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COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER CARE Canada

Driven by need in the world, especially among the most vulnerable; women and girls, CARE Canada seeks to fulfill its mission to: “Defend Dignity. Fight Poverty”. There is no better time to be joining CARE Canada and in particular the Fundraising and Communications Team, as it continues to enjoy investment and growth. The Fundraising and Communications Team is looking for a Communications Manager to join the growing Team in its efforts to increase CARE Canada’s engagement with Canadians.

Role Details
CARE Canada’s Communications Manager is responsible for media and public relations, including: supporting the activities of the Fundraising teams; managing the content, design and production of the Annual Report; providing support to the development of CARE’s promotional materials such as, brochures, posters, videos, etc.; helping to lead and share CARE’s communications activities within NGO partnerships and coalitions; helping to manage CARE Canada’s Brand and ensuring the conformity of all CARE collateral with Brand Guidelines.

Key Responsibilities:
MEDIA RELATIONS
Manage and implement all media relations and strategies in consultation with the Director, Communications and Marketing and CARE’s Senior Management including:
• Respond to requests for information from journalists;
• Act as spokesperson for the organization when appropriate;
• Arrange interviews for other CARE staff;
• Provide or arrange briefings to reporters on international issues;
• Plan press conferences and media support to CARE events;
• Prepare, distribute and log press releases;
• Monitor media impressions and hits;
• Approve CARE’s presence in press releases of partner organizations;
• Maintain CARE’s exposure in the media;
• Develop and maintain excellent relationships with key Canadian and international journalists;
• Develop and maintain contacts with other communications representatives throughout the CARE International system, and with representatives of other NGOs, government departments, etc.;
• Lead and/or support emergency response or communications advocacy work for CARE within partnerships, like the Humanitarian Coalition;
• Produce talking points, Qs and As and background information when needed;
• Ensure CARE messaging is prevalent in all publications and external products, including those undertaken in partnerships;
• Work with Director of Communications and Marketing to advise CEO and Senior Management on Media Strategies when necessary;
• Write and place op-eds, articles and letters to the editor;
• Coordinate with overseas offices to plan media visits to the overseas projects;
• Provide media training to CARE staff;
• Liaise with country offices to provide communications support. Travel to country offices to provide communications assistance, to photograph and to report on work when necessary;
• Work with the CEO and Board of Directors members to raise profile and help coordinate media around appearances, events or advocacy work;
• Support campaigns team in campaign-specific media relationships;
• Coordinate with the Digital Team on social media and e-communications messaging ;
• Ensure coherence between media strategies, digital communication strategies and donor relations strategies.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Assist Donor Engagement team in responding to requests for information from the general public and CARE donors:
• Take the lead in planning and implementing CARE Canada public relations events and “stunts”;
• In conjunction with other units, plan and provide information for CARE appearances at public events;
• Represent CARE at public events ;
• Assist in editing and ensuring consistent messaging within CARE’s external documents, including advocacy pieces and marketing materials;
• Photographing and reporting on CARE projects;
• Support the development of advocacy letters and documents to Members of Parliament or other international leaders.

PUBLICATIONS
Plan, write, edit, produce and distribute the Annual Report:
• Supervise the distribution of the Annual Report to overseas offices, embassies, other NGOs and the media;
• Produce brochures, posters, videos, speeches, presentations, etc. (written or visual), to support CARE’s marketing efforts, or to provide orientation and general information to staff, donors and the general public.

BRANDING
Helping to managing the CARE Canada brand, including approving all external use of the CARE trademarks:
• Protection of CARE copyright through liaison with lawyers regarding potential infringements brought to our attention through media clippings;
• Assist in the developing the PSA strategy and manage the implementation of it, including monitoring and evaluation of value.

PUBLIC AWARENESS RESEARCH/TRACKING
• Manage and log CARE public awareness research, e.g. participation in quarterly Nanos omnibus national polling.

ADMINISTRATION
• Annual work plan and budget under direction of the Director of Communications and Marketing;
• Ensure that samples of items produced are stored in the archives;
• Monitor stock levels of brochures, videos, annual report, etc. (in conjunction with Marketing and procurement staff);
• Present communications updates to senior management when necessary;
• Assist in the strategizing for CEO trips to the projects.

Required qualifications and experience:

• Post-secondary education, preferably in journalism or media and communications, international relations or international development;
• 4- 5 years of experience working with the media – creative pitching and maintenance of relationship
• Excellent, writing, editing and public speaking ability in English and French;
• Demonstrated analytical skills;
• Ability to work under intense pressure, to tight deadlines;
• Willing to work off-hours in emergency response situations;
• Self-starter who is able to make effective use of limited resources;
• Willingness to travel, if necessary;
• Familiarity with, and interest in e-communications, including social media;
• Tactful team player;
• Other languages an asset;
• Journalism/reporting and/or overseas work experience considered an asset.

Key Performance Indicators
• Number of media impressions
• Number of overall impressions
• Number of successful PR stunts
• Relationship with two major media outlets
• Number of successful and timely responses when emergency hits
• Number of major hits during emergencies
• Number of op-eds placed annually
• Number of media visits to the projects
• Successful and timely updates to the website
• Quality and timeliness of Annual Report
• Budget expectations met
• Successful CEO trips to the projects
• Increase in aided awareness of CARE Canada
• Engagements due to Social Media outreach

Core Competencies
• People Skills: Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to support and train staff and also able to work in a sensitive and participatory manner.
• Communication Skills: Well developed written and oral communication skills. Able to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders as a representative of CARE. This includes effective negotiation and representation skills.
• Integrity: Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to CARE's core values and mission.
• Awareness and sensitivity of self and others: Demonstrate awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity. Have experience and the ability to work in diverse cultural contexts in a culturally appropriate manner. Has a capacity to make accurate self-assessment particularly in high stress situations.
• Resilience/Adaptability and Flexibility: Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress. Work with a flexible, adaptable and resilient manner.
• Work style: Is well planned and organized even within a fluid working environment and has a capacity for initiative and decision making with competent analytical and problem solving skills.

Start date: Immediately
Contract type: Indefinite term

CARE Canada Commitment:
• To provide a rewarding, fast-paced working environment where tangible results are clearly seen to make a positive impact in the lives that are being changed around the world;
• Ensure that within reason, the employee has as much investment as possible so success can be achieved, including the latest industry tools and training;
• To offer a competitive Compensation package, including full benefits.

CARE Canada recognizes that diversity and multiculturalism of its teams contributes to its strength and integrity.We are committed to developing a highly capable talent that is representative of Canadian society. We therefore encourage qualified women and men from different cultural backgrounds, to apply to become a part of our organisation and contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
How to apply
Please apply online at www.care.ca or www.careersunited.org .You will need to register before submitting your resume. We thank all candidates for the responses to this advertisement. However, we regret that we will be able to contact only short listed candidates.