Executive Director, Technology and Data

Department

Strategy, Innovation & Transformation

Reports to

Group Head & EVP, Strategy, Innovation & Transformation

Job type

Full-Time, Permanent, Hybrid working 3-4 days per week

Location

Ontario Based

Posting period

Monday, September 1, 2025

The opportunity

Are you motivated by the chance to help ensure all young people in Canada can access mental health support and Feel Out Loud? Kids Help Phone (KHP) is Canada’s Unlock The Hope Youth Charity. We’re the first and only 24/7 e-mental health service in the country and a global leader in innovation for youth and their well-being.

Summary of role

​A Mission-Critical Leadership Role Where Technical Excellence Meets Operational Innovation

The Executive Director, Technology and Data is a transformational leader who serves as the technical and data backbone supporting Kids Help Phone's innovation ecosystem. Working in close partnership with the Executive Director of Innovation and Product and operational leadership, this role focuses on building and maintaining the robust, scalable technology infrastructure and data capabilities that enable breakthrough innovations to reach millions of young people across Canada.

This position is perfect for a seasoned technology executive who thrives in resource-constrained environments and has proven experience implementing enterprise-grade technical solutions that power product innovation and organizational transformation. Someone who enables leading data operations and data science functions, ensuring robust governance, privacy, security, reporting and business intelligence. You will be the chief architect of our technology and data platforms, ensuring that every system, database, and integration delivers the reliability, security, and performance needed to support cutting-edge mental health innovations (AI, gaming, opensource are all part of the technology foundations needed).

Key responsibilities

Technology Infrastructure Leadership and Innovation Enablement

• Architect and maintain enterprise technology platform that provides the reliable, scalable foundation for innovation and AI powered initiatives and operations
• Lead technical feasibility assessment for new product concepts, working collaboratively with Innovation and Product leadership to ensure technical and financial viability.
• Oversee cybersecurity, privacy compliance, and data governance with standards appropriate for sensitive mental health data and youth-serving operations
• Collaborate closely with Executive Director of Innovation and Product to align technical roadmap with innovation pipeline, ensuring technology capabilities anticipate and enable future product developments
• Champion API-first architecture and integration capabilities that enable rapid experimentation and deployment of innovative service delivery methods
• Data Operations for the AI Era
• Drive the design and multi-year implementation of KHP’s future state Data Operating Model, enabling emerging AI and machine learning capabilities
• Evolve data infrastructure, business intelligence and reporting capabilities that provides real-time insights to support data-driven decision making across the organization
• Lead data science and analytics functions focused on youth trends and operational intelligence that inform key organizational decisions
• Ensure compliance with evolving privacy, security, and risk standards, and maintain a strong internal control environment with clear requirements identified and implemented to meet KHP’s brand and trust mandate
• Operational Excellence
• Accountable for financial management of all Data and Technology functions, initiatives and deliverables. Align strategy, planning and financial management to deliver results on time and on budget.
• Develop technology vendor relationships and partnerships that provide cost-effective access to cutting-edge tools while maintaining strategic independence for core systems
• Ensure 24/7 system reliability and performance for critical mental health services, ensuring robust monitoring, disaster recovery, and incident response capabilities
• Drive automation and efficiency initiatives, including implementation of AI tools for staff, that build capacity while minimizing resource requirements
• Lead technology team development and capability building with focus on skills that support both operational excellence and innovation enablement

Partnership with Clinical and Operational Leadership

• Digital Health Infrastructure: Partner with clinical and operational leaders to continuously improve digital systems that align with frontline realities and regulatory requirements.
• Operational Resilience and Scalability: Ensure that core systems enabling KHP clinical services are resilient, interoperable, and scalable to meet evolving service demands.
• Change Leadership and Adoption: Lead change management efforts in partnership with clinical and operational teams to ensure successful adoption of new technologies, with a focus on training, usability, and frontline engagement.
• Partnership with Applied Research and Innovation and Product Leadership
• Complementary Expertise Model: While the Executive Director of Innovation and Product focuses on user experience, product strategy, and innovation pipeline, you provide the technical architecture, data capabilities, and operational systems that bring innovations to life. Your work will enable and supercharge the Executive Director, Applied Research with the data and systems needed to advance our work uncovering new evidence and insights for game changing impact.
• Joint Strategic Planning: Co-develop roadmaps that ensure data and technical capabilities anticipate and enable product innovations and applied research while maintaining operational excellence
• Resource Coordination: Collaborate on technology budget allocation, ensuring optimal investment in both infrastructure reliability and innovation-enabling capabilities

