Community Leader; Executive Director

L’Arche is an organization in which people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together, rooted in relationships, belonging, dignity, and the belief that every person has gifts to offer.

We live, work, and learn together in our 30 communities across Canada. Founded in 1964, L'Arche strives to shape a more human and just society where each person’s gifts are known and celebrated.

Position :
Community Leader (Executive Director)

Term: Permanent

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Hours: Full Time (40 hours per week)

Responsible to
: L’Arche Homefires Board andL’Arche Canada Regional Director

L’Arche Homefires is a diverse, dynamic, and busy community based in Wolfville and the surrounding Annapolis Valley. Through our homes, programs, and supported independent living, people with and without intellectual disabilities share daily life, build meaningful relationships, and contribute to the wider community.

We are looking for a strong, compassionate, and grounded Community Leader who can lead Homefires into its next chapter.

This is a significant leadership role. We need someone who understands that good leadership requires clarity, consistency, calmness, listening, collaboration, accountability, and follow-through. Our community is looking for someone who can hold the bigger picture while remaining genuinely connected to the people who make up our community. We want someone who can listen carefully, make hard decisions, support others to lead, address difficult issues when necessary, and get things done.

Above all, we are looking for a leader who will keep core members at the centre of Homefires and who genuinely wants to be part of community life.

About the Role:

The Community Leader provides overall leadership for L’Arche Homefires and is responsible for ensuring that our mission, values, commitments to core members, and organizational responsibilities are lived consistently across the community.

The Community Leader works closely with the Senior Leadership Team, Board of Directors, Regional Leader, core members, assistants, families and guardians, employees, government partners, and the wider L’Arche Federation.

This role combines community leadership with executive responsibility. The successful candidate must be equally comfortable spending time in our homes and programs, listening to core members and assistants, supporting leaders, reviewing budgets and organizational priorities, working with the Board, managing change, and representing Homefires externally.

The Community Leader does not need to personally make every decision or manage every operational detail. They do need to ensure that the right people have clear authority, expectations, resources, support, and accountability, and that important matters are followed through.

Our community has been very clear about the kind of leadership it wants.

We are looking for someone who:

• Keeps core members at the centre, making decisions with core members and ensuring their choices, dignity, relationships, safety, and wellbeing remain central to the work of Homefires.
• Is present and involved, spending meaningful time in our homes and programs, participating in community life, and getting to know every core member, including those who communicate in different ways.
• Is authentic and approachable, enjoys people, listens carefully, builds trust, and is willing to work alongside others rather than leading from a distance.
• Provides strong and competent leadership, understanding that a healthy L’Arche community also requires sound financial management, effective operations, strong people leadership, appropriate systems, and regulatory compliance.
• Communicates clearly, honestly, and consistently,…