Job Title: Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator (ICEC)
Reports to: Executive Director, Co-operatives First
Location: Co-operatives First, 310 Wall Street, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Salary Level: $55,000 to $85,000 per year
Travel: As required (provincial, national and international). Must have a valid driver’s license and passport.
Terms of Employment: Per Co-operatives First Employment Policies and Letter of Offer
Position Summary
The Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator (ICEC) deeply understands Indigenous and rural communities across western Canada. They create contacts and connections through intensive stakeholder engagement, work with individuals, groups and organizations to develop and target communities for co-operative development activities, and act as the key person responsible for sourcing co-operative development assistance suited to Indigenous communities. Expected outcomes: comprehensive understanding of communities, identification of potential co-operative development opportunities, and support to development activities that are ongoing to support the development of co-operatives in Indigenous communities. The ICEC will also act as an advisor to the Executive Director on effective collaborations with Indigenous peoples in rural western Canada.
Key Job Responsibilities
| Responsibility | Time Spent (%) |
| Stakeholder engagement: The ICEC will establish and maintain contact with various rural, First Nations and Métis communities, organizations and individuals in western Canada, building upon existing relationships, and forging new relationships. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the specific economic and social needs identified by these communities. | 30% |
| Understand rural and Indigenous communities: The ICEC will be expected to develop and maintain a sophisticated understanding of the socio-economic and political conditions in Indigenous and rural communities in western Canada. | 10% |
| Provide targeted co-operative development assistance, including planning and leading inspire, explore, create, and thrive meetings and activities, finding and engaging catalysts, providing administrative and research assistance to nascent co-operative groups, and connecting groups in development to other specialists and co-operative groups. | 30% |
| Develop a list of priority communities: based on community need, leadership potential and receptiveness to co-operatives, for longer-term co-operative development pilot projects. This list will be supported by extensive research and documentation, which outlines the specific economic and business development possibilities within each priority community | 10% |
| Develop preliminary action plans for selected priority communities, providing outlines for potential co-operative development, and for the engagement of these communities with the broader co-operative culture. | 10% |
| Communications: The ICEC will maintain excellent communications with the Executive Director and other team members, particularly the Community Engagement co-ordinator. The incumbent will also provide regular updates to the broader co-operative community, ensuring that the particular needs of Indigenous and rural communities in western Canada are well understood. | 5% |
| Advisor to the ED: The ICEC will provide the ED, and the entire Co-operatives team, with advice on how best to engage Indigenous communities in western Canada. | 5% |
Education and Experience
| Education | A minimum of a post-secondary degree is required. A combination of education, skills and experience will be considered. |
| Related Experience | Progressive responsibility for, and demonstrated success with Indigenous community and stakeholder engagement, management of information, engagement and facilitation. The position requires the candidate to have demonstrated excellent communication (both oral and written) and relationship management skills. Experience working with, or at a minimum demonstrated knowledge of the co-operative model will be considered an asset. |
| Other Requirements (designations, certifications, specialized training) | Certification in specialized study/training (co-operative development, economic development, social development) will be considered an asset. |
Leadership
Reports
| Direct Reports | None |
| Indirect Reports | None |
| Guiding Others | None |
Supervision
| Supervision Received | The Executive Director of Co-operatives First will provide primary supervision for the position. |
Decision-Making
The ICEC will have a broad scope to assess and direct community engagement activities. These decisions will include the need to prioritize communities for development activities, plan and undertake all aspects related to engagement events, as well as the assessment of current and future work in the communities to support development of co-operatives. The ICEC will be required to use his/her experience to make numerous time-constrained and critical decisions regarding relationship development and stakeholder engagement, and travel contingencies. For example, during a visit to a community, it may become apparent that an additional day in the community to meet with stakeholders and build consensus around action plans could have strong positive impacts on the ability of the community to commence developing a co-operative. The ICEC would be required to use independent judgement based on experience and knowledge of the community to decide if the benefits outweigh the costs of an extra day of travel as formal approvals may not be immediately available. There are times when complex power relations exist in a community and the ICEC must respectfully navigate this while working towards the overall goal of co-operative development.
Problem Solving
The ICEC will use a variety of standard operating procedures including the strategic and operational plans to guide their decision making. In addition, in new situations, the ED will be available to provide guidance in the decision making process.
Please forward your application to: info at cooperativesfirst.com by September 15th 2016. Direct inquiries about this position to merle at cooperativesfirst.com.
SOURCE: Co-operatives First