Required Experience and Skills

• 8+ years of senior technology leadership experience with demonstrated success as technical partner to product / innovation leadership
• Proven track record of building enterprise technology platforms that enable rapid innovation and scaling, particularly in nonprofit, healthcare, or social services environments
• Deep expertise in enterprise architecture and cloud platforms with experience selecting and implementing solutions that balance performance, cost, and scalability
• Experience leading collaborative relationships with operations, product management and innovation teams, including joint planning and resource allocation
• Strong background in data governance, cybersecurity, and compliance appropriate for organizations handling sensitive personal information

Preferred qualifications

• 7+ years of leadership experience
• Track record of building technology capabilities that enable rapid prototyping, testing, and scaling of innovative service delivery models
• Experience with API-first architecture and microservices that support both operational stability and innovation agility
• Collaborative leadership style proven effective in peer-to-peer relationships with product, operational and innovation executives
• Systems thinking and technical vision that anticipates and enables innovation while maintaining operational excellence
• Strong communication skills including ability to translate technical concepts into executive messaging
• Cultural alignment with nonprofit mission and commitment to serving diverse youth populations through technology excellence

Don’t meet every qualification listed? Studies often report that equity-deserving people are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every requirement. KHP is dedicated to building a more diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align with every qualification, we welcome you to apply anyway. You may have the qualifications / experience for this role or other opportunities at KHP!

The application process

To apply for this opportunity, you can tap the “Apply” button on this page and follow the on-screen instructions.

About KHP, Canada’s Unlock The Hope Youth Charity

KHP is Canada’s first and only free, multilingual and confidential e-mental health service that’s always open, offering youth from coast to coast to coast support and a non-judgmental space to Feel Out Loud. Since 1989, KHP has been the empowering, trusted changemaker that helps give young people’s feelings a place to go through unparalleled e-mental health solutions. With innovation in our DNA, KHP integrates data, technology, clinical expertise and more to help deliver a personalized well-being experience for all youth, so they can thrive in their world, no matter where life takes them. For more information and opportunities to help young people let their feelings out, you can visit KidsHelpPhone.ca.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA)

KHP has a role to play in effecting social change and advancing equity. We will not waver on these commitments and will continue leading the way in making the workplace, and the world young people live in, more inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible.

As such, we always welcome applicants from equity-deserving communities (e.g. Indigenous Peoples, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women, 2SLGBTQ+ individuals, etc.). We strongly believe that alleviating the underrepresentation of equity-deserving groups will help create a stronger KHP and help us better support the needs of youth from coast to coast to coast.

To learn more about how we are committed to advancing IDEA, you can explore KHP’s IDEA 2023–2027 Strategy and Action Plan

Accommodations

KHP welcomes applications from people living with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are available upon request during any phase of the application / hiring process. If you’re contacted about an opportunity, you can reply and let us know if you require accommodations at any time.

Compensation and benefits

Salaries at KHP are determined by candidate experience, qualifications and specific skill sets, as well as market and operational considerations. Potential additional benefits at KHP include:

• Hybrid work model
• Comprehensive Employee Benefits Program
• Emergency Travel Assistance
• CAAT Pension Plan
• Wellness programs
• Recognition awards
• Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)

Candidate verification

The successful candidate for this opportunity will be asked to complete a background screen, which may include criminal, credit, employment and educational checks. All offers of employment are conditional on the receipt of satisfactory results of any applicable check.

Privacy

KHP cares about your privacy! We’re required to save select information about opportunities, applications and interviews for set periods of time. To learn more, you can explore KHP’s Privacy Policy or contact us using our general form.

Message to agencies

KHP doesn’t accept unsolicited phone calls, referrals and / or resumes from any source other than directly from candidates. KHP won’t consider unsolicited phone calls, referrals and / or resumes from vendors including and without limitation, search firms, staffing agencies, fee-based referral services and recruiting agencies. The submission of unsolicited referrals and / or resumes by anyone other than a candidate directly to KHP is deemed gratuitous. KHP won’t be obligated or bound in any way to pay a referral or any other fee if a person referred to us from a source other than a direct candidate is subsequently hired.