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Program Manager

Employment Type: Part-time contract position, September 2018 – April 2021
Work Hours: 21 hours/week
Compensation: $30/hour
Application Deadline: Sunday July 15, 2018, 11:59pm

Who We Are:
We are the Department of Imaginary Affairs. We seek, collect, and share stories of new and developing Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Every story helps us learn more about the people who live in Canada. Through our projects, we share these stories in the hopes of creating a nation of empathetic citizens, public services, and policies. Stories are the key to challenging assumptions, nurturing and fostering creativity, and giving rise to citizen voices. We aim to discover the evolving definitions of what it means to be Canadian.

Project Overview:
The Stories of Us is a project developed by the DIA to help newcomers learn English through their own experiences. In 2017, we developed and piloted a series of story collecting workshops and workbooks to test our program. In 2018, we were awarded a 3-year Service Delivery Improvement Fund from the Federal Government to further develop this program. Our goal is to build an open-source library of stories told from the perspectives of newcomers. These books contain the newcomers native language side-by-side with the English translation. Each story is also translated into multiple levels of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) Standards. This allows us to scaffold learning and reflect the ongoing settlement journeys that newcomers face while simultaneously learning English.

Click here for more information on the project.

The goal of the project is three-fold:

  1. Empower newcomers to share their stories and feel that they have a voice as a citizen of Canada, that they are contributing to the overall social fabric of the country;
  2. Translate these stories into English to help them learn the language by showing side-by-side translations and visuals; and
  3. Educate the general public about newcomer experiences by providing first-person experiences of those who have immigrated to Canada.

What You Will Do:

  • Coordinate the overall logistics of The Stories Of Us
  • Manage partnerships with settlement agencies and other ESL service providers
  • Co-facilitate workshops on The Stories of Us with settlement agencies and ESL service providers
  • Co-design online and train-the-trainer curriculum
  • Report on project learnings, process, insights and learnings in the form of reports, presentations and blogs for internal and external stakeholders
  • Actively participate in seeking and writing funding applications

What You Bring To Our Team:

  • Previous work experience in settlement, ESL, newcomers, community development, social services or program development
  • Experience facilitating workshops with newcomers and settlement workers or other community groups
  • Experience coordinating program logistics
  • Demonstrated passion for community engagement, civic engagement, social innovation and service design

Why You’ll Want To Work With Us:
At the Department of Imaginary Affairs, you will be part of a dynamic entrepreneurial team working to design innovative programs across Canada.

You will:

  • Work in a flexible and collaborative environment
  • Have autonomy to shape your own future work path within the DIA
  • Support and encouragement to do professional development and personal learning

How To Apply:
Submit your resume, cover letter/letter of interest and any other materials to support your application to this role to minister@dia.space, quoting “Program Manager – your name”. We will give bonus consideration to applicants who can demonstrate their creativity and imagination in their application.

The Department of Imaginary Affairs is committed to diversity in the workplace and we encourage all qualified candidates to apply. We welcome applications from qualified individuals of all cultural backgrounds, genders, sexual orientation, and abilities. If time allows, our aim is to connect with each candidate who applies.

Blair is a trained playwright, designer by trade, and traveler for life. He is the Executive Director of the DIA and loves all kinds of food.

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