Come work as a Director, Safety & Prevention with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)!

Vancouver Coastal Health is looking for a Director, Safety & Prevention to join the team.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Health Safety and Talent Management, within Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) People team, the Director, Safety & Prevention is accountable to develop, implement and assess effective strategies, programs/services, policies, projects and processes that achieve alignment with VCH’s strategic and operational plans.

The Director is responsible for the strategic development, implementation, evaluation and sustainment of comprehensive safety management systems. They provide leadership for workplace safety and prevention programs by coordinating resources, advancing priorities, implementing policies and promoting collaboration and commitment for the delivery of safety and prevention programs across VCH.

They also collaborate with the Executive Director, Managers and Team Leads in operational planning, budget management, and coordination of new initiatives, policies, procedures and programs.  The Director liaises with other People team Directors and Managers within VCH for the coordination and promotion of programs and information. While establishing and maintaining key partnerships with counterparts at other Health Authorities, Security Service Providers, Insurance Providers and governmental agencies throughout the province.

Reporting to the Director are the Managers who oversee and lead the various Safety and Prevention programs and staff regionally across the health authority.

This work is framed within VCH’s commitments to our pillars of Indigenous Cultural Safety, Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Planetary Health.

Apply today to join our team!

As a Director, Safety & Prevention with Vancouver Coastal Health you will:

• Plan, develop and evaluate VCH Safety & Prevention programs including programs and initiatives such as employee, medical staff, and resident doctors’ occupational health and safety, violence prevention, critical incident stress management, exposure, and ergonomics.
• Lead workplace Safety and Prevention services across VCH in conjunction with the Executive Director and collaborates with other People team leadership to ensure an integrated and consistent service delivery across all sites of the organization.
• Provide overall leadership and direction to Safety and Prevention team members using effective management techniques (e.g., coaching, mentoring, skill and leadership development, performance management).
• Collaborate with the Executive Director to coordinate and develop departmental policy and programs in accordance with organizational and regulatory requirements as appropriate, and takes a lead role on projects and programs within the department.
• Oversee and lead business case, briefing note preparation and analysis for Safety and Prevention initiatives, program enhancements and opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure quality improvement and the provision of management/evaluation systems and monitoring processes are in place by methods such as analyzing and interpreting quality improvement and utilization management data, identifying trends and variances, monitoring high cost and volume activities, recommending priority areas for follow-up, gathering evidence of service effectiveness, and identifying outcome measures to set targets for improved and appropriate utilization of services.
• Develop and monitor budgets for existing and new/enhanced programs, projects, and services; and manages related resources and expenditures in collaboration with the Executive Director, to maintain excellence in service provision, achievement of goals and targets, and ensure operating requirements are met. 
• Ensure compliance with applicable collective agreement provisions, government regulations, policies and procedures, and other statutory requirements related to safety and prevention in healthcare. Provides leadership and support for implementing national and provincial standards and guidelines, which includes promoting the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the workplace by working in collaboration with VCH Operations, Professional Practice, and other People team leaders.
• Ensure regulatory compliance and oversees incident tracking, investigations and response to WorkSafe BC and other regulatory agencies in relation to orders and reports.
• Develop and maintain effective and collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders at the local and provincial level, such as clients, unions, WorkSafeBC, regulatory bodies and associations, HEABC and Ministry to identify solutions that address needs and identify and reduce safety, violence, exposure, etc. incidents.
• Actively participates and leads on relevant internal and external committees, representing the health authority
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Education & Experience

• Degree in Nursing, Allied Health, or Public Health, and professional clinical experience supplemented with master’s degree in business administration or related discipline plus ten (10) years' progressive leadership experience in a large multi-union healthcare organization or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
  
  

