POSITION: Strategic Communications Specialist (contract)
LENGTH: Nine months with potential for renewal
HOURS PER WEEK: Flexible, around 20
PAY: $35-45/hr, dependent on experience
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday, May 17, 2024
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: Please send cover letter and resume to Michelle Hoar, Project Director,
Note: Expressions of interest from consultants/consultancies are welcome

Hey Neighbour Collective (HNC) is a collective impact project housed at the SFU Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue. HNC brings together housing providers, non-profits, researchers, local and regional governments, housing associations and health authorities. 

Together we experiment with and learn about ways of alleviating loneliness and social isolation in multi-unit housing contexts while building capacity for neighbourly support and mutual aid. 

The vision: a future where more of Canada’s multi-unit housing communities are socially connected, neighbourly, health-promoting, and resilient. 

The opportunity: Strategic Communications Specialist

The small but ambitious support team that serves HNC partners, guided by our theory of change, is on the lookout for a new part-time member to boost our communications and knowledge mobilization capacity. Our new Strategic Communications Specialist will assist with and often take leadership on a variety of projects, as well as provide internal support to help HNC manage growth and opportunities. 

Reporting to the Project Director, the Strategic Communications Specialist will work collaboratively with the HNC team and its key partners to support knowledge mobilization planning, activities, and outputs. This may include synthesizing evidence from academic research, but also communicating learnings from a range of different practitioners within and beyond the HNC network. This may take the form of evidence-informed reports and resources, webinars, workshops or policy dialogues. This role uses effective communications and knowledge-mobilization approaches to support the expanded reach, uptake, and use of HNC’s evidence and key learnings in planning, program development and policy making.

The ideal candidate is a creative, strategic and adaptable self-starter who also thrives working collaboratively in a small, core team with a wide range of partner relationships. There is also a team of contractors (writer, editor, graphic designer, social media assistant, web developer and content management specialist) that the Strategic Communications Specialist will work alongside.

This is a nine-month, part-time contract. Some in-person meetings in downtown Vancouver will be required, but workdays are flexible. The candidate should be comfortable with remote work via videoconference, email and phone. 

Responsibilities

• Collaborate on developing and implementing communication / knowledge-mobilization strategy, plans, activities, and products
• Interpret and summarize HNC’s practice-partner learnings and academic research findings to form the basis of plans, activities, and creative, accessible, easy-to-understand knowledge products
• Author and edit HNC written content to cater to a range of audiences, in a range of formats (i.e. reports, website, social media posts etc.)
• Work with HNC’s team to identify and understand audiences, communities, and other interested stakeholders to help tailor and disseminate outputs
• Work with partners and other audiences to develop creative, practical and relevant approaches to knowledge mobilization 
• Coordinate and facilitate knowledge mobilization activities and events
• Track, monitor, analyze and report on activities and outcomes as required 

Core qualifications

• Masters in a relevant discipline (e.g., planning, urban studies, public health, public policy, urban geography, communications, educational studies, or gerontology) OR equivalent experience
• Minimum three to five years of related experience
• Experience working with diverse (sector and discipline) groups (e.g., professionals, public, decision makers, private industry, government)
• Ability to interpret and identify key-results research, and to summarize practical learnings and research findings in plain language
• Ability to develop or inform the development of knowledge dissemination products, such as toolkits, learning modules, lay and research publications, and policy briefs, using feedback from knowledge users
• Superior writing skills
• Excellent verbal and listening communication skills
• Strong analytical skills; process- and results-oriented
• Strong project management and organizational skills; experience multi-tasking and managing multiple priorities with competing deadlines
• Experience sub-contracting and managing other creative professionals such as editors, graphic designers, videographers etc.

Other useful but not essential expertise

• Understanding of BC’s housing sector and related issues
• Experience with Adobe Suite, Canva or other software for graphic design or video editing 
• Experience with social media strategy 
• Proficiency in other language(s)
• Experience working across cultures and/or generations

HNC is committed to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive community where all feel welcome, safe, accepted and appreciated. We enthusiastically support diverse representation and access. Candidates from Indigenous, Black, racialized, LGBTQIA2S+, newcomer, refugee, people with disabilities, or other equity-seeking communities are encouraged to self-identify in your application.