Director, External Relations & Development
Full-time Permanent Position
Location & Hours
Work location: On-site at Distress Centre Calgary, 999 8 Street SW, Suite 500.
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm primarily in office with some flexibility to work remote or staggered hours. Occasional evenings or weekends as required.
What You'll Do
Strategic Leadership & Organizational Integration
- Champion a culture of philanthropy and collaboration, aligning fundraising, communications and program goals across the organization.
- Support the CEO and Board of Directors in building relationships with key donors, community partners, and government stakeholders.
Team Leadership & Operational Excellence
- Hire, lead, manage, and develop a high-performing fundraising and communications team (approximately 5 staff).
- Strengthen systems, processes, and data practices to support effective donor management and decision-making.
Fundraising Strategy & Donor Engagement
- Lead the development and execution of an integrated fundraising strategy.
- Build, cultivate, and steward strong relationships with individual donors, sponsors, and community partners.
- Oversee donor stewardship practices and manage a portfolio of key donor relationships for long-term engagement.
- Identify and pursue new revenue streams including events, campaigns, and partnership opportunities.
Communications, Brand & Storytelling
- Lead the communications strategy to elevate DCC's visibility, voice, and community impact.
- Manage public relations and media engagement to strengthen community awareness and reputation.
- Monitor and evaluate communications performance tosupportplanning and decision-making.
Events, Campaigns & Community Engagement
- Provide strategic leadership for major fundraising events and campaigns to drive revenue and community engagement.
Government Relations
- Maintain and build strong relationships with all orders of government, municipal, provincial, federal and Indigenous.
- Monitor government priorities, policy changes, legislation and funding opportunities relevant to DCC.
- Prepare briefing materials, presentations, and correspondence for the CEO and executive team.
- Maintain a government relations calendar and stakeholder engagement plan.
- Represent DCC at government, sector, and community meetings as appropriate.
- Ensure alignment of messaging across government relations, programs, communications partnerships and fundraising.
What You Bring
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, or a related field.
- 10+years of progressive experience in fund development, communications, marketing, or government relations, with a general knowledge of all areas.
- Proven experience in government relations, public policy, or stakeholder engagement.
- Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) designation is an asset.
- Experience leading and developing teams.
- Demonstrated success in securing six-figure gifts and managing a portfolio of major donors.
- Strong relationship-building skills, with the ability to cultivate trust across diverse internal and external stakeholders.
- Strategic thinking with a collaborative,solutions-focused approach.
- Experience building processes and systems that support cross-functional integration and organizational effectiveness.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging to differentaudiences andcontexts.
- Strong interpersonal and cultural competency skills to work effectively and respectfullywith people from diverse backgrounds andlivedexperiences.
How to Apply
Please submit your resume and cover letter through our ADP Career Centre.
Distress Centre is an inclusive workplace. If you are invited for an interview and require accommodation, please let us know. If you require accommodation during the application process, please call our main office and ask to speak to Human Resources.
We thank all applicants for their interest; only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
