Schools Outreach Lead

About us

Chapter One gives children one-to-one reading support at the time they need it most, in schools (online and in person) and at home (online, via the family's smartphone). We are a national not-for-profit corporation and registered Canadian charity with a team working from home across the country.

Summary

Do you have a passion for helping children and families access resources and supports that help them thrive?

Do you have experience working with school boards, schools and educators?

Do you feel confident reaching out to and building relationships with people across multiple sectors and backgrounds?

If you answered yes, you may be our next Schools Outreach Lead!

Teachers and principals are often the first to see that a child needs reading support. We are looking for someone who understands schools and school boards in order to determine, board by board, often school by school, how to best connect with families and provide access to the reading tutoring that each child needs.

What you would do

• Build relationships. Ensuring that the children who are struggling have access to tutoring that will support them in their learning journey starts with the adults who are part of children's lives. You will reach out to those adults who work with children to ensure that they can provide information to families and get them access to tutoring.
• Determine the best approach. Every community is different and your job will be to understand the best approach for families to access tutoring for their children.
• Explain Chapter One simply. Tell a busy person in two minutes what we do and why it helps the children in their school. There are a million programs out there. You need to be able to help people understand what makes Chapter One effective.
• Make a difference in a child's life. When you connect a child and their family with Chapter One tutoring, you know that you have made a difference in that child's life and that they will gain skills and confidence that will last a lifetime.

Qualifications

• You already know how schools and school boards work, as a teacher, principal, education worker, social worker or community liaison, or you have worked with a school board or a children's service. This is the main thing we are looking for.
• You are a self-starter, organized, and diligent.
• You have built partnerships or programs with schools or community organizations that had a positive impact on children's lives.
• You have experience working with First Nations, Inuit or Métis communities, families or education staff.

What else we are looking for

• You are motivated by our mission, work independently and take initiative. You set your own priorities, and you come to the CEO early with what you observe, including problems, and what you suggest.
• You enjoy working with colleagues across the organization, and you give and receive constructive feedback.
• You have an optimistic outlook, and you are patient, adaptable and diplomatic when priorities differ.
• You work out how an organization makes its decisions and find a way through, rather than waiting to be told how.
• You build working relationships quickly. If you already know people in schools or school boards, that helps a lot.
• You explain things clearly and can take the perspective of others.

How we work

Our staff team works from home across Canada, alongside part-time tutors who work with children in schools (online and in person) and at home (online, via families' smartphones). We use Google Workspace and rely on clear procedures and shared calendars. Everyone here wears more than one hat and pitches in where the need is greatest, such as helping at an event, covering for a colleague who is away or helping a new tool or program start.

You will work closely with the CEO and with colleagues across the organization. Most of your work happens during the school day and we set your weekly schedule with you. Time you spend travelling to communities for work counts as working time.

Benefits and terms

• Employee position on our payroll, with paid vacation and sick time from your first day, and group benefits once you have passed the probationary period (three months).
• Your employment contract is issued for the province you live in.
• Because most of the work happens during the school day, this role is hard to combine with a full-time job. If you have another job, we will talk during the interview about how to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
• Check your employer's outside-work policy before you apply. After a conditional offer you will be asked to complete a police information check through a third-party service, with your written consent.

About Chapter One Canada

Chapter One Canada is a registered Canadian charity (No. 73848 6117 RR0001), part of a global education non-profit working in Canada, the US and the UK. In the 2025-26 school year, Chapter One Canada supported 2,090 children. We currently work in nine provinces and territories and are expanding quickly. Besides one-to-one tutoring in schools and at home, we run an online reading volunteer program, and we co-create original storybooks with Indigenous writers, illustrators and Elders, which anyone can read for free in our Global Free Library.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Chapter One is an advocate for equity and is committed to ensuring its community is diverse and inclusive. We welcome applications from First Nations, Inuit and Métis candidates.

We also welcome people whose experience does not look like a straight line.

How to apply

Upload or paste your résumé, then answer five short written questions. The first is a cover letter. Allow about an hour.

Write the answers in your own words. We would rather read something specific and real than something formulaic or overly polished by AI. When you apply through the form on our website, you can leave and come back on the same device; your answers are kept in your browser until you send them.

Apply by Monday 30 November 2026. We read applications as they arrive, so applying early helps. If you ask us for an accommodation or a different format, we treat your application as received on the day you wrote to us.

If we invite you to interview, you may be asked to do a short case exercise. We also check references, including someone you reported to, and we ask you before we contact anyone. If we share internal material with finalists, we ask them to keep it confidential.

What happens to what you send us