Job Summary
Reporting to the Director Partnerships and Communication, the Associate Director Strategic Communications is a key support for Niagara Region’s Leadership Team, leading the development, implementation and continuous evolution of the Region's enterprise communications strategy, ensuring communications support Council priorities, organizational transformation, service excellence and long-term corporate objectives. Directing all external and internal communications, this role is accountable for the overall performance and measurable outcomes of the Strategic Communications function, including the coaching, development and mentorship of those of the team. The Associate Director is a trusted strategic advisor to the Corporate Leadership Team and works in coordination with the Regional Chair’s Chief of Staff, and other elected officials, to ensure members of council are well supported in their efforts to communicate to the public. As a member of the Crisis Communications Response Team, the role is responsible for crisis communications and emergency response planning in collaboration with local area municipalities.
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Post-Secondary degree in Communications, Public Relations, Media Studies, Government Affairs, Business Administration or Public Administration
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Master’s degree in relevant discipline is preferred
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Ten (10) years’ progressive communications experience in a leadership role, exhibiting modern communication theories and practices in a medium to large-sized organization.
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Demonstrated experience developing and executing communication strategies and leading various communications functions.
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Demonstrated experience in managing relationships with elected officials at various levels (municipal, provincial and federal).
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Experience in a senior communications and/or public relations leadership role working in a public sector environment is preferred.
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Executive Leadership training from a recognized institution is preferred.
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Professional accreditation in Public Relations or other communications-based professional organization an asset.
Organizational Strategy, Public Affairs and Corporate Reputation: Provides enterprise leadership in developing, implementing and continuously evolving Niagara Region's strategic communications function, ensuring communications supports Council priorities, organizational objectives, organizational transformation, public trust and service excellence. (30% of time)
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Establishes the long-term vision, strategic direction and priorities for the Region's communications function, ensuring alignment with Council's Strategic Priorities, Corporate Business Plan and organizational objectives.
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Provides strategic communications advice to the CAO, Corporate Leadership Team, senior leadership and Council on complex, high-profile and politically sensitive initiatives.
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Leads the development and implementation of enterprise-wide communications strategies supporting organizational transformation, service delivery, employee engagement, public trust and resident engagement.
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Ensures communications is integrated into corporate planning and decision-making by promoting early engagement and strategic communications planning across the organization.
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Leads executive communications, issues management, media relations strategies, crisis communications and public affairs strategies to protect and strengthen the Region's reputation.
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Ensure strategic alignment of communication activities with government relations and advocacy initiatives in partnership with the Office of the Regional Chair and senior leadership.
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Anticipates emerging issues, risks, trends and opportunities that may affect the Region's reputation, strategic priorities or public confidence, developing proactive strategies to address them.
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Ensures consistent application of the corporate brand, key messaging and communications standards across the organization.
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Represents the Strategic Communications team externally, building strong relationships with local partners (including the local area municipalities)
Manages people resource planning for the division or operating unit, determining ideal organizational structures, identifying desirable role and skill mix requirements and ensuring ongoing work quality and deliverability of results. (25% of time)
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Enables results with the organization’s human capital strategy to foster employee engagement.
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Directs and provides leadership for the activities and coaching of direct reports, providing work direction, setting priorities, assigning tasks/projects, determining methods and procedures to be used, resolving problems, ensuring results are achieved, and managing staff recruitment, performance, and skill development activities
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Ensures alignment and coordination of activity and quality of output between teams under their direction
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Ensures focus is service excellence, communication/transparency, innovation, and data integrity and work flow integration.
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Ensures staff has the information and resources to make successful plans and decisions.
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Ensures all people related issues, including recruitment, grievances and labour relations issues, are aligned to HR and Corporate standards and practices.
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Helps to break down barriers to employee success, ensuring collaboration and cooperation with other teams within their division and department
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Ensures Occupational Health & Safety policies, programs and practices are implemented, and maintained. This includes workplace inspections, monitoring, accident reporting and investigations, and ensuring any observed hazards or lapses in the functioning of OH&S processes, and other OH&S concerns are responded to promptly.
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Ensures all individuals under supervision have been informed of hazards and instructed on the necessary risk control and emergency response measures;
Organizational Performance and Measurement: Leads the development, implementation and continuous evaluation of enterprise performance measurement systems to ensure communications activities deliver measurable organizational value (outcomes) and support evidence-based decision-making. (15% of time)
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Establishes enterprise communications performance frameworks, service standards and key performance indicators.
