The Communications Officer provides support to the Strategic Communications & Public Affairs Manager in order to formulate and implement strategic communications that promote the city as a great place to live, study, work and play.
A key goal is to foster positive relationships by informing the public, City employees, and other organizations about municipal services and activities, and the value they add to our community. Another goal is to illuminate municipal policies and practices through effective use of media and public relations.
This role is a great fit for someone who is looking to join a professional team of staff, be inspired by meaningful work, make a positive difference in our community, and help drive our city and key priorities forward.
Key responsibilities
Under the direction of the Strategic Communications & Public Affairs Manager, we are seeking a Communications Officer who will:
Develop, implement and evaluate strategic communications plans and campaigns that support the City’s priorities and objectives, communicate change, raise awareness and generate public understanding.
- Build public understanding of City initiatives and services by coordinating communications initiatives, programs and events with service areas, departments, partners, agencies, boards and commissions.
- Identify and analyze potential issues that may be the result of decisions made around municipal policies or programs and recommend effective responses to the communications manager.
- Provide advice to the communications manager on communications and public relations issues or opportunities.
- Develop, edit and update communications materials, such as publications, videos, letters, statements, speeches, news releases, advertisements, advisories, Q&As, digital web and intranet content, social media posts, etc.
- Assist the manager with responses to media inquiries.
- Identify trends in public opinion and track media coverage.
- Prepare and submit activity reports to the manager.
- Seek opportunities for partnerships, sponsorships and advertising.
- Provide strategic communications advice throughout the organization to help foster positive relations between the City and external stakeholders.
- Assist the Saint John Emergency Management Organization Public Information Officer by providing communications support and backup to the manager as required.
- Assist with the creation of brand documents and policies and procedures, and ensure consistent messaging and branding that reflects corporate standards.
- Organize events, including press conferences, special announcements, official openings, open facility days, etc. and serve as a City spokesperson if requested.
- Perform communications-related activities within the confines of a service-based budget.
- Ensure vendor and supplier relationships conform to corporate purchasing policies.
- Provide support to the Manager of Strategic Communications in the development of a Long Term Communications Strategy.
- Assist with other duties as assigned.
*Please note that this position will, on occasion, require work outside of regular business hours.
The ideal candidate will have the following:
- A university degree in public relations, communications, journalism or a related field is required.
- Seven (7) or more years of related work experience at a responsible level, ideally in a combination of both public and private sectors, with a strong leadership and strategic communications background.
- Demonstrated strong work ethic and initiative; must be a doer.
- A friendly, positive, can-do attitude.
- Proven professional and ethical conduct in the execution of responsibilities.
- Demonstrated experience working well as a member of a team, and under the direction of a manager.
- Applied knowledge of communications principles including, but not limited to, public relations, public engagement, social media, crisis communications and general public affairs.
- Ability to think and plan strategically while paying close attention to detail.
- Experience managing media relations.
- Demonstrated ability to apply the principles of new technologies to support and enhance a wide variety of communications and marketing initiatives.
- Ability to apply traditional and social media and other innovative community outreach tools towards strategic goals.
- Knowledge and experience working with media outlets to proactively position the City’s news stories and respond to emerging or immediate issues.
- Experience planning, producing and editing traditional publications and digital content for distribution.
- Strong prioritization and time management skills to accomplish high volumes of detailed work, with conflicting priorities and multiple deadlines.
- Strong written and verbal communications skills.
- Proven experience coordinating and managing an organization’s response to negative events.
- Proficiency with MS Office and social media platforms. Familiarity with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign is a plus. Experience with other multimedia platforms would also be considered an asset.
- Demonstrated written and verbal proficiency in both official languages would be considered an asset. Please indicate your proficiency in both.
We would like to hear from you if you are qualified and thrive on the opportunities this position has to offer.
Applications will be accepted through our online system only. Qualified applicants should submit their cover letters and resumes to:
City of Saint John
Attention: Hiring Committee
www.saintjohn.ca (careers/employment opportunities)
The City of Saint John is an equal opportunity employer. Only those applicants being considered further will be contacted.
Competition number : 20-034
Salary Range : $77,435.00 - $85,494.00
