] biosphereinstitute.org) with ‘Application for Shift Program Lead’ in the subject line of the e-mail message. In your cover letter, please be specific in how your abilities and work experience qualify you for this position. Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged, only those selected for an interview will hear from us subsequently. Please indicate you saw this posting at GoodWork.ca.

Sorry, due to staff workload we’ll ask that you refrain from sending us inquiries about this job posting.

Salary - I think this should be outwardly stated as per our WIC criteria.

The salary range for this position is $56,000 to $61,500, commensurate with experience

Relevant deadlines:

• Application deadline: end of day on Wednesday 24 April.
• We’ll hold face to face interviews between 29 April to 1 May, and hope to make an offer towards the end of that week.
• Work and onboarding would ideally commence on or before Monday 13 May 2024

The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley is committed to building a workplace where everyone can succeed and belong. As a Signatory to the Bow Valley Workplace Inclusion Charter, we are committed to ensuring a diverse, equitable, and inclusive team environment, and to considering applicants who identify as part of an equity-seeking group including people of colour, Indigenous people, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, youth, and people with disabilities. We value a wide range of skills, experiences, and backgrounds and encourage all qualified candidates to apply. We encourage applications from equity-seeking groups, and wish to eliminate barriers for applicants: if you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know and we will work hard to make this accommodation if our capacity permits it.