TITLE: Manager, External Relations
REPORTS TO: Executive Director

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Manager, External Relations, is a fluently bilingual leader responsible for the engagement of key national audiences through social media, events, the collaborative dissemination of research, the promotion of national capacity-building, and operational synergies with members and external partners/collaborators, to achieve the national recognition of the co-operatives sector as a priority sector of the traditional and social economies of Canada.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Engagement of key audiences through social media and events:

• Develop and implement a national social media strategy to align with the priorities and values of the sector and create measurable value for CMC members.
• Align the social media strategy to drive traffic to CMC’s web platform, CMC Members, as well as strategic partners/audiences engaged in the growth of the sector.
• Manage the delivery of events to engage and add value to members and key audiences.
• Coordinate and produce media conferences and communiqués.
• Establish and maintain positive working relationships with counterparts in the offices of member organizations, parliamentarians, deputy ministers, and media organizations.
• Establish and produce collateral/promotional materials (tools), as well as significantly enhance existing tools, for external dissemination.
• Validate all internal materials in both official languages before dissemination.

2. The collaborative dissemination of research:

• Validate the quality of all research reports for consistency, structure, and quality of writing in both official languages.
• Engage external collaborators linked to the research in peer review exercises and coordinate final research dissemination.
• In collaboration with the Director, Advocacy and Partnerships, produce an annual report on the return on investment (ROI) of CMC’s government relations/advocacy activities.

3. Promotion of national capacity-building:

• In collaboration with internal colleagues, prepare all required survey and dissemination publications related to CMC’s national capacity-building efforts within the sector to enhance our position as a priority sector of the traditional and social economies of Canada.
• Adapt all CMC e/web strategies in relation to the engagement of members through the adoption of national capacity-building resources.
• Coordinate external member programming through resources including webinars and workshops to facilitate the adoption of national capacity-building.
• Produce all required collateral material and publications related to the advancement of CMC’s mission.
• In collaboration with the Director, Member Engagement, produce an annual report on the ROI of CMC’s national capacity-building activities.

4. Develop operational synