ABOUT US
SickKids Foundation, with over 50 years of philanthropic impact, is Canada's largest charitable funder of child health research, learning and care, raising over $200 million last year. As a national charity, SickKids Foundation invests in national and international initiatives to benefit children in Canada and around the world. As the fundraising partner to The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), we are aligned in supporting Precision Child Health (PCH), the future of tailoring medicine to each child's unique traits so SickKids can diagnose faster, treat smarter, and predict better.
SickKids Foundation is committed to an inclusive culture by embedding equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in our policies, practices, and behaviours. We aim to build awareness and skills in this area, both internally and with our partners. Our commitment extends to creating a safe, positive work environment. For details on our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion commitment, please click here. (https://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/aboutus/equitydiversityandinclusion)
Now, we’re looking for a transformative leader to join us as Chief Operating Officer —someone who will help us build an empowered, engaged, and future-ready foundation where all employees feel a sense of belonging.
Position Status: Permanent Full-Time
Available: Immediately
Description of the Position:
Position Summary
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is a key member of the Chief Executive Committee (CEC) and serves as a strategic partner to the President & CEO in advancing the mission, impact, and long-term sustainability of the Foundation.
Reporting directly to the President & CEO, the COO provides executive leadership and oversight across a broad portfolio of corporate and operational functions, including Finance & Gift Administration, People & Culture, Legal & Risk, Innovation, Strategic Planning & Process Improvement, Donor Experience & Impact, and Board Relations & Governance. The role is accountable for ensuring organizational effectiveness, strong governance, enterprise risk management, financial stewardship, and cross-functional alignment in support of the organization's strategic objectives.
As a trusted advisor to the CEO and CEC, the COO drives organizational priorities, facilitates decision-making, coordinates executive initiatives, and ensures strong alignment between strategy, operations, and governance.
Key Responsibilities
Executive Leadership & Organizational Stewardship
- Serve as a strategic partner to the President & CEO in advancing organizational priorities, performance, and long-term impact.
- Provide enterprise-wide leadership that promotes operational excellence, accountability, collaboration, and innovation
- Identify opportunities to leverage cross-functional capabilities to capitalize on Foundation strengths and/or to address organizational challenges and ensure alignment of organizational resources, capabilities, and structures to strategic objectives.
- Develop and implement an effective and streamlined decision making process for the Foundation to foster clarity, agility, and strong governance.
- Influence and/or lead executive leadership discussions, strategic initiatives, and organizational transformation efforts.
- Build, develop, and maintain effective and mutually beneficial partnerships with key stakeholders within SickKids Hospital and the Foundation to facilitate ongoing awareness and support to raise funds.
Board Relations & Governance
- Serve as the primary executive lead supporting the Board of Directors and Board Committees.
- Partner closely with the Board Chair, Committee Chairs, CEO, and executive leaders to ensure effective governance practices.
- Oversee board planning, meeting management, agenda development, materials preparation, and governance processes.
- Ensure the Board receives high-quality information, insights, and recommendations to support strategic decision-making.
- Advise the CEO and Board on governance matters, emerging risks, regulatory considerations, and organizational implications.
- Support the CEO and Board in identifying and cultivating prospective leadership candidates for Board and Committee roles.
Innovation, Strategic Planning & Process Improvement
- In collaboration with the CEO, operationalize the multi-year strategic planning process including goals and objective-setting, annual operating plans and budgets, and ongoing reporting for the organization.
- Oversee the short and long-term enterprise strategic planning processes and support organizational strategy execution.
- Drive organizational transformation initiatives and continuous improvement efforts.
- Foster innovation and the adoption of new approaches, technologies, and operating models that enhance organizational effectiveness and impact.
- Monitor external trends and emerging opportunities relevant to healthcare philanthropy and the broader charitable sector.
Financial Stewardship & Enterprise Performance
- Provide executive oversight of financial strategy, planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, investments, and financial controls.
- Ensure strong financial stewardship and effective allocation of resources in support of mission impact.
- Monitor organizational performance and financial sustainability through meaningful metrics and reporting.
- Partner with finance leadership to identify opportunities for operational efficiencies and long-term value creation.
People, Culture & Organizational Effectiveness
- Champion a values-driven, inclusive, and high-performing organizational culture.
- Provide oversight of talent strategy, leadership development, workforce planning, succession planning, and employee engagement.
- Support leaders in building organizational capability and fostering accountability and performance excellence.
Legal, Risk & Compliance
- Oversee enterprise risk management, legal affairs, compliance, and organizational policies.
- Ensure appropriate frameworks are in place to identify, assess, and mitigate strategic, operational, financial, and reputational risks.
- Advise executive leadership and the Board on key risk considerations and emerging issues.
- Ensure compliance with applicable legislation, regulations, governance standards, and charitable sector requirements.
Granting Operations
- Provide executive oversight of granting operations to ensure alignment with organizational strategy, established outcomes, and governance requirements.
