SENIOR OFFICER
PROGRAM DELIVERY & INTEGRATION DEPARTMENT
WHO WE ARE
Founded in 1986, Prosper Canada is a national charity dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for Canadians living in poverty through program and policy innovation.
As Canada’s leading national champion of financial empowerment, we work with government, business, and community partners to develop and promote financial policies, programs and resources that transform lives and foster the prosperity of all Canadians.
Prosper Canada does not deliver services directly to people living on low incomes. Instead, we work with public, private and community sector partners to ensure quality financial empowerment supports including tax filing, budgeting, access to benefits, and one-on-one financial problem solving, as well as effective policy and regulations, are available to all people living on a low- or modest- income across Canada.
We are at an exciting juncture in our work. In its 2024 Budget, the Government of Canada committed $60 million over 5 years to Prosper Canada to expand free community-delivered financial help services to reach 1 million people with low incomes and connect them to an estimated $2 billion in additional income. We are seeking talented and dynamic individuals who share our passion for financial empowerment to join our team to help us realize this transformative opportunity.
At Prosper Canada, we value being collaborative, human-centred, and forward-thinking. We recognize, accept, and celebrate our differences. We see power in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and believe we can help everyone thrive by being our boldest true selves. Diversity is at the core of what we do and who we support to build financial health. Our financial empowerment efforts focus on equity-seeking groups including those living on low incomes, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized communities, and people living with disabilities.
We strive to create a culture where all feel valued, respected, and a true sense of belonging. We are looking to bring diverse perspectives that represent the lived experience, needs and challenges of equity-seeking groups.
Join us in supporting and empowering everyone in Canada to prosper.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Canadians are increasingly struggling to make ends meet because of lingering after-effects of the pandemic and the current affordability crisis. Prosper Canada and our frontline community partners are witnessing these impacts firsthand as evidenced through the growing and deepening financial vulnerability of Canadian households, most acutely felt by those living on low- and moderate- incomes.
Prosper Canada is seeking a dynamic and motivated individual with a passion for supporting teams in working collaboratively to solve complex social challenges to join the Financial Empowerment Champions (FEC) Program team within our Program Delivery & Integration (PD&I) department. In this exciting role, you will support and collaborate with a network of expert community partners and other cross-sectoral allies towards achieving sustainable scaling of community-delivered financial help services and related outcomes that meet the diverse needs of equity-seeking populations. Financial empowerment (FE) is an approach to poverty reduction that focuses on improving the financial security of people living on low income.
A key focus of this role will be to lead a multi-stakeholder project and work with local and national partners to co-design culturally appropriate financial help services aimed at reaching Indigenous Peoples living in or at high risk of poverty. You will also provide support to three frontline community organizations delivering these supports in 15+ First Nations communities in Manitoba and Ontario. Here is a recent media release sharing a bit more about this exciting and expanding initiative. Please visit our website for more information about Prosper Canada’s reconciliation commitment.
You will be part of a team that builds relationships, collaborates with, and fosters connections between government, business, philanthropic, and community partners, as well as Canadians living on low- and modest-incomes. In collaboration with this cross-sectoral network, you will support the co-design, innovation, piloting and scaling of tax filing, benefit access, and one-on-one financial help services that are delivered through frontline organizations and meet the needs of Canadians living on low- and moderate- incomes and other groups experiencing economic disparity.
The ideal candidate will also help to plan, facilitate, and expand our national FE community of practice (CoP) with the objective of enabling peer-to-peer sharing and learning between frontline community partners that deliver financial help services and to advance the improvement, innovation and tailoring of financial help service models.
Salary
The salary range for this position is $67,000 to $73,000.
Benefits
• Statutory benefits (EI & CPP)
• Paid vacation days
• Extended health and dental benefits
• Employer contribution to RRSP
• Enrolment in Common Good retirement savings plan
• Professional development
SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES
• Plan and lead projects focused on developing and maintaining partnerships with the goal of increasing access to FE supports for Canadians living on low incomes. This will include:
o Scope, set objectives for, plan and, actively manage FEC Program projects that you are responsible for leading, with support from the Sr. Manager, FEC Program and in collaboration with other Prosper Canada staff, external project partners, and other key external stakeholders.
o Serve as key project liaison between Prosper Canada staff, our funding partners, and our FEC community partners and the Indigenous community partners with whom they work.
o Design, coordinate, and facilitate meetings with project stakeholders.
o Support project data collection, review, and synthesis activities.
o Lead the development and support the dissemination of project reports and knowledge products, in collaboration with other Prosper Canada staff and external project partners.
o Leverage project learning, insights, and research and evaluation outputs to support ongoing project improvements, enhance existing and new partner relationships, and inform continued efforts to deepen FEC Program impact.
o Stay informed about Indigenous culture, perspectives, history, and current issues and challenges that may have an impact on the financial wellness of Indigenous Peoples and communities.
o Help build and sustain trusted, respectful, and positive relationships with First Nations and Indigenous partners and stakeholders, seeking ways to integrate Indigenous values and ways of working.
o Engage community service providers, other key collaborators, and Canadians with low incomes to better understand the financial help needs for those living with low incomes and help develop, enhance, and scale financial help service models to address those needs as required, with a key focus on First Nations and Indigenous groups.
o Collaborate with internal teams, FEC community partners, and Indigenous-led, Indigenous-focused, and/or Indigenous-serving organizations to ensure that Prosper Canada’s programs, services and communications are inclusive and responsive to the perspectives and needs of Indigenous communities.
o Participate on internal and external working groups and/or committees that focus on supporting the financial wellness of Indigenous Peoples.
EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES
If you don’t meet all the requirements (below), but believe your skill set and experience is applicable or transferable, we would love to hear from you!
Apply if you meet most of these requirements:
• 2+ years of work experience in financial empowerment or related areas (personal finance for people living on low incomes, financial coaching and/or problem solving, tax filing, etc.).
• 5+ years of work experience supporting or leading the management of complex projects that include collaboration with diverse internal teams and external partners.
• Sensitive to the diverse needs and challenges faced by people living on low incomes, including but not limited to, newcomers, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized communities, people living with disabilities, people of all gender expressions and sexual / romantic orientations, and those experiencing intersectionality.
• Solid understanding of Indigenous cultures, histories, and perspectives with previous experience working with First Nations or Indigenous communities preferred.
• Strong partnership development and management skills with previous experience building trusted, respectful, and positive relationships with First Nations and Indigenous partners preferred.
• Education or training in a related field. For example, a social work degree, accounting training, or related degrees in business, education, etc. We’re open to hearing how your education helps set you up to work with us!
• An adaptive and entrepreneurial spirit, willing to try new things and comfortable working independently.
• Highly organized with excellent project management skills
• Fluency in French and English (e.g., you can develop content and facilitate a webinar in both languages) would be considered an asset but not required for this position.
Prosper Canada also values/welcomes:
• Experience in human-centred design (e.g., user experience design, service design, etc.).
• Applicants from racialized groups, including Black, Indigenous and people of colour.
• Applicants of all gender expressions and sexual / romantic orientations, including queer, trans, non-binary and people who identify as two-spirit.
• Your personal lived experience living on a low income, being Indigenous, being a newcomer, living with a disability, or being part of other underserved and under-represented communities and the insights and perspectives this would bring to your work.
• Applicants experiencing intersectionality.
• Your understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias and their impact on underserved and under-represented communities.
• Your ability to build emphatic relationships with a broad range of people including Indigenous and other diverse communities living on low- and modest- incomes.
We encourage candidates from equity-seeking groups to self-identify in their cover letters and highlight how their lived experiences help them understand the needs and challenges faced by equity-seeking groups. We are committed to making accommodations for all candidates and staff with temporary or permanent disabilities.
APPLICATION DETAILS
Application deadline: Until filled
Start date: As soon as possible
Job location: 60 St. Clair Avenue E., Toronto
Prosper Canada offers a hybrid work environment with staff largely working from home but having the option to work in the office when they prefer or as needed. Staff are periodically required to attend onsite meetings and training sessions and some teams also opt to meet regularly in person. We value in-person connection but expect many staff will want to blend in-office and remote work and look forward to discussing hybrid options with candidates. Candidates for this position will be considered from anywhere in Canada.
Office attendance: Approximately 3-4x a year
Travelling: Ability to travel in Canada (5-10% of your time)
How to apply: Please email the following documents to Prosper Canada, info@prospercanada.org, subject line “Application for Senior Officer, Financial Empowerment Champions Program.”
• Cover letter
• Resume
We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Interviews with candidates will be conducted virtually. If you require any accommodations to have a successful interview, please let us know.
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