Overview 

The Director of Issues Management is a new senior leadership position responsible for monitoring emerging policy priorities and leveraging the Institute’s expertise, analysis, evidence and commentary to inform public policy debates and decisions, ultimately supporting our mandate to drive durable climate policy progress in Canada. 

The Director of Issues Management will lead a team of two responsible for tracking and anticipating significant news and policy developments and collaborating with colleagues to ensure our responsive activities are strategic, efficient and effective. The Director will monitor daily news and policy developments, lead internal coordination, and drive the development and deployment of our responsive activities. Success in this role requires strong strategic judgement, excellent organization and coordination skills, a flair for clear and persuasive messaging, and familiarity with the key players and policies relevant to Canada’s progress in addressing climate change.

This position reports to the Vice President of Communications and Engagement and works closely with staff across the Institute, including the executive team, Director of Communications, Director of Engagement, and senior research staff. 

Primary Responsibilities 

• Develop the systems, processes and materials needed to direct and coordinate the Institute’s response to emerging issues across various platforms  
• Monitor news coverage, policy developments, opinion research and stakeholder commentary relevant to the Institute's priority issues 

• Ensure responsive content is accurate, consistent, up-to-date, and grounded in best practices from emerging climate communications research
• Create and deploy strategic communications assets such as key messages, social media content, blogs and op-eds, briefing notes, fact sheets, etc. 
• Evaluate the effectiveness, consistency, and impact of our issues management activities against key performance indicators, and provide evidence-based recommendations to maximize our impact  

• Ensure our issues management approach supports effective government relations and stakeholder engagement activities

Required Qualifications and Skills 

• Previous work experience leading issues management in a government, political, corporate, research or non-profit context
• Proven experience as an excellent people manager and a strong track record coordinating priorities across multidisciplinary teams working in a fast-paced and high-stakes environment  
• Minimum 5 years’ experience working in fields such as public relations, journalism, strategic communications, media relations, public policy, or civic engagement
• Post-secondary degree or diploma in communications, journalism, public relations, political science or a related field (equivalent work experience may also substitute for this degree)
• Proven ability to drive consensus, make decisions and execute work plans while taking into account strategic sensitivities, complexity, and uncertainty 
• Ability to write lively messaging and produce error-free content on deadline for press releases, key messages, website copy, social media posts, and other communications assets
• Experience in evaluating the impact and effectiveness of various communications activities using Google Analytics and social listening platforms 
• Deep knowledge of the Canadian news media and political landscape, including familiarity with the top journalists, commentators and stakeholders shaping the debate over climate policy issues
• Impeccable English-language skills are required; the ability to work fluently in both French and English is strongly preferred

Additional Details

This position is eligible for four weeks’ paid vacation and health care benefits. 

We are committed to equity and encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, women, LGBTQIA2S+ and persons with disabilities. 

Work is done in a virtual environment with Institute staff located across the country. The selected candidate would work primarily from home and must be based in and eligible to work in Canada. 

Preference will be given to candidates in the Eastern Time Zone (or willing to work at compatible times) and located near major media markets. This is a full-time salaried position with occasional travel required. Due to the nature of issues management, work may be required outside normal office hours and across time zones.

About the Institute

The Canadian Climate Institute is Canada’s national, independent, climate research and policy organization. Learn more at climateinstitute.ca.