Associate Vice President, People, Equity, and Culture (leave cover)

Position: Associate Vice President, People, Equity, and Culture (leave cover)
Status: Full-time, fixed term – January 5, 2026 to October 2026
Team: People, Equity, and Culture

Reports to: Executive Office
Supervises: Coordinator, PEC; Project Manager, PEC
Language(s): English
Location: Remote, within Canada
Starting
Salary Range: $125,000 - $140,000/year

Deadline for Applications: 21 October 2025, 11:59pm ET

ABOUT THE EQUALITY FUND

The Equality Fund (EF) is transforming the way that resources—and power—flow into the hands of women, girls, and trans people worldwide. Designed by feminists for feminists, it is a model for sustainably resourcing feminist movements everywhere, through global grantmaking, gender-lens investing, policy, advocacy, and feminist philanthropy. Launched in 2019, the Equality Fund has activated $100 million to date which flows to more than 1,000 organizations working across 100 countries.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Associate Vice President (AVP), People, Equity, and Culture (PEC) is a key leadership role responsible for defining, shaping, and driving the Equality Fund’s (EF) people strategy and organizational culture. This includes designing and stewarding a people-centered ecosystem that nurtures equity, resilience, and organizational adaptability, ensuring that the needs of both individuals and the organization are met. 

Reporting to the Executive Office, the AVP, PEC will ensure that Equality Fund’s People, Equity, and Culture (including HR) practices, policies, and culture are deeply aligned with its values of feminist leadership; accountability; anti-racism, anti-oppression, and intersectionality (ARAOI); and radical love. This role is both strategic and operational, overseeing day to day operations while focusing on long-term organizational development, culture building, and fostering of a workplace culture and structure that embodies our values.

The AVP, PEC will lead the PEC team, including the Coordinator and Project Manager, and will act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and senior leadership on all people-related matters. This role requires a deep commitment to feminist principles, equity, and inclusion, as well as the ability to drive transformative change within the organization. Additionally, the AVP, PEC will play a critical role in ensuring that EF’s workforce operates sustainably, with a focus on safeguarding staff capacity and well-being, and ensuring that resources and systems are aligned with organizational priorities.

SCOPE & RESPONSIBILITIES

Continuity of Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Enact and iterate as needed on EF’s people strategy, ensuring alignment with the organization’s feminist, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive values.
• Drive forward short- and long-term organizational development initiatives that foster a culture of feminist leadership, equity, and inclusion across EF, such as an ARAOI learning arc and values-aligned integration of AI.
• Act as a key advisor to the CEO and senior leadership on people-related matters, providing strategic guidance on talent management and development, organizational culture and learning, and employee engagement.
• Foster a culture of bold, people-centered leadership that encourages innovation, creativity, proactive problem-solving, sustainability, and adaptive thinking within the team.
• Drive forward and iterate as needed on forward-looking strategies, policies, systems, practices, and rituals that embody a feminist, agile, and people-centered organizational culture.

Culture Building and Feminist Leadership

• Lead efforts to build and sustain a workplace culture that embodies EF’s values.
• Drive forward and iterate as needed on strategies to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion across all levels of the organization.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, self-care, and empathy, ensuring that EF’s values are lived out in daily practices and interactions.

Organizational Development and Change Management

• Continue and lead organizational change initiatives, ensuring that EF’s values and principles are embedded in all aspects of the employee experience.
• Partner with senior leadership to drive and iterate on programs that support EF’s growth and development, including leadership development, succession planning, and talent management, especially those related to ARAOI.
• Oversee the development and delivery of learning and development programs that align with EF’s feminist principles and organizational goals, many of which are in progress.
• Serve on multiple cross-organizational teams, including Senior Leadership (Team Leads), Safe and Respectful Workplace Committee, and Joint Health & Safety Committee

Team Leadership and Management

• Supervise and support the Coordinator, PEC and Project Manager, PEC, fostering a collaborative, accountable, sustainable, independently operating, and high-performing team environment.
• Provide mentorship and coaching within and beyond the PEC team, helping them to grow, learn, and develop.
• Promote a culture of respect, equity, and inclusion within the PEC team and across the organization, ensuring that EF’s values are reflected in all PEC practices.
• Manage PEC team workplan and budget, which will be drafted but not finalized at the time this contract begins.

