Executive Director

Since 1999, The Lighthouse for Grieving Children & Families (The Lighthouse) has offered hope, healing, and peer support to children, youth, and families grieving the death of a loved one. Based in Oakville, The Lighthouse is a non-profit grief support centre where children and young adults find safe spaces to share, connect, and grow through their grief, surrounded by understanding peers, skilled facilitators, and a compassionate community. The Lighthouse also works with caregivers, schools, and the broader community to increase awareness and build grief-informed support systems.

The Lighthouse is a small organization with profound impact. It is well positioned for growth, supported by a Board of accomplished professionals and a sophisticated community of donors and partners, and deeply trusted by the families it serves. It is now in the third year of a growth-oriented strategic plan, with real opportunity ahead: expanding programs, reaching new communities, exploring digital and online programming, and deepening partnerships across the region. The Lighthouse holds all of this alongside a rich legacy and a team whose commitment to the work is felt by everyone who walks through its doors. The next Executive Director will honour what already works while helping determine where and how The Lighthouse grows.

It is within this context that The Lighthouse welcomes nominations and applications for the position of Executive Director, an opportunity to lead a well-respected organization at a pivotal moment and to shape the future of grief support services in Halton and beyond.

About the Opportunity:

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director provides leadership and a clear vision for The Lighthouse. They are responsible for leading the strategic plan, assessing what has been achieved and what has not, and shaping what comes next. They oversee programming, operations, and organizational performance, ensuring that high-quality, grief and trauma-informed supports continue to meet the evolving needs of children, youth, and families.

Internally, the Executive Director leads a small, established team and a strong network of dedicated volunteers with empathy and inclusive practices. They support and develop the Directors and understand how to guide the team through change. They provide sound fiscal oversight, lead budget development and oversee fundraising strategies and donor engagement to ensure financial sustainability. They champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility throughout the organization.

Externally, the Executive Director is the face of The Lighthouse. They build and sustain relationships with families, donors, community partners, funders, and the broader non-profit sector in the region. This will include participating in events, conferences, advocacy tables and consultation meetings.

About the Individual:

The Lighthouse is seeking a compassionate, strategic leader and community builder. As a qualified candidate, you have progressive leadership experience in the non-profit and social service sector, and a track record of leading teams demonstrating respect for the people and history that came before you. You are an exceptional people leader who builds trust, develops others, and creates an environment where both long tenured and newer team members can thrive.

You bring strong strategic and program development experience and can identify, test, and grow new opportunities, whether through expanded programs, new communities, or new ways of delivering support. You are comfortable working with a volunteer board, prepared and transparent in your governance practice, and able to communicate with confidence and polish. You have financial literacy and budget management skills, and you know how to build lasting relationships with donors, partners, and community members.

You understand the sensitivity of working with grieving children, youth, and families, and you communicate about these experiences with empathy and care, through a grief and trauma-informed lens. Direct experience in the grief sector, children and youth services, or trauma-informed care is an asset, as is an existing network in the Halton Region, and within the broader communities The Lighthouse serves and seeks to reach.

If you are interested in this impactful leadership opportunity with The Lighthouse, please submit a comprehensive resume along with a cover letter in confidence to Laura Machan, Partner (laura@griffithgroup.ca) and/or Claudia Lang-Dion, Consultant (claudia@griffithgroup.ca). 

Salary Range: $130,000 to $170,000, commensurate with experience, plus defined benefits.

Location: This opportunity is based in Oakville, Ontario. The Executive Director role is primarily in-person, reflecting The Lighthouse's deeply community-based work.

The Lighthouse and Griffith Group are committed to an inclusive, accessible and welcoming hiring process that provides reasonable accommodation to all applicants. Please advise Laura Machan (laura@griffithgroup.ca) should you require any accommodation to participate in the recruitment and/or assessment processes.

Use of AI: Griffith Group Executive Search does not use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for a position.

Reason for posting: Current Vacancy.