Department: Operations
Hours of work: This position is a full-time permanent position (35 hours per week). Some weekends and evenings required a few times during the year as it relates to grants adjudication, committee, and Board meetings.
Reports to: Director of People & Operations
Location: Our office is in downtown Vancouver; however, we provide the option to work remotely from anywhere in BC.
Accessibility: Current office is located on the 15th floor of a building with elevator access and accessible, gender-neutral washrooms and additional accessibility considerations.
Salary: $67,456 to $86,194 annual salary based on experience (we expect someone new to the Foundation to start at the lower end of this range)
Posting Date: May 28, 2024
Posting Closing Date: Until filled
About the Law Foundation of BC:
The Law Foundation of British Columbia (the Foundation) invests in work that empowers people and strengthens communities, aimed at creating a future where systems of law and justice support all people to live and thrive in dignity.
The Foundation makes grants using funds arising from the interest paid on lawyers’ pooled trust accounts and other sources.
Through its funding, the Foundation supports many programs and services that seek to promote justice for people at both an individual and systemic level. This includes funding targeted at racial justice initiatives, supporting a network of advocacy and legal aid services, providing educational opportunities, and supporting access to legal information, to name a few.
A significant focus of the Foundation’s work is to provide funding support for Indigenous peoples’ work on justice initiatives, as prioritized by Indigenous communities, whether involving Canadian law or Indigenous legal orders.
Working at the Foundation means joining a team of passionate, hard-working professionals. We are committed to building and supporting an inclusive and respectful working environment, where all employees are valued for their contributions to our mission.
We offer a comprehensive benefits program, which includes:
- generous extended health and dental coverage for employees, their spouses, and dependents
- 3 weeks annual vacation as a base, and late December office closure
- family friendly workplace policies, parental leave top-ups, life insurance plan, and a workplace culture with an overarching emphasis on wellness and work life balance
- RRSP contribution of 6% of salary without matching requirement
- wellness spending account for each employee
- generous care days (sick leave) entitlement
- flexible work arrangements
- relevant professional fees and memberships covered
- training and professional development opportunities
In its hiring practices, the Foundation strongly encourages applications from members of communities that are marginalized or that experience structural discrimination including those identifying as Indigenous, people of colour, members of non-dominant ethnic, religious, linguistic, and/or cultural groups, women, (im)migrants/newcomers, people with (dis)abilities, and LGBTQ2S+ people. The Foundation believes that a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve strengthens our ability to achieve our mission.
To learn more about what we do, please visit www.lawfoundationbc.org
About the Role:
The Operations Assistant is part of a dynamic team that is working to create innovative solutions to difficult access to justice challenges that affect diverse communities in British Columbia. This role will support the Law Foundation of BC’s grant-making programs, operational and training needs. The Foundation seeks to ensure access to justice through its five mandated program funding areas: legal education, legal research, legal aid, law reform, and law libraries.
Reporting to the Director of People & Operations and taking day to day direction from the Team Lead of Program Support and other program staff, the Operations Assistant plays a critical role within the Foundation, ensuring that Program and Operations initiatives and projects are well supported. This position also contributes to the continuous improvement of administration processes and day-to-day operations.
The Foundation is currently undergoing a review and modernization of its internal systems. The position will also play an integral part in supporting changes related to program processes, operations, administration, and IT support, and will provide recommendations where there is opportunity for improvement.
As a member of the Operations team, the Operations Assistant plays a key role in:
Program Support:
- Coordinates the administrative flow of materials and activities related to the grant-making process
- Provides administrative support to assigned program staff
- Tracking and managing timelines related to grant applications, reports from grantees, and other materials for Program Directors and Managers within the Foundation’s grant-making system (SmartSimple)
- Composing clear correspondence and communications (e.g. via email and/or phone) with grantees and other key stakeholders
- Assembling, editing, and proofreading materials
- Scheduling and managing meetings and preparing and distributing corresponding materials
- Supporting with Conferences and Training (virtual and in-person)
- Proofreading, editing, and formatting draft correspondence prepared by other staff
- Producing reports as needed
- Supports preparation for Board and Committee meetings including scheduling, preparing materials, documenting, and processing
- Supports external committee and advisory meetings as necessary
- Conducts research when needed, and extracts, organizes, and presents data
- Supports the management of grantee reporting data and the compilation of such data for internal and external purposes
- In partnership with the Digital Transformation Team, supports the back end of our grant-making system, Smart Simple.
