Department: External Relations
Employee Group: Teamsters Local 31
Location: 4515 Central Boulevard, Burnaby
Salary Range/ Wage Rate: PG T23 $2,953.65 - $3,486.53 bi-weekly

Our External Relations Department is seeking a Communications Officer who will be a key member of an upbeat engagement team supporting liquid waste projects and initiatives. The Officer will work with senior engagement staff to create communications materials and support engagement with member jurisdictions, residents, businesses, and First Nations.

You are: A strong communicator who can balance competing priorities and contribute to our positive team dynamic, and have post-secondary and early career experience (or a combination of related skills and experience). You have experience with communications and engagement initiatives – fact sheets, letters, public events, social media, web content, and more. You have a knack for translating technical talk into plain language and creating engaging content.

This role:

• Develops, drafts, and implements a variety of communications and engagement materials to support programs and projects (i.e. infrastructure construction projects) for specific corporate departments (i.e. Liquid Waste Services); writes content for product deliverables, such as newsletters, fact sheets, signage, First Nations correspondence, and social media posts; provides guidance on communications practices and techniques by liaising with internal and external teams, including project teams, vendors, consultants, and member jurisdictions; plans and ensures for the effective delivery of products; provides support on the development of deliverables of higher complexity, such as engagement surveys, reports, presentations, and videos.
• Conducts research and works with technical staff to develop promotional and informational materials; gathers project details from engineers and technical documents; translates, writes, and edits a variety of information into plain language to support the communication of project plan and status; works with graphic designers and vendors to develop visual aids; coordinates printing, distribution and installation of finalized products; follows established branding, design, and writing guidelines; reviews and approves invoices from external consultants and vendors.
• Acts as a communications and engagement lead for construction projects of lower complexity; plans, coordinates, and evaluates the delivery of communications and engagement tactics in support of project plans and objectives; provides upcoming activities and deliverables; serves as the communications and engagement resource to engineering staff in interpreting potential public impacts; responds to project enquiries; provides background information to staff on communities affected by construction; attends check-in meetings to receive critical project updates; participates with staff in seeking resolutions to the more difficult issues.
• Oversees the content of project webpages; ensures the inclusion of the latest project information related to various construction projects and programs; provides guidance and assistance to staff on editing and formatting materials to ensure consistency and compliance with established standards.
• Creates and improves internal processes and templates; revises internal handbook with standard operating procedures; updates various trackers, lists, and records; prepares additional training materials and team resources as required.
• Supports the planning and logistics of, and participates in, engagement events, such as open houses, pop-up tents, and stakeholder meetings; drafts meeting summary with public feedback.
• Maintains effective relationships with Metro Vancouver’s leadership and members; coordinates sign-off process with multiple reviewers.
• Participates in the onboarding of peers and other senior members of the team, as required.
• Performs related work as required.

To be successful, you have:

• University graduation with a Bachelor’s degree in communications or a related discipline, plus sound related experience; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Considerable knowledge of the functions, programs, activities, objectives, and procedures of assigned Metro Vancouver departments.
• Considerable knowledge of the principles, practices, and techniques of gathering, analyzing and disseminating program and activity information.
• Sound knowledge of developing communication plans, tactics, and objectives.
• Ability to coordinate the development and maintenance of a variety of communications and engagement materials between internal and external contacts.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, including the ability to adapt and communicate technical information to the interests and understanding of the public, and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of internal and external contacts.
• Ability to review technical information and translate that into plain language writing.
• Ability to gather, research, analyze, edit, assemble, and disseminate a variety of program information related to various Metro Vancouver departments.
• Ability to direct and oversee the work of consultants on various promotional projects.
• Ability to exercise independent judgement and action with a minimum of direction and to schedule and process a variety of work assignments.
• Ability to work on several projects simultaneously and respond to competing priorities.
• Driver's Licence for the Province of British Columbia.