Coordinator, Strategic Communications and Community Relations |
Competition Number | 2023-345 | Job Code | 1461 |
Posting Date | April 18, 2024 | Closing Date | May 6, 2024 (at 6:00pm) |
Job Status | Permanent Full-Time |
The City of Kitchener is a vibrant and dynamic city of approximately 270,000, in the heart of southwestern Ontario. As the largest municipality in Waterloo Region, Kitchener continues to be poised for development and growth, enhancing its reputation as a leader in city-building and innovation, with nationally recognized strategies to build its neighbourhoods, its digital infrastructure and its diverse economy. The City of Kitchener is WHERE you want to work! Learn more about the top reasons to join us: Why work at the City of Kitchener |
Position Overview: An exciting opportunity exists for a Coordinator, Strategic Communications and Community Relations to join the City of Kitchener as a strategic thinker, relationship builder, and collaborator. Working with a passionate team of city builders, you will help the Mayor and Council connect with community, fostering a caring, connected and inclusive Kitchener. Reporting to the Chief of Staff in the Office of Mayor and Council, you will play a key role in constituency and community relations and communications, providing opportunity for members of Council to proactively connect with our community and communicate effectively about Kitchener priorities and issues. If you are a strategic communicator with exceptional written and verbal communications skills, digital media and design experience, project management skills, community outreach experience , and have a proven track record building and maintaining positive relationships with community groups, agencies, and individuals, this is your chance to make a difference in a meaningful and exciting role! |
Responsibilities: - The Coordinator, Strategic Communications and Community Relations will recommend, write and produce communications materials (written, digital) for the Mayor and members of Council to support the effective communication of key initiatives of Council, will deliver effective engagement activities to support citizen participation.
Communications and Marketing - Establish and maintain a collaborative and effective working relationship with the Corporate Communications and Marketing division to ensure alignment with corporate messaging and communications planning.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with media representatives; coordinate media interviews for Mayor and Councillors in consultation with Corporate Communications.
- Collaborates with the Chief of Staff to develop the communications strategy for the Office of Mayor & Council.
- Leads the development of a strategic communication plan for Mayor and Council including proactive media pitching, planning and coordinating events and press conferences, developing social media content and video content.
- Liaises with Constituency Assistants to review citizen call data, identify trends and develop responsive communications tactics to support the Mayor and members of Council.
- Identifies emerging trends and potential issues through ongoing scans of the media (mainstream and social) environment and develop issues management plans; consults with Corporate Communications and Marketing to ensure alignment.
- Drafts communications materials on behalf of members of Council and the Mayor including speeches/remarks, statements, video messages, social media posts and key messages.
- Develops clear, effective, and timely communications tools and templates, such as presentations, speaking notes, news releases, backgrounders and media Q&As.
- Writes video scripts, records and edits basic videos to support Mayor and Council initiatives and messages.
- Creates impactful graphics and digital design collateral that will support Mayor and Council communications.
- Attends City and partner events to capture photos for Council and/or social media use.
- Follows the City of Kitchener corporate branding guidelines and Canadian Press Style Guide
- Works with Chief of Staff and Director, Corporate Communications to monitor the external environment, proactively identify communication needs and responsive tactics.
- Works closely with the Manager, Corporate Planning in the CAO's office to proactively identify and develop collateral material that supports strategic government relations priorities.
- Works directly with members of Council to develop effective communications materials for stakeholders and community groups.
- Works with City of Kitchener Corporate Communications & Marketing division to ensure appropriate involvement of Mayor/Members of Council at official city events and within corporate news releases (e.g proactively identifies opportunities, drafts quotes, speaking remarks etc.)
- Prepares Mayor/Council members for all media interviews when required.
- Organizes and moderates Mayor's press conferences.
Citizen Outreach & Communication - Supports Councillors in the planning and, where possible, execution of ward-specific engagement meetings, events, and other outreach activities.
- Reviews and analyzes statistics and other data to support Council members/Constituency Assistants in developing meaningful content for ward-specific communications and outreach activities.
