Position Description: Community Liaison, FemNorthNet, Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW)

CRIAW invites applications for the Community Liaison position for its research project, FemNorthNet, which will explore women’s experiences of economic restructuring in three Canadian northern communities. This is a Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) from 2010 to 2015. The Community Liaison incumbent could work from any location in Canada but will require regular telephone and internet access.

Role

The role of the Community Liaison is to contribute to the overall management of the FemNorthNet project and represent community partners in management team discussions and decision-making. The Community Liaison will seek out the viewpoints of community research teams and other community partner organizations on policy issues and overall research directions and promote collaborative decision-making among Fem North Network members.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

The primary responsibility of the Community Liaison is to be in contact with the three community research team co-leaders and to participate in management team meetings and other meetings of the Network.(The meetings are largely virtual – by phone, Skype, webinar or videoconference.) Specific duties include monthly phone calls with three community team co-leaders, quarterly phone calls with representatives of three other organizations, participation in management team meetings (at least monthly), participation in regular webinars of the Network, review of email and documents and other related duties.

Specifically the Community Liaison:

Actively seeks out the views and advice of the three community team co-leaders and three other participating feminist organizations (Disabled Women’s Network Canada, UNPAC, and Labrador West Status of Women Council) to shape management team decisions on overall directions, activities and outputs for the project

Communicates management team decisions and rationales to these community contacts to supplement discussions during Network meetings

Liaises regularly with community contacts to seek evaluative feedback on project implementation (what’s going well, what needs attention or change, what questions and suggestions they have) and provides updates on the progress of community research

Brings advice from community contacts about effective outreach strategies for authentic community involvement in the research and inclusive participatory action research practices

Communicates feedback to the management team from other community partners, as initiated by them

Helps to build the capacity of women and community organizations in the three northern communities by providing support to community research teams as they implement the project in their communities

Brings advice from community research teams on key individuals and organizations to involve in knowledge exchange and mobilization (i.e. who to share research with in the community and beyond), effective mechanisms to transfer knowledge, and types of tools or materials that would be most appropriate, etc.

Gathers and provides feedback on publication and report drafts to ensure appropriateness for participating communities

Qualifications:

• Three to five years’ experience in community-based organizations

• Previous experience in community-based research or action project

• Understanding and support of intersectional feminist analysis and methodologies

• Experience working across distances with other communities is an asset.

• Experience living in northern communities and with aboriginal people is an asset.

Skills

• Excellent listening skills

• Excellent English verbal and written communication

• Strong interpersonal skills to build effective relationships and support collaborative decision-making

·        Ability to liaise effectively over distance

• Strong problem-solving abilities

• Well-organized and able to effectively prioritize tasks

• Able to understand a financial statement

• Good working knowledge with computers, utilizing Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) and e-mail

Abilities

• Able to work as a member of a team and provide leadership

• Able to be self-motivated and work independently when appropriate

• Able to travel on occasion

Aboriginal / Indigenous women, women of Colour, women with disabilities, women with sexual diversities, and those living with multiple oppressions are strongly encouraged to apply. 

The contract is $6,000 annually based on 17 hours per month.

Application Process and Deadline

Applications may be forwarded to Maureen Kellerman, FemNorthNet Project Manager, at mkellerman@criaw-icref.ca. The deadline is Weds. Dec. 15, 2010.

We thank all applicants for their interest. However, only those candidates short-listed for an interview will be contacted.