Volunteer Head of HR

Our Organization

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Autism Spectrum Disorder Surveillance System, an estimated 1 in every 50 (2%) Canadian children and youth is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder — and that rate has continued to rise. While early-childhood supports exist in pockets across the country, services thin dramatically after diagnosis, through the school years, and virtually disappear in adulthood.

The Living Autism Foundation (LAF) is a Canadian nonprofit built to close that gap with a full-lifespan model of support — from first diagnosis through adulthood.

Our work is organized around five pillars: Family Navigation & Crisis Support, The Bridge Curriculum (our flagship, a sequenced K–12 neurodiversity literacy framework for school board adoption), Community Inclusion & Employment, Adult Lifecourse Services, and a Research & Policy Accelerator. LAF is currently pursuing registered charity status with the Canada Revenue Agency and is governed by a structure built for accountability — including a documented referral verification protocol, clinician recusal policies, and a standing Autistic Advisory Council with real decision-making authority.

The Role The Living Autism Foundation is looking for 1 volunteer Head of HR to build our volunteer hiring function from scratch. LAF currently has a growing library of role-specific job descriptions (Project Manager, Website Designer, Graphic Artist, Videographer, Content Creator, Marketing Manager, and more to come) but no standardized process behind them yet — no intake pipeline, no interview framework, no offer or onboarding documents, and no screening policy appropriate for an organization working with autistic children, youth, and families.

This is a founding-stage, build-it-yourself role: you'll design the systems, templates, and policies that every future LAF volunteer and, eventually,



staff hire will move through — including the safeguarding standards that matter most given who we serve.

Key Responsibilities

- Design and stand up LAF's end-to-end volunteer hiring process: intake, screening, interview, offer, and onboarding
- Standardize the existing library into one consistent template and format
- Build core HR documents: volunteer applications, interview guides/scorecards, offer letters, confidentiality and code-of-conduct agreements, and a volunteer handbook
- Establish a Vulnerable Sector Check (police records check) policy for any role with direct or indirect contact with autistic children and youth, in line with standard Canadian nonprofit safeguarding practice
- Set up a simple applicant tracking process (e.g., a shared tracker or lightweight ATS) so no candidate falls through the cracks
- Coordinate with the Executive Director and Sprezza Advisory on role scoping and hiring priorities
- Consult the Autistic Advisory Council on hiring and safeguarding practices where relevant
- Establish a basic volunteer recognition, feedback, and offboarding process

Desired Skills and Expertise

- Demonstrated HR, talent acquisition, or people-operations experience
- Experience building HR processes, policies, or documentation from scratch (startup, nonprofit, or founding-stage experience is a strong asset)
- Working knowledge of Canadian volunteer/employment screening practices, including vulnerable sector checks
- Robust document design and writing skills — you can turn a process into a clear,



usable template
- Comfort setting up lightweight systems and trackers (Google Workspace, Notion, or a simple ATS)
- Sound judgment on confidentiality, safeguarding, and conflict-of-interest matters
- Excellent interpersonal and interviewing skills
- Genuine interest in autism inclusion and accessibility; sector experience not required

Benefits

- Ownership of a foundational function — every future LAF volunteer and hire will move through what you build
- Direct collaboration with LAF's Executive Director, Sprezza Advisory, and the Autistic Advisory Council
- A letter of reference provided after a completed term of volunteering
- Acknowledgement on LAF's website and social media
- A strong portfolio piece: a built-from-scratch nonprofit HR framework
- Opportunity to network with nonprofit and HR professionals
- Additional benefits discussed at interview The Commitment
- This is a remote/hybrid position; occasional in-person meetings in the Greater Toronto Area (South Etobicoke) may be arranged
- This is a volunteer, unpaid position
- Approximately 6–10 hours per week, with flexibility around your schedule
- This is a 6-month initial commitment, with the possibility of extending into a longer-term advisory or board-track role
- We'd like to fill this position as soon as we find the right candidate
- 1 position is available

How to Apply

If you fit the profile above and would benefit personally and professionally from contributing your HR or people-operations experience to LAF's mandate, please send your expression of interest, including your resume and any relevant HR frameworks or documents you've built, to [email protected].

We thank all applicants for their interest. Only those candidates whose skills and experience best match the requirements of the position will be contacted.

📌 Volunteer Head of Human Resources (Ontario)
🏢 The Living Autism Foundation (Canada)
📍 Ontario