Senior Public Affairs Specialist

Position Details

Posting #: 29228

Department: Public Affairs

Employee Type: Temporary, Full Time

If Temporary, Number of Weeks: 52 weeks

Union: Non-Union

Openings Remaining: 1

Schedule

Work Days: Monday to Friday

Time of Day: Days

Shift: 7.5 hour

Shift Start: Hours are subject to change based on operational requirements.

This position may be scheduled at any of the following sites: Charlton Campus (Hamilton Downtown), West 5th Campus (Hamilton Mountain)

Application Dates

Opening Date: 01/10/2024

Closing Date: 08/10/2024 Applications must be received online by 12:00 midnight on the Closing Date

Position Description

Position Summary

The Senior Public Affairs Specialist reports to the Vice-President, Public Affairs, Communications and Stakeholder Relations. The Senior Specialist provides strategic counsel on significant media and corporate issues. S/he is responsible for monitoring and reporting on industry and organization specific issues that may impact the hospital and executing proactive and reactive communication plans for response to these emerging issues.

The Senior Public Affairs Specialist acts as an advisor to the Public Affairs Specialists and guides them on content creation and innovative storytelling. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing a deep network of contacts throughout the hospital and finding media opportunities to highlight the people, programs and systems that make St. Joe’s a leading academic health sciences institution.

The successful candidate will have experience in high-pressure environments and managing multiple files at once. The individual will lead major corporate communications projects and act as counsel to senior management as necessary. S/he possess specialized knowledge of best practice public relations and communications principles, and will apply those principles in the development of strategic plans that build and maintain trust in the SJHH brand. S/he will lead stakeholder engagement activities to invite the patient/family voice in SJHH communication materials and will deliver strategies that further SJHH's reputation for excellence.

Qualifications

• Degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism or a related field
• Minimum 5-7 years of progressive experience in Corporate Communications, Journalism or Public Relations required
• Excellent communication skills and expertise in developing tailored messages for a variety of audiences, including patients, family members, staff and the general public
• Exceptional strategic and critical thinking skills
• A self-starter
  
  

Responsibilities

• Develops and implements strategic communication plans for corporate wide initiatives and/or key departments in order to enhance SJHH’s mission and goals
• Works with mid- and senior-level managers to communicate key priorities that are consistent with corporate strategic plan
• Acts as a primary media contact for high risk, crisis issues that may have significant reputational risk to the organization
• Responsible for managing, researching and writing key corporate communication materials including, but not limited to, the hospital’s annual report, social media content, video, web content and promotional print materials
• Responsible for providing advice and managing internal communications to ensure consistency in message throughout the organization
• Support mid- and senior-level managers to excel at internal communications, developing plans and messaging advice as necessary
• Provides leadership to the Public Affairs team as necessary
• Performs all other duties as assigned
  
  

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) is an equal opportunity employer and strives for equity, inclusiveness, and diversity in all our programs, practices, facilities, and people. We foster a culture of patient and staff safety where all positions comply and work in conjunction with the Mission, Vision, and Core Values of SJHH.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. SJHH is committed to a barrier-free recruitment and selection process - please inform us should accommodation be required at any point in the recruitment process.