Communications Lead, B.C. – Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development – Vancouver

Position Overview

The Pembina Institute is seeking a motivated, creative, strategic and experienced communications lead to join our team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The successful candidate will be responsible for helping to shape the communications strategy and providing communications support for our work on a variety of climate and energy issues currently facing B.C.

If you are a strategic thinker, always looking for new and innovative ways to improve, a strong project manager able to juggle many balls at once and a team player who likes to work closely with others, then this role is for you. You should also have experience in media relations, digital publishing and social media engagement. Strong writing/editing skills are essential, along with experience in media relations or journalism. The ideal candidate will be familiar with regional and national energy policy issues, the political context in B.C. and the provincial media market. A strong interest in our regional priorities — including efficient buildings, climate policy, LNG and the clean economy — is a must.

This position reports to the B.C. regional director and will be integrated into the cross-organizational communications team.

Why the Pembina Institute?

The Pembina Institute is an organization unlike any other working to protect Canada’s environment today. We combine the research and technical capacity of a think tank with the values and advocacy of an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) and the entrepreneurial and business sense of a for-profit consulting firm.

Our people are passionate about sustainability and dedicated to enabling positive social change. Our organizational culture encourages creativity and collaboration, and we offer a flexible and fast-paced work environment that rewards personal initiative, innovation and integrity. The successful candidate will join our dynamic team of nationally recognized professionals working on delivering clean energy solutions into the hands of Canada’s decision makers and key influencers.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The salary rate is competitive for a communications professional in the non-profit sector and will be based on skills, experience and qualifications of the successful candidate.

Benefits include:

extended health and dental
four weeks of holidays per year
RRSP plan
training and professional development opportunities

Further terms of employment will be discussed with candidates during the interview process.

Roles and Responsibilities

In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to apply a wide range of communications skills and approaches to help staff engage effectively and strategically with Pembina’s core audiences, which include government and business decision makers, policy influencers and journalists.

Depending on the day, you will be asked to help design the communications strategy for a key project, quarterback the release of complex research, provide a strategic frame for an op-ed or provide an update on key media events from the past week. You’ll mentor technical writers to help them hone their style, messaging and focus for their target audience. You’ll do a lot of reading, writing and editing for our publications, blogs and other materials. You’ll monitor media coverage, coordinate interviews, and develop relationships with journalists following energy and environmental policy issues. You’ll coach spokespeople on their performance skills and provide support on message development and media outreach. Ultimately, you’ll have a variety of tools at your disposal — including mainstream and digital media, webinars, publications, popular writing, multimedia projects and commentary pieces — to help Pembina shape the debate around Canada’s transition to a clean energy future.

This role is primarily focused on supporting our efforts in B.C. to promote energy efficiency in buildings, strengthen climate policy, prevent LNG development from compromising B.C.’s climate commitments and advance the growth of the province’s clean energy economy. Regional communications leads are also involved in shaping and supporting organizational communications initiatives, under the leadership of the Communications Director.

The full-time position may require some travel and occasional work on evenings and weekends.

Skills and Qualifications

ESSENTIAL SKILLS

Candidates must clearly reflect the following skills and experience in their application:

Post-secondary education in communications, marketing, media relations or journalism
Three or more years of work experience in a related field and a demonstrated ability to develop and execute effective communications strategies
Attention to detail and a commitment to personal excellence
A superb command of the English language (reading, writing and speaking)
Proven skills and experience in media relations, digital engagement, popular communications, technical and copy editing, online publishing and multimedia
Ability to evaluate projects based on desired outcomes and develop strategies for improving results in the future
Compelling writing and the ability to tailor both tone and style for various audiences
Deep knowledge of CP style and other academic grammar and style conventions
Demonstrated familiarity with various social media tools, platforms and engagement strategies
Working knowledge of Microsoft office programs and Adobe creative suite
Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to exercise tact, discretion and sound judgment at all times
Commitment to the Pembina Institute’s values, vision and mission
A deep interest in energy and environmental policy issues in B.C. and Canada
Familiarity with the Vancouver, Victoria and rural B.C. media markets
Experience using social media to build community and/or advocacy campaigns
Familiarity with basic HTML editing, blogging and online publishing
Experience developing, editing and producing multi-media products (audio/video podcasts, audio slideshows, YouTube, etc.)
Basic French language proficiency (speaking and writing)
Familiarity with Salesforce or similar CRM software
Experience working in the non-profit sector
A supportive and collaborative team player
Able to work independently and take initiative, while open to direction and mentorship
An experienced and disciplined project manager
A creative and critical thinker, with a sense of humour and a willingness to experiment
Open to challenging ideas and being challenged
Adept at tailoring communications approaches to suit the intended audience
Able to juggle competing priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
Capable of engaging effectively with remote colleagues (via virtual tools)
Good at managing stress and personal resiliency
Committed to advancing Canada’s transition to clean energy

Preference will be given to candidates who also demonstrate:

The ideal candidate will be:

To Apply

Email your cover letter and resume to:
careers@pembina.org . Please ensure the following:

Subject line includes “Communications Lead – Vancouver” and your last name
Cover letter (max. two pages) explains why you are interested in working with the Pembina Institute and how your skills and qualifications meet the criteria outlined for this position
Resume outlines your relevant skills, education and experience
Cover letter and resume are saved as one PDF document using the naming convention: lastnamefirstletter-application-position-year.pdf
example: smithm-application-Comms-Lead-Vancouver-2015.pdf

Application deadline: Midnight on September 18, 2015.

The Pembina Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We thank all applicants for their interest but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

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