Knowledge & Abilities

• Develop and maintains strong relationships with key internal and external partners to promote and enhance services provided with sensitivity to diversity and indigenous lens.
• Practice the recognition, inclusion and support of all types and aspects of diversity at all stages of engagement, with an understanding of the issues faced by people from equity-deserving groups.
• Anticipate future changes in practice, and recommends transition strategies that optimize the efficiency, appropriateness, consistency and quality of People Programs.
• Develop, manage, and evaluate program delivery in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders considering service delivery needs, demands and constraints within a complex environment.
• Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to foster a motivating, encouraging and respectful work environment.
• Demonstrated experience and understanding for how care is delivered, enabling more practical, relevant, and implementable safety policies.
• Demonstrated understanding of risk mitigation as it relates to workplace safety and prevention, and experience with both proactive safety planning and incident response systems such as critical incident, and safety learning systems.
• Demonstrated data-driven mindset with experience analyzing safety event trends and outcomes to inform policy and procedural changes.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; facilitates, collaborates and negotiates with others.
• Strong organizational skills; able to prioritize, plan, organize workloads and manage client expectations.
• Quality service orientation; continuously seeks to develop and improve service and program delivery, standards and practices.
• Demonstrated understanding for both the clinical and operational aspects of care delivery, for holistic, system-wide safety & prevention strategy design.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with a variety of partners and lead change, and build and support management teams.
• Demonstrated ability to adapt readily to rapidly changing environment and respond with initiative.
• Displays comprehensive knowledge of project management principles and methodologies and ability to coach team members on these skills.
• Uses sound business acumen to manage the fiscal resources of the assigned projects/services in a manner that is financially responsible and consistent with overall goals of the organization.
  
  

Shared Values:

You care for everyone:

• You are compassionate, empathetic, and sensitive to the needs of others.
• You are respectful, treating people as equals, and valuing others’ perspectives and differences.
• You are appreciative of others’ efforts and give them praise when it’s due.
  

You are always learning:

• You are open minded, always receptive to different perspectives and ways of doing things.
• You are curious and ask questions to find a deeper understanding.
• You share your expertise and mentor others by sharing your knowledge and experience.
  

You strive for better results:

• You are accountable, and take responsibility for what you say, what you do, and who you engage in achieving better results.
• You are a solution finder, empowered to solve the challenges we face in healthcare.
• You take ownership for growth and development and personal development, always seek feedback and opportunities to improve how we do things.

As per Ministry of Health policy, all health care workers working in publicly-funded health care facilities are required to report their past receipt of certain vaccines or history of certain infections. Collecting these records will allow for offering of any missing vaccines, and for appropriate actions to be taken in the event of any future exposure to a communicable disease or during outbreaks. For all new hires and appointments to Vancouver Coastal Health, you will be asked to provide this information as part of the onboarding process.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Harleen Dastur-Randhawa, Manager, Executive Talent Acquisition at executivecareers@vch.ca.

WHY JOIN VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH?

VCH is a world class innovator in medical care, research and teaching, delivering service to more than one million BC residents. At VCH, we embrace thinking boldly, taking smart risks, and 'going first' when we believe it will lead to the best possible outcomes for patients and their families. We invite you to join us in creating healthy lives in healthy communities by showcasing our passion for care, connection to the communities we serve and our culture of teamwork that makes VCH a great place to work,

• Comprehensive health benefits package, including MSP, extended health and dental and municipal pension plan
• Grow your career with employer-paid training and leadership development opportunities
• Wellness supports, including counselling, critical incident and innovative wellness services are available to employees and their immediate families
• Award-winning recognition programs to honour staff, medical staff and volunteers
• Access to exclusive discount offers and deals for VCH staffAt Vancouver Coastal Health, our vision of healthy lives in healthy communities inspires us and our values and pillars guide us.
  

We support equitable practices, diverse teams and inclusive environments, which are vital to creating welcoming spaces where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and feel supported. We encourage applications from equity-deserving communities, including Indigenous Peoples and members of racialized groups, people with disabilities and people of all gender identities and expressions and sexual orientation.

Vancouver Coastal Health is proud to be recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers, BC’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers and Canada's Top Employers for Young People in 2026.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for this posting.

***Employees of VCH must apply online via the Internal Career Portal on CareerHub, you are currently viewing the External Career Portal. Refer to the https://my.vch.ca/working-here/job-postings site for instructions on how to view internal job postings and how to apply as an employee. Current VCH employees who apply to this posting using this external site will be considered as an external candidate. Seniority will not apply.***

Thank you for your interest in Vancouver Coastal Health.