- Work closely with hospital executive leadership to ensure that fundraising and granting activities are aligned with fundraising priorities of the Hospital and support the evolution of granting practices, processes, and measurement frameworks to deliver upon them.
- Ensure appropriate stewardship, accountability, and effectiveness across granting activities.
Donor Experience & Impact
- Oversee the strategic direction of donor experience and donor care functions in alignment with our Donor Promise commitments.
- Ensure exceptional stewardship practices that strengthen donor engagement, trust, and long-term relationships.
- Support a culture of service excellence and continuous improvement across donor-facing operations.
Leadership
- Develop, lead, attract, inspire, and mentor a diverse, high-performing team to ensure that the mission and core values of SickKids Foundation are put into practice.
- Establish clear expectations, accountability frameworks, and performance measures to deliver functional and business unit outcomes.
- Empower functional Operations leaders to create and execute functional strategic plans, while providing senior-level strategic guidance, coaching, and oversight and ensuring appropriate resources to deliver.
- Accountable for the employee experience within Operations, fostering a culture of continuous learning, psychological safety, accountability to results, and change agility.
Core Competencies
The successful candidate will embody and have demonstrated success against the following competencies:
- Strategic Enterprise Thinking – Anticipates trends, risks, opportunities, and emerging challenges to shape organizational direction and inform executive and Board decision-making.
- Transformational Leadership – Successfully leads complex organizational change, driving innovation, modernization, and continuous improvement while maintaining organizational stability.
- Executive Influence & Courage – Provides candid, thoughtful counsel and is willing to challenge assumptions and address difficult issues constructively
- Relationship-Centered Leadership – Leads through influence, trust, and accountability, empowering senior leaders to deliver results while addressing challenges with candour, empathy, and respect.
- Digital & Data Fluency – Leverages data, technology, analytics, and emerging trends to inform strategy, improve performance, and support evidence-based decision-making.
- Governance & Board Partnership – Builds trusted relationships with Board members and governance leaders while supporting effective governance, stewardship, and strategic oversight.
- Collaborative Enterprise Leadership – Creates alignment across functions, influences without authority, and brings diverse stakeholders together around shared objectives.
- Culture & Talent Stewardship – Champions a high-performance, values-based culture through coaching, development, and accountability, fostering growth and continuous improvement.
- Executive Presence & Sound Judgment – Demonstrates credibility, resilience, and balanced judgment in complex, sensitive, and high-stakes situations.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Public Administration, Law, Human Resources, or a related field.
- CPA designation is considered a strong asset.
- Progressive senior leadership experience overseeing multiple corporate functions within a complex organization.
- Experience working with Boards of Directors and supporting governance processes at a senior executive level.
- Demonstrated success leading organizational transformation, strategic initiatives, and enterprise-wide change.
- Experience within healthcare, healthcare philanthropy, not-for-profit, charitable, public sector, or similarly complex stakeholder environments is strongly preferred.
- Ability to deploy financial and organizational data to inform strategy and decision-making.
- Demonstrated ability to foster collaborative, inclusive, and employee-centered workplace practices.
- Strong project management and stakeholder management capabilities.
- Strong digital acumen; deploying technology, AI, and other tools to augment work outputs and instill a technology-first approach to streamline operational processes.
Total Compensation Package
Expected Hiring Salary Range: The target salary range for this position is $300,000 – $340,000 base plus performance-based incentives, with the ability to progress based on proficiency and individual performance. To ensure fair and equitable pay at SickKids Foundation, placement on the salary range will be based on your years of experience, skills, and qualifications relevant to the role.
To help you lead in the fight for kids’ health and to support your health, wellness, and career growth, in addition to competitive compensation, we offer a comprehensive benefit package (includes a flex benefit plan), tuition reimbursement, flexible work and generous annual paid time off options, pension plan, and birth parent/parental top up – to name a few!
Position Status: Permanent Full-Time;
Hours: Hybrid work model: minimum three days per week in-office (Tuesday - Thursday).
Available To: Internal and External Candidates
Available: Immediately; this posting is for an existing vacancy.
Date Posted: June 19, 2026
Deadline: Friday, July 3, 2026
Screening and interviews may begin prior to the posting close date. We encourage early applications.
How to apply: Please apply on-line by visiting our website: https://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/careersandvolunteers (https://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/careersandvolunteers)
Please note that automated tools, including artificial intelligence, may be used to support the pre-screening of applications as part of our recruitment process.
SickKids Foundation is committed to its people and the talents, capabilities, and perspectives they bring to our mission. We live that commitment by being open and accessible to all, by valuing and respecting every individual, and by equally supporting every employee. As an organization proud to have joined the BlackNorth Initiative’s CEO pledge, we uphold our commitment by inviting and encouraging individuals from diverse lived experiences from Black, Indigenous, communities of colour, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ community and all candidates who may contribute to the further diversification of the Foundation’s community.
Candidates who require accommodation during the recruitment process should contact the People & Culture team at: [email protected]
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