- Coordinates logistics for site visits (reviews and prepares materials, coordination of communication with grantees, and coordination of travel if necessary)
Operations Support
- Updates the Foundation’s “Global Calendar” with key organizational dates
- Participates in all-staff meetings
- Shares responsibility of chairing, minute taking, and running smooth Operations team meetings, ensuring key organizational initiatives are discussed and decisions are made to progress work forward
- Participates in all staff meetings by giving overview of global calendar of Foundation activities, deadlines, and important dates
- Supports the Operations team in identifying topics for “IT Tips of the Week” in all staff meetings
- Coordinates meetings with Foundation governors, regulatory bodies, Foundation staff, and other key stakeholders
- Anticipates information needs and compiles information packages for meetings, conferences, appointments, etc.
- Attends governance meetings to support Governance & Executive Services Coordinator with governance issues as needed
- Supports the Governance & Executive Services Coordinator with Board of Governor planning events and board meetings, and attends and participates in staff planning events
- Helps develop, test and document administrative processes, and helps with the development of "how-to" documents or instruction manuals
- Assists with managing and monitoring shared email inboxes
- Acts as back up to Digital Transformation Team when needed by supporting with Smart Simple trouble shooting or back-end requests
- Supports in the onboarding of new staff members
- Provides technical support in meetings as needed
- Is available to perform in-office duties and tasks as required
Note: This job may require additional responsibilities and duties as assigned by the Law Foundation of British Columbia
About You:
The Operations Assistant requires at least one or a combination (or equivalent) of the following education and experience:
- Undergraduate degree or diploma in a relevant discipline
- Minimum one year experience in similar capacity
- Experience in supporting an organization with administration and coordination
- High proficiency with Microsoft Office 365 (Teams, Outlook, Excel, Word) and video conferencing technology (Teams, Zoom) and comfortable with adopting new technologies
- Experience working in databases and/or systems (e.g. SmartSimple or similar)
- Experience with a variety of web-based platforms and comfort learning new software
The Operations Assistant would benefit from the following skills, abilities, and attributes:
- Proven ability to work effectively in a high-pressure environment with frequent interruptions, and to prioritize multiple competing demands and meet tight deadlines
- Demonstrated ability to form effective working relationships across all levels of an organization
- Demonstrated ability to interact with senior levels of leadership and external stakeholders with tact and discretion
- Demonstrated strong organizational skills
- Excellent judgement, such as being able to identify contentious and politically sensitive issues and respond appropriately
- Excellent communications skills, both verbal and written, including the ability to synthesize and summarize complex information so that it is easily understood
- Exceptional attention to detail
- Ability to resolve problems by identifying and interpreting situations and applying ingenuity to effectively resolve
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including positive attitude, active listening, and probing for information to clarify requests
- Proven track record of taking initiative and leadership
- Ability to plan, prioritize, and complete assignments independently
- Ability to solve problems creatively
- Ability to own projects and workload
Please do not be discouraged from applying if you do not possess the precise combination of all of the skills, attributes, qualifications, and experience listed above. Furthermore, if your lived experience provides you with a foundation that is equivalent to the work experience listed, you are encouraged to describe that in your application.
Application Process:
Please submit the following through this application portal:
- Cover letter (upload as PDF)
- Three references who can speak to your skills and experience (whether paid or unpaid). Please enter these directly into the provided fields in the portal. The Law Foundation may request that a candidate provide supplemental references if required. We will not contact these references without providing you notice, and not until a later stage of the hiring process.
Interviews will be conducted by Foundation staff by video. The Foundation will make appropriate accommodations, if needed, for candidates that we interview.
By submitting your application, you certify that all information submitted is true, complete and correct. Any information provided in your application, any assessment documents or processes and/or an interview that is found to be false or misrepresented in any respect, may eliminate you from further consideration for employment or may result in dismissal.
We acknowledge that the Foundation’s main office is located in Vancouver on the shared lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, and conducts its work throughout the homelands of Indigenous peoples across the place we now call British Columbia. The Law Foundation of BC is committed to supporting a just and meaningful reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and others in these lands.
If you are interested in applying and have questions about the process, please contact Britt Mayne at [email protected].