Workforce Capacity and Resource Stewardship

• Act as the organizational steward for staff capacity and well-being, ensuring that workloads are sustainable and aligned with EF’s mission and values.
• Partner with the CEO and senior leadership to continue our assessment of and improvement to workforce/workload capacity challenges, ensuring that staff have the resources and support needed to thrive.
• Ensure that EF’s safeguarding policies and practices are effectively implemented across the organization, promoting a safe, respectful, and inclusive work environment for all staff. Proactively identify and address risks related to safeguarding, including harassment, discrimination, and other forms of harm.
• Drive forward and iterate as needed on strategies to monitor and balance workloads, ensuring that EF’s workforce remains agile, responsive, and resilient in a fast-paced environment.
• Support CFO on payroll strategy, ensuring smooth execution and optimizing payroll function within organization objectives to enhance compliance and employee experience
• Oversee resource allocation within the PEC team, ensuring that budgets, tools, and systems are aligned with organizational priorities and feminist principles.

Specific foci within the fixed term of the role

• Design and implement an organizational learning plan for fiscal year 2026-2027 including specific learnings for ARAOI and development of the Director-level community
• Strategically train and socialize adaptive competencies across the organization and across employee life cycles
• Drive forward and iterate as needed on organizational work planning, decision making, and sustainability through training and socializing related frameworks and advising on systems and processes
• Model and drive integration of adaptive leadership through experimentation with AI integrations, play, and creativity

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

Experience

• 7 years of progressive human resources, organizational learning, and/or DEI experience, which could include time spent obtaining relevant degrees and/or certifications. 
  • At least some experience must be in Human Resources.
  • Experience in a non-profit, feminist, or mission-driven organization is preferred.
  • CHRP and/or degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field is an asset
  • Joint Health & Safety Committee certification is an asset
• 3 years in a leadership role
  • At least some experience must be at the senior leadership level
  • At least some experience must involve direct people management
• Demonstrated experience in all aspects of HR management, including recruitment, employee relations, performance management, and compliance with employment legislation.
  • Working knowledge of HR functions, legislation (Ontario required, others are an asset), and best practices
• Demonstrated experience in organizational learning, including recruitment, employee relations, performance management, and compliance with employment legislation.
• Deep understanding of feminist principles, anti-racism, and anti-oppressive practices, with a commitment to embedding these values into HR practices and organizational culture.
• Strong facilitation and/or training skills, ideally in a remote, multicultural context
• Ability to manage multiple, ongoing projects while maintaining clarity of vision and attention to detail
• Demonstrated high ethical standards and ability to work with sensitive information in a confidential manner; ability and willingness to conduct oneself at work with high standards of ethics, integrity, and honesty
• Commitment to the work and values of the Equality Fund, which include Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, and Intersectionality; Feminist Leadership; Accountability; and Radical Love
• Ability to navigate and utilize HRIS, project management platforms, and Google Workplace (or similar business collaboration suite)
• Professional working proficiency in English is required; French, Spanish, or other language skills are an asset

Adaptive Competencies

• High emotional intelligence with the ability to build trust, foster collaboration, and navigate complex interpersonal dynamics.
• Ability to thrive in a nuanced, dynamic, complex environment and respond effectively to changing priorities and challenges.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to address systemic issues and implement innovative solutions.
• Ability to influence and collaborate with stakeholders at all levels of the organization, fostering a culture of shared purpose and accountability.

REQUIREMENTS

• Must be legally eligible to work in Canada
• Available to travel 3-6 times per year for up to 6 weeks total per year.
• Occasional evening and/or weekend work may be required when coordinating with people in other time zones
• Willing and able to work remotely on mostly computer-based work

OUR ENVIRONMENT OF CARE

• We trust our talented team and are pleased to offer a flexible and virtual work environment.
• We are driven by our values: anti-racism, anti-oppression, and intersectionality; feminist leadership; accountability; and radical love. We believe our values are realized through collaboration, a growth and learning mindset, emotional intelligence, diversity, authenticity, a global perspective, care, and building networks. We work to share power and create space for everyone to lead. 
• Equality Fund is proud to offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package which has no waiting period and includes 4 weeks paid vacation, paid sick time, parental leave top up, medical benefits, Group RRSP, paid birthday off, and more.
• Equality Fund is committed to providing and maintaining a safe and respectful workplace. We do not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation, or abuse of any form. We recognize that those behaviors are often rooted in abuse of power, which is contrary to EF's mission to make a more equitable world for women, girls, and trans people. 
• Equality Fund is an equal opportunity employer.  We believe deeply in equality and value diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, and all other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and positionalities, and are committed to providing an accessible candidate experience. To let us know how we can make an accommodation or adjustment to facilitate the selection process and beyond, please reach out to people@equalityfund.ca.
• This posting is for an existing vacancy