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Develops and oversees dashboards, scorecards and reporting tools measuring organizational performance, communications effectiveness and service delivery.
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Uses research, analytics, environmental scanning and evaluation methodologies to assess communications outcomes and inform strategic decisions.
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Provides regular performance reporting and strategic recommendations to senior leadership regarding communications effectiveness, organizational trends and opportunities for improvement.
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Establishes measures for organizational reputation, employee engagement, resident awareness, digital performance, client satisfaction and campaign effectiveness.
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Promotes a culture of evidence-based decision-making by embedding research and evaluation into communications planning and execution.
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Identifies opportunities to improve operational efficiency, resource allocation and service delivery through performance analysis and continuous improvement.
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Ensures communications strategies demonstrate measurable contribution to organizational priorities and strategic objectives.
Governance and Enterprise Integration: Provides enterprise oversight for communications governance, corporate standards and integrated service delivery to ensure communications activities are coordinated, strategic and aligned across Niagara Region. (15% of time)
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Establishes and maintains enterprise communications governance frameworks, policies, standards and operating procedures.
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Oversees corporate communications intake, prioritization and resource allocation processes to ensure alignment with organizational priorities and service demands.
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Ensures communications activities are coordinated across departments, promoting consistency, collaboration and a One Niagara approach.
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Provides strategic oversight of communications planning, project governance and quality assurance processes.
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Develops governance tools, policies, templates and operational frameworks supporting effective service delivery.
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Ensures compliance with legislative requirements, accessibility standards, corporate policies and communications best practices.
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Builds collaborative partnerships with departmental leadership to strengthen enterprise planning, organizational alignment and strategic communications.
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Identifies opportunities to improve governance, service integration and cross-functional collaboration across the organization.
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Develops, manages and administers annual and multi-year Capital and Operating budgets for the division, ensuring support of Council’s objectives, financial transparency and accountability, budget adherence, identifying and explaining variances and financial reporting is effectively managed in compliance with corporate financial policies. Authorize, and administer the acquisition of goods and services for the operating unit and direct reports in accordance with the procurement policy and procedures.
Innovation, Modernization and Continuous Improvement: Leads the continuous modernization of Niagara Region's communications function by advancing innovation, digital maturity, emerging technologies and continuous improvement to strengthen organizational effectiveness and service delivery. (10% of time)
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Establishes and implements a long-term modernization strategy for the Communications Division, ensuring practices evolve to meet changing organizational and community needs.
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Champions innovation by identifying, evaluating and implementing emerging communications technologies, digital platforms and artificial intelligence solutions that improve service delivery and organizational effectiveness.
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Leads the continuous evaluation and improvement of communications processes, workflows, service models and operating practices to increase efficiency, responsiveness and quality.
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Promotes a culture of experimentation, learning and continuous improvement by encouraging the adoption of new ideas, technologies and leading practices.
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Monitors industry trends, research and best practices to ensure Niagara Region remains at the forefront of strategic communications within the municipal sector.
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Leads digital maturity initiatives that strengthen resident engagement, employee communications, analytics and organizational capability.
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Evaluates the effectiveness of modernization initiatives and recommends adjustments based on organizational performance, user feedback and emerging opportunities.
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Ensures staff possess the knowledge, skills and tools required to leverage modern communications technologies, artificial intelligence and innovative service delivery practices.
Develops, manages and administers annual and multi-year Capital and Operating budgets for the division/operating unit, ensuring support of Council’s objectives, financial transparency and accountability, budget adherence, identifying and explaining variances, and financial reporting is effectively managed in compliance with corporate financial policies. Authorize, and administer the acquisition of goods and services for the operating unit and direct reports in accordance with the procurement policy and procedures. (5% of time)
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In accordance with the Corporate Criminal Record Check Policy, the position requires the incumbent to undergo a Criminal Records Check and submit a Canadian Police Clearance Certificate.
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Must maintain ability to travel in a timely manner to other offices, work locations or sites as authorized by the Corporation for business reasons.
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May be required to support emergency operations under the incident management structure, at the direction of the Emergency Operations Centre Director.
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Regional staff strive to enable the strategic priorities of Council and the organization through the completion of their work. Staff carry out their work by demonstrating the corporate values.
