Description
Role Summary:
Reporting to the Communications Director for the CST project, the Communications Specialist has a passion for delivering impactful campaigns and initiatives to meet communications objectives and support the successful delivery of the project. This person is accountable for recommending approaches, planning, implementing and evaluating high quality communications materials and plans, as well as helping to build and protect the CST project’s reputation. This professional is a strong critical thinker, well-organized and deadline driven; and will serve as a utility team member across all portfolios. The successful applicant naturally enjoys identifying compelling stories to match audience interests; is an exemplary writer; understands how and when to use digital media; and manages everything from content plans to events with ease. Communicating with audiences across the three health organizations and within the project, this person is a flexible team player who understands stakeholders’ emerging communications needs and knows how to navigate through complexity.
Key Accountabilities:
- Delivers ongoing communications products, discrete campaigns and events from end to end (planning, implementation and evaluation) ensuring they are effective, on time and within budget.
- Quickly understands and translates complex subject matter to produce meaningful content or stories that resonate and help to show what’s changing.
- Takes and writes effective briefs, and recommends approaches for new products to meet emerging needs.
- Provides high quality support to senior members of the communications team and, as required, members of the project’s leadership team and/or CST implementation leaders for the health organizations.
- Identifies potential challenges and opportunities that could affect the success of the CST project as they arise and recommends approaches to address or capitalize on them.
- Uses visual brand guidelines and applies content standards to protect the project’s integrity.
- Engages with a broad range of stakeholders both intra-project and across the three health organizations.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
Education or experience equivalent to an undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline such as Journalism, Communications, Marketing or Public Relations. A strong communicator with five (5) or more years’ recent, related experience.
- Experience planning and implementing integrated communications campaigns and measuring against objectives
- Excellent writing, editing and proofreading skills, with exemplary attention to detail.
- Experience managing digital media projects such as videos and audio podcasts.
- Critical thinking coupled with the ability to produce effective products and campaigns.
- Content planning skills and experience using content management systems.
- Solutions-focus, positive attitude, maturity and ability to engage a variety of busy stakeholders.
- Ability to plan and coordinate events and forums for communications purposes.
- Public sector experience and an understanding of complex change projects preferred.
- Ability to handle highly confidential and sensitive issues with skill, tact and diplomacy, and excellent decision making skills and flexibility to reprioritize quickly to meet changing priorities.
- Ability to work autonomously and as a member of a team.
- Project management skills and ability to work well under pressure to meet tight deadlines.
- Strong supplier management experience with the ability to oversee the purchasing process.