SELECTION PROCESS

• Equality Fund does not employ the use of AI technology in the screening, recruitment, or selection process. 
• Equality Fund does not take informational interviews during the hiring process. We do this both from an equity perspective and a team capacity consideration as this helps to ensure everyone gets a fair chance in their application and that all candidates have equal access to the information that would help them in the hiring process.
• Equality Fund’s People, Equity, and Culture team will work with the hiring manager to do an initial screening of applicants. Please make sure to detail your experience in your resume/cover letter to ensure the committee has the information they need to assess your qualifications for the role. This process takes about 1 week from the application deadline.
• When there are many candidates who pass the initial screening, the People, Equity, and Culture team may conduct 15-30 minute phone screening calls.
• The hiring committee will conduct first round interviews with selected candidates. Candidates will be sent the interview questions 48 hours in advance of their scheduled interview. Candidates are welcome, but not expected or required, to send any questions they have for the hiring committee in advance of the interview. These interviews usually occur 1-2 weeks after the application deadline. 
• The hiring committee may conduct a second round of interviews, which may include an assignment.
• The People, Equity, and Culture team will conduct reference checks for the candidate to whom they intend to extend an offer. This process usually takes about 1 week. 
• The People, Equity, and Culture team will initiate a background check. This is intended to safeguard Equality Fund employees, grantees, and the organization. We recognize that some communities experience systemic over-policing. As such, only findings related to harassment, exploitation, coercion, sexual exploitation, fraud, abuse, or other findings specifically relevant to the duties of the role will be considered in relation to one’s eligibility for employment.
• The People, Equity, and Culture team will send the selected candidate an Employment Agreement, which the candidate will have time to review and return.

JOIN US!

Though we work to respond to all applicants, at times we may only be able to follow-up with those selected for an interview.

CONSENT TO THE USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

CONSENTEMENT À L'UTILISATION DES INFORMATIONS PERSONNELLES

I acknowledge that the personal information I provide as part of my job application to Equality Fund will be utilized solely for the following purposes:

• Recruitment
• Evaluation
• Selection for available positions within Equality Fund

The personal information collected includes, but is not limited to:

• Name
• Contact details (address, phone number, email address)
• Information about my professional and academic background
• References

These terms and conditions are in addition to the Equality Fund Privacy Policy, which I have read and understood.

• I understand that by giving my consent, I authorize the Equality Fund recruitment team to access the personal information I have shared in order to evaluate my application.
• I hereby authorize Equality Fund to use my personal information for the purposes mentioned above.
• I also understand that I can withdraw my consent at any time by contacting people@equalityfund.ca. However, I acknowledge that such withdrawal may affect the processing of my application.

For further details on how we collect, use, and protect your personal information, as well as your data protection rights, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

Je reconnais que les informations personnelles que je fournis dans le cadre de ma candidature à Equality Fund seront utilisées uniquement aux fins suivantes :

• Recrutement
• Évaluation
• Sélection pour les postes disponibles au sein d'Equality Fund

Les informations personnelles collectées incluent, mais ne sont pas limitées à :

• Nom
• Coordonnées (adresse, numéro de téléphone, adresse électronique)
• Informations sur mon parcours professionnel et académique
• Références

Ces termes et conditions s'ajoutent à la politique de confidentialité d'Equality Fund, que j'ai lue et comprise.

• Je comprends qu'en donnant mon consentement, j'autorise l'équipe de recrutement d'Equality Fund à accéder aux informations personnelles que j'ai partagées afin d'évaluer ma candidature.
• J'autorise par la présente Equality Fund à utiliser mes informations personnelles aux fins mentionnées ci-dessus.
• Je comprends également que je peux retirer mon consentement à tout moment en contactant people@equalityfund.ca. Cependant, je reconnais que ce retrait pourrait affecter le traitement de ma candidature.

Pour plus de détails sur la manière dont nous collectons, utilisons et protégeons vos informations personnelles, ainsi que sur vos droits en matière de protection des données, veuillez vous référer à notre politique de confidentialité.