Public Engagement Coordinator

**New Westminster, British Columbia**:
**Number of Openings**: 1
**Hours per Week**: 35 hours per week.
**Employee Group**: CUPE, Local 387
**Location**: City Hall: 511 Royal Ave
**Competition #**: 437
**Additional Details**:
Are you passionate about helping connect diverse community members with government and decision-making processes? Do you thrive on collaboration, outreach, facilitating dialogue with a wide variety of individuals and groups, and working to reach voices that don’t usually participate?

As a Public Engagement Coordinator you will play a critical role in supporting the City’s public engagement, or purposeful listening, initiatives to maximize diverse community participation, foster transparency, and support participatory decision-making. Reporting to the Manager, Public Engagement, this role includes a wide range of skills and experiences, including project management, event planning, outreach, plain-language communications, strong interpersonal skills, passion for connecting with communities, and inter-cultural literacy.

**Your key responsibilities include**:

- supporting City departments with planning, implementation, logistics and reporting back for a wide variety of public engagement initiatives across the organization
- supporting the delivery and facilitation of engagement activities both in person and online
- supporting the increased equity and inclusion of the City's engagement activities by building ongoing relationships with community interest groups and conducting outreach to include broader, more diverse voices from across the New Westminster community
- supporting the management and oversight of the Be Heard New West online engagement platform
- supporting public engagement best-practice development and staff capacity-building
- supporting research, development, delivery and evaluation of new engagement approaches, such as the Community Advisory Assembly pilot project, a new City committee modeled after a citizen’s assembly
- developing plain-language information and promotional materials to support engagement activities, including outreach, education and participant recruitment

**If you are passionate about dialogue and participatory decision-making, we want to meet you**
- You have a bachelor’s degree in planning, communications or public relations, or related discipline, plus sound related experience in public/community engagement tactics, principles, and strategies, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience acceptable to the employer may be considered.
- You are proficient in IAP2 best practices in public engagement, as well as emerging and innovative approaches and techniques. IAP2 training is an asset.
- You are skilled in analyzing public engagement input and identifying themes and potential recommendations.
- You have proven written and verbal communication skills, including facilitating meetings and workshops.
- You have a talent for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with a wide variety of internal and external contacts, including colleagues from different departments, community members from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, business leaders, municipal officials, and the general public.
- You are adept in understanding complex information and able to distill key information to develop plain-language communications materials to support engagement activities.
- You are an expert in outreach and promotions, and usage of social media and civic engagement platforms and online tools.
- You are skilled in website updates and desktop publishing tools.
- You are knowledgeable of municipal priorities, programs, activities, and practices.
- You have strong conceptual, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
- You have demonstrated strategic thinking ability in order to identify key issues and generate solutions.
- You have the ability to work a non-standard work week as operationally required, including evenings and weekends.
- Proficiency in languages in addition to English is an asset.
- To support a workforce that reflects the diversity of our community; women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized individuals, persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (LGBTQ2S+), persons with disabilities, and others who may contribute to diversity of our workforce, are encouraged to express their interest._
- New Westminster is on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the Halq'eméylem-speaking peoples. It is acknowledged by the City that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land._
- We are learning and building relationships with the people whose lands we are on._
- We thank all applicants for their interest and advise that only those selected for an interview will be contacted._
- This position is only open to those legally entitled to work in Canada._

Employment Status **Regular Full-Time**

Pay Range **$39.14 - $46.07 per hour + a comprehensive benefits package**