Senior Director of Human Rights

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Position Title: Senior Director of Human Rights

Hours: Full Time (40 hours per week), 2-year contract with potential for renewal.

Summary of Position:

The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto (MCC Toronto) is seeking a passionate and experienced full-time Senior Director of Human Rights to join our Staff Team. The ideal candidate will be a strategic thinker with a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the 2SLGBTQ+ community and a strong commitment to promoting social justice and equality. The Senior Director will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of our Human Rights work, including programming, initiatives, campaigns, and leading a staff team. The Senior Director of Human Rights will report to the Senior Pastor.

Compensation:

Salary range of $85,000 – $95,000 per year to commensurate with experience, with vacation and benefits after a 3-month probationary period. Also included is a 4% RRSP matching program after 1 year of service.

Note on Human Rights and Spiritual Community:

MCC Toronto is both a spiritual community and human rights organization rooted in the LGBTQ2+ community and its allies, and the Christian tradition. We do human rights work not to grow our faith-based services, but rather to put our faith into action and ensure there are human rights for all. Our human rights work, as well as this position operate in a secular milieu as part of a broader spiritual community and is open to people of all backgrounds and beliefs. The position is intended for a lay person, but religious leaders and practitioners are welcome to apply.

Organizational Overview:

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto (MCC Toronto) was established in 1973 as part of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a denomination and global LGBTQ+ Christian movement. Throughout its history, MCC Toronto has been a place of worship and a place of action. Our weekly Worship Services are attended by over 600 congregants both in-person and online. We count a broader congregant community of over 2,000 members drawn from many different religious backgrounds and beliefs, gender identities, gender expressions, sexual orientations, racial and cultural backgrounds, countries of origin, socioeconomic realities, and abilities. We are a proud vibrant, inclusive, and progressive faith community; at MCC Toronto everyone matters and everyone belongs.

Rooted in the 2SLGBTQ+ community, MCC Toronto has long been at the centre of community activism. We have been home to the Triangle Program, Canada’s first 2SLGBTQ+ High School since 1995. We were national leaders in the fight for same sex marriage. Our LGBTQ+ Refugee Programs have served over 8,000 refugees since 2007 and through our status as the exclusive Sponsorship Agreement Holder for LGBTQ+ refugees to Canada, we have sponsored 75 refugees to safety in Canada since 2013.

In 2022, MCC Toronto announced that it had raised a record-setting CAD $5 million through a major gift campaign to help support an elevation of our human rights work through expanded programming, new partnerships, and an emphasis on creating impact and change.

MCC Toronto’s vision is to be a growing, inclusive, spiritual community that creates a just, kind and loving world for all. We work every day to live our core values of Advocacy, Diversity and Spirituality.

Key Responsibilities:

The Senior Director of Human Rights is an integral part of MCC Toronto’s staff team and part of its executive leadership team. Key responsibilities include:

  1. Strategic Leadership: Develop and implement a comprehensive strategic plan aligned with MCC Toronto’s mission and values. Provide visionary leadership to drive impactful change to the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
  2. Advocacy and Policy Influence: Advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ rights at the national and international levels. Engage with governments, policymakers, and international bodies to influence laws and policies that protect and advance the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals.
  3. Program Management: Oversee the planning, implementation, and evaluation of our human rights programs and projects. Ensure that programs are evidence-based, evidence-informed or practice-informed, and that they are effective and sustainable.
  4. Capacity Building: Develop and oversee the delivery of training programs for staff, volunteers, and stakeholders to increase awareness and understanding of 2SLGBTQ+ issues and best practice in promoting 2SLGBTQ+ rights.
  5. Coalition Building: Foster strategic partnerships and collaborations with 2sLGBTQ+ organizations, human rights groups, and other stakeholders to maximize the impact of joint efforts.
  6. Media and Public Relations: Represent the organization in the media and at public events. Utilize various communication channels to raise awareness about 2sLGBTQ+ human rights issues and MCC Toronto’s work.
  7. Fundraising and Budget Management: Work closely with the Senior Director of Development to secure funding for MCC Toronto’s Human Rights Centre. Work closely with the Executive Director & COO to create and manage the Human Rights Centre budget effectively and ensure transparent financial reporting.

Qualifications and Requirements

  • Experience in working towards human rights and social justice with knowledge about intersectional advocacy are required.
  • Excellent leadership, management, and team-building skills.
  • Strong communication and public speaking abilities.
  • Experience in project management and budget oversight.
  • Willingness to work within a progressive faith community is required, though no faith affiliation is required.
  • Experience in working with LGBTQ2+ communities, racialized communities, disability communities, socio-economic diversity, and other diverse populations is required. Training in diversity and inclusion is considered an asset.
  • Alignment with MCC Toronto’s vision, mission, core values and bedrock beliefs. Signature of Code of Conduct is required (see MCC Toronto – What We Believe).

Additional Information:

MCC Toronto is both a Church and Human Rights Centre and we seek to walk the walk as much as we talk the talk. As such, we are an equal opportunity employer that takes systemic barriers into consideration in its interview and hiring process. We encourage applicants to apply and provide life experience in place of formal experience as is appropriate.

The application deadline is August 23, 2023, at 5 PM. Confidentiality in the application and interview process is assured. Please include a CV or resume and cover letter explaining your motivation for applying to this position and your vision for advancing human rights and send via email to: office@mcctoronto.com.

 

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