- Provides advice and guidance to Constituency Assistants in the development of engagement tactics (ward newsletters, social media etc.) to increase citizen awareness.
- Ensures communication materials prepared by CA's for engagement are accurate consistent with defined goals and objectives, and align with strategic corporate and government relations objectives
- Supports interim coverage of inbound calls and emails received by the Office of Mayor and Council.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
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Requirements: - Your key strengths include writing, developing and managing community relationships, and event planning and execution. Ideally, you have worked in a political environment, or in a provincial or federal level association. You have a 3-year degree or diploma in communications, public relations, political science, journalism or related field, with a minimum of 4 years of direct experience.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication experience and skills to write key messages and content for various mediums.
- Knowledge of communications and marketing principles and tactics and tools.
- Strong political judgment and stakeholder relations experience.
- Familiarity of community and stakeholder networks in Kitchener and Waterloo region.
- Strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
- An approach that is focused on customer and client-service.
- Knowledge of issues management best practices.
- Knowledge of communications and marketing trends and best practices, including content creation, strategies and user expectations and preferences.
- Knowledge of Canadian Press Style Guide and understanding of relevant legislation (e.g. Ontario Municipal Act, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, and Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.)
- Knowledge and understanding of copyright and infringement legislation or policies.
- Skill in the use of a personal computer with the ability to use software programs such as Microsoft Office, content management systems, and social media web-based applications.
- Basic video creation skills including script writing, recording and editing.
- Graphic design skills.
- Proficiency in software programs such as Canva, Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop an asset.
- Knowledge of online communications, media relations and digital media best practices, including content creation and strategy, social media tools, video, website, analytics and trends.
- Organizational skills to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
- Ability to develop and implement effective plans and campaigns for a variety of projects, initiatives and programs.
- Ability to synthesize content into concise, meaningful information for intended audience.
- Ability to develop creative concepts for campaign initiatives.
- Ability to adapt writing styles for different target audiences.
- Ability to recommend appropriate communications strategies and approaches.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment to meet deadlines.
- Ability to support and project values compatible with the organization and to participate as an effective team member.
- Must be reliable with a good attitude and employment record.
Note: All interested applicants are encouraged to apply. In the event there is no successful applicant with the stated level of education and experience, other applicants will be considered if a combination of their education and experience meets the following pre-determined equivalency: - 2-Year Diploma (or 2-Year Specialized Post-Secondary Program) with minimum 7 years related and relevant experience OR
- 4-Year Honours Degree with minimum 2 years related and relevant experience.
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The City of Kitchener is committed to an equity-driven, inclusive, accessible, and barrier-free recruitment and selection process, and to ensuring our workforce reflects the full diversity of the community we serve. We welcome applications from Indigenous, Black, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ persons, as well as other equity deserving groups. We will accommodate the needs of applicants under the Human Rights Code and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process. Please contact Human Resources at [email protected], or 519-741-2200 ext. 7261 to make your needs known, so that we can support your full and equal participation throughout the hiring process. We appreciate the interest of all applicants. Only candidates whose skills, experience and qualifications meet the requirements of the position will be contacted. Please note that as per Human Resources Policy HUM-HIR-110, "Employment of Relatives of Staff Members and Elected Officials": "The immediate relatives of staff of the Human Resources Division, all Directors, General Managers, or the Chief Administrative Officer and Elected Officials shall not be employed by the City in any capacity. The immediate relatives of all other Management personnel shall not be employed where such employment would be: 1. within the same Department in the case of permanent full-time, temporary full-time and part-time classifications. 2. within the same Division in the case of students." |
Department | Corporate Services | Division | Office of the GM, Corporate Services |
Union Affiliation | Non-Union/Management | Number of Positions | 1 |
Hours of Work | 35 hours per week |
Location |
Initial Location | City Hall | City | Kitchener |
Compensation |
Salary Range | $78,480 – 98,101 annually Eff Nov 1 $81,314 - $101,643 | Grade/Band | 9 (under review) |
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