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Job Type:

Employee

Duration in Months (for fixed-term jobs):

N/A

Job Family:

Communications and Advisory Services

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service - Department:

Office of Communications and Public Affairs

Campus:

Main Campus

Union Affiliation:

N/A

Date Posted:

November 07, 2024

Applications must be received BEFORE:

November 25, 2024

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

Non-Union Grade NM3

Salary Range:

$126,119.00 - $156,525.00

Position purpose:

The director, strategic communications works closely with the chief communications and public affairs officer (CCPAO) and the University’s senior leadership team to identify clear institutional priorities in order to develop comprehensive strategies and plans that advance uOttawa’s strategic vision across the University and support key executives, faculties and services in fulfilling their mandates. The incumbent will also provide operational leadership to the Strategic Communications and Ceremonies and Events teams to ensure that planning is proactive and aligns with the institution’s goals and objectives. Alongside the CCPAO, the director will act as an expert advisor to key University executives and provide leadership to communications units within faculties and services in a decentralized environment to elevate the whole and ensure that their communications activities align with uOttawa’s reputational goals.

The incumbent will lead discussions and work with partners within the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, and across the institution, to build content strategies that improve the University's profile across all media channels. These strategies will also help the University’s executive leaders and research experts build reputation, credibility, authority, and trust, thereby improving the institution’s position as a leading global university among both internal and external audiences. The incumbent will need to understand external audiences, including their preferences, attitudes, and behaviours, in order to work seamlessly with the Media Relations, Communications, Content and the Brand and Marketing Strategy teams on insights, analytics, and effective content and channel strategies.

In this role, you will:

• Strategic Communications Planning: Oversees the development, implementation and evaluation of uOttawa’s communications strategies to support the institution’s strategic priorities. Develops and implements communication frameworks, processes and workflows to ensure consistent and effective internal and external communications, and the effective and efficient development of work products. Ensures the execution of integrated communication plans that outline the goals, key audiences, stakeholders, objectives, recommended channels, expected results, metrics for success, and timelines. These plans will need to balance the institution’s priorities and the business needs of faculties and decentralized units.
• Corporate Communications Expert: Ensures that all corporate communications align with the strategic goals of the institution by working closely with other departments to ensure that communication efforts are consistent with each other. Provides expert advice to leaders and managers on communication issues that needs escalation and that could affect the institution as whole. Ensures that communications comply with legal and regulatory standards as well as University policies.
• Ceremonies and Events Planning: Oversees the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies for uOttawa ceremonies and events, in support of the institution’s priorities. Develops and implements frameworks, processes, and workflows to ensure consistent and effective internal and external communications, and effectively and efficiently hosts high visibility events with dignitaries and other high-profile stakeholders.
• Relationship Management: Provides sound leadership and builds strong partnerships across campus to facilitate communication efforts and identify opportunities to enhance the University’s reputation. Works with executives across the University to ensure institutional goals are clearly articulated; develops and scopes communications and marketing strategies that can effectively help the institution achieve those goals; proposes budgets to partners and mobilizes the required resources.
• Team Development/Management: Directs, oversees and aligns the activities of the teams under their leadership, namely the ceremonies and events team and the strategic communications team. Provides strategic leadership to a diverse team of experienced communication professionals who communicate the University’s brand across a variety of platforms.
• Trends and Needs Analysis: Keeps abreast of emerging trends in communications, reviews best practices, and provides recommendations to the CCPAO to ensure that the University maintains its competitive edge.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university in communications, journalism or language studies, or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience in providing strategic communications advice to senior executives.
• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in managing and leading teams and managing budgets.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in both official languages (French and English).
• Extensive experience in anticipating and addressing communication risks and managing sensitive and complex issues and crises in large organizations.
• Outstanding communication skills; the incumbent is an accomplished and persuasive communicator and project manager with strong planning and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to diplomatically and successfully resolve conflicts.
• Superb skills in leading, motivating and coaching professional communications teams.
• Ability to challenge, transform and innovate while inspiring a team to seek creative solutions to strategic communication challenges.
• Experience in communicating across innovative channels, social media and internal communication channels, including in writing for online formats such as newsletters, websites and intranet sites.
• Proven ability to build partnerships and collaborative working relationships with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in working in a multi-channel communications environment.
• Demonstrated ability to stay current with emerging industry trends.

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa: 

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact [email protected] to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.