Communications Advisor

Company Biography1:
As one of the fastest growing cities in Alberta, the City of Airdrie is a recognized leader in building a vibrant and sustainable community through innovation.
At the City of Airdrie, incredible opportunities happen every day in a flexible work environment that is tailored to each department. Our inclusive culture and values create a workplace where we welcome aspiring, driven and creative individuals to help us accomplish our business and community goals. We are supportive of one another, and we have fun while we serve our community. We are passionate about improving the lives of our residents through care and respect; that is the foundation of our organization. At the City of Airdrie, we learn, grow and accomplish great things together.
If you have a passion for building a better community and are ready to join the excitement, we’d love to hear from you
The Opportunity:
Communications Advisors create an engaged and informed public, staff and Council by providing communications strategy and support to City of Airdrie departments, while strengthening the reputation of the City of Airdrie. The Communications Advisor position provides strategic communications advice and plans to departments within the City to support their business plan, Council’s strategic priorities and the City’s corporate priorities. This position partners, provides and delivers media relations, social media, marketing, brand, public engagement and crisis communications through a variety of platforms and mediums in collaboration with business units.

You will be responsible for:

- Proactively identify and manage issues to maintain the reputation of the City. Work to ensure the City’s visual identity is maintained through the corporate visual identity standards, key messages and corporate writing standards
- Provide strategic communications advice and plans to departments within the City to support their business plan, Council’s strategic priorities and the City’s corporate priorities
- Use creativity and technical skills to conceive, develop content and provide design guidance for tactics derived from communication plans including publications, print and radio advertisements, online communications, corporate videos and education campaigns
- Maintain communication channels (i.e. website, and social media). Generate, edit and maintain online and social media content in support of communications plans and projects
- Manage media relations efforts, such as media monitoring, drafting news releases, organizing media events and coaching spokespeople
- Plan and facilitate public engagement activities and corporate event management, such as, grand openings for new capital projects
- Build and maintain excellent relationships with departments, understanding their needs and their audiences
- Actively participate in crisis communications as Public Information Officer (PIO) in the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)

You Bring:

- A degree in public relations or communications
- Minimum of five (5) years’ work experience in communications
- Following certifications would be considered an asset:

- CMP (Communications Management Professional) or ABC (Accredited Business
- Communicator)
- Incident Command System (ICS) 100 or more
- Basic Emergency Management (BEM)
- Public Information Officer (PIO)
- Experience developing and executing strategic communications/marketing campaigns
- Digitally savvy with experience in social media content management on behalf of an organization
- Municipal government experience would be an asset
- Knowledge of Airdrie would be an asset
- Knowledge and experience as a Public Information Officer (PIO) and other crisis-related experience would be an asset
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with proven creativity in crafting content
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build professional rapport and work collaboratively with client groups
- Exceptional time management skills
- Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple projects and competing priorities
- High degree of professionalism, initiative, independence, confidentiality, tact and diplomacy

We Offer:
Along with a competitive compensation program and City paid health and dental premiums, this position also includes:

- Excellent and comprehensive health, dental, paramedical, and benefits plan
- First-in-class pension plan
- Career development and tuition reimbursement
- Employee discounts, annual adult fitness (Genesis Place, Airdrie) pass, social events, and health & wellness initiatives

Continuous learning through training and development is encouraged as are flexible work arrangements, when possible. We recognize that our people work best when they feel engaged in their environment and appreciated for their efforts and our overall benefits package reflects that.
Additional Information:
This permanent full-time position (37.5 hours per week) includes a comprehensive benefits and pension pack