Employment Navigator
Comox Valley, BC
Vancouver Island Vocational and Rehabilitation Services (VIVRS)
Help Build Something That Doesn't Exist Yet.
Some jobs ask you to follow a manual.
This one asks you to help write it.
VIVRS is looking for one Navigator to join an exciting new provincially funded employment program supporting people facing some of life's biggest barriers, including homelessness, mental health challenges, substance use, trauma, disability, and systemic exclusion.
This isn't your typical employment counselling job.
You won't spend your days sitting behind a desk waiting for appointments. You'll be out in the community, meeting people where they are, building genuine relationships, solving problems creatively, celebrating small victories, and helping participants move toward employment one step at a time.
No two days will look the same.
If you enjoy variety, collaboration, and finding creative solutions to complex challenges, we'd love to meet you.
What You'll Actually Do
You'll become part coach, part problem solver, part community connector, and part cheerleader.
You'll help participants by:
- Building trusting relationships through outreach and community engagement
- Helping people identify goals and create realistic action plans
- Supporting employment readiness and life skills development
- Connecting participants to community resources and services
- Coordinating work experience opportunities and supporting job retention
- Working alongside Peer Mentors and community partners
- Thinking outside the box when traditional approaches don't fit
Sometimes success looks like helping someone write a resume.
Sometimes success looks like helping someone make it through a difficult week and come back tomorrow.
Both matter.
This Isn't Easy Work...
...but it's incredibly rewarding.
You'll meet people during some of the hardest chapters of their lives.
You'll need patience, humour, resilience, flexibility, and the ability to stay grounded when plans change.
You'll celebrate small wins because those small wins often become life-changing ones.
If you're looking for predictable routines, this probably isn't the role for you.
If you're looking for meaningful work where you can make a genuine difference every single day, keep reading.
What It's Like to Work Here
We're building this program from the ground up.
That means you'll have something many jobs don't offer:
- The opportunity to help shape a brand-new program
- A supportive, collaborative team that genuinely enjoys working together
- Room to test ideas and be creative
- The freedom to bring your personality to your work
- On-the-job learning, coaching, and professional development
- The chance to grow your skills while helping others grow theirs
We work hard.
We laugh a lot.
We support each other.
We believe the best ideas can come from anyone around the table.
You Might Be Our Kind of Person If...
You naturally connect with people.
You stay calm when things get messy.
You can think on your feet.
You don't need every answer before getting started.
You believe every person has strengths worth building on.
You enjoy working independently but also love being part of a team that shares ideas, celebrates successes, and helps each other through the tough days.
You're curious.
You're compassionate.
You're adaptable.
You aren't afraid to try something new.
Experience We're Looking For
Ideally, you'll have experience working with people experiencing challenges such as:
- Mental health
- Substance use
- Homelessness or housing instability
- Trauma
- Poverty
- Disability
- Systemic barriers to employment
Experience working within trauma-informed, recovery-oriented, strengths-based, and harm reduction approaches is an asset.
Naloxone and First Aid certification are helpful, or we're happy to support you in obtaining them.
A diploma, certificate, or degree in a related field is preferred, but we also recognize that great Navigators often learn just as much through life experience as they do in a classroom.
We Care About Who You Are—Not Just What's On Your Resume
Some of the best people in this work have backgrounds in:
- Hospitality
- Trades
- Retail
- Arts
- Recreation
- Social services
- Health care
- Coaching
- Fitness
- Child and youth work
- Community organizing
- Military
- Customer service
- Entrepreneurship
Maybe you've volunteered for years.
Maybe you've started a community project.
Maybe you've overcome challenges yourself.
Maybe you're the person everyone naturally comes to when they need help.
Tell us your story.
What experiences have shaped you?
What communities are you connected to?
What strengths would you bring that don't fit neatly into a resume?
We believe diversity—in background, experience, personality, culture, and lived experience—makes stronger teams and better services.
Qualifications
- One to two years of experience supporting people facing employment barriers is preferred.
- Excellent relationship-building and communication skills.
- Comfortable documenting services and maintaining accurate records.
- Able to work independently while contributing to a close-knit team.
- Valid BC Driver's Licence is preferred due to the outreach nature of the role.
Why Join VIVRS?
Because this is more than a job.
It's an opportunity to build something meaningful from the ground up.
To be creative.
To keep learning.
To work with an incredible team.
To help people who have often been overlooked discover that employment—and a future they can be proud of—is still possible.
If that sounds like the kind of work you've been looking for, we'd love to hear from you.
Pay: From $32.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Dental care
- Employee assistance program
- Paid time off
Work Location: In person
