Communications Advisor

About Our Organization:
When you join the City of Guelph, you join a team of 2000 full and part-time employees who deliver services the community relies on every day. Together, we are bringing to life Guelph’s vision of an inclusive, connected, and prosperous city where we look after each other and our environment.

As a regional top employer, the City of Guelph values its employees and offers competitive salaries, excellent benefit packages, opportunities for professional development, a healthy work-life balance, and many roles with flexible work options. Our corporate values are integrity, service, inclusion, wellness, and learning. Guelph is consistently ranked as one of the best places in Canada to live, work, and play—all good reasons to consider a career in this beautiful city.

Job Summary:
**Your role**:

- Create, develop, edit, implement, and evaluate a range of communications products and strategies, initiatives and programs designed to inform and engage the public, employees, and other government agencies
- Research and write communications material for internal and external audiences
- Research and write speeches, presentations, press releases, columns, letters, and other documents to foster effective communication with the desired audience
- Provide assistance to the Mayor on all community/public relations issues
- Make recommendations to the Mayor regarding improvements based on trends, complaints or new ventures that promote the Mayor’s office and the City of Guelph
- In collaboration with the Corporate Communications division, identify emerging issues and develop and implement issues management strategies and key messages
- Develop and organize meetings, special events, announcements, and ceremonies initiated by the Mayor’s Office to promote Guelph and foster effective relations with key stakeholders
- Assist the Mayor with planning and executing social media strategies and programs, including ongoing monitoring and management of mayor’s channels, video creation, and video and photo editing
- Maintain the accessibility of the Mayor’s office by establishing a good working relationship with the media, acting as a liaison with community groups, and participating in various committees and task forces
- As directed, act as spokesperson for the Mayor and answer written and oral inquiries
- Provide support to the Mayor on various projects as requested
- Provide Executive Assistance (constituent inquiries, scheduling, etc.) during absences of the Mayor’s Executive Assistant
- Perform other related duties as assigned.

**Qualifications**:

- Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and assignments to meet deadlines
- Excellent communications skills with the ability to communicate with the City’s constituents, businesses, members of Council, and all levels of staff
- Ability to communicate complex topics in a clear, understandable way under short timelines and in the real-time context of social media
- Proficient with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), website maintenance, social media platforms, and video and photo editing tools
- Excellent research and analytical skills with the ability to collect and interpret data for the development of communication strategies
- Ability to maintain strict confidentiality and exercise tact and diplomacy in all undertakings.
- Ability to exercise political acumen and influence
- Knowledge of the local area would be an asset
- Available to work flexible hours to attend evening and/or weekend meetings and special projects.

**Rate**:
$87,200 - $109,000

**How to apply**:
The City of Guelph is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity in the workplace. We are therefore happy to accommodate any individual needs in keeping with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. If you require an accommodation in order to participate in the hiring process, please contact us to make your needs known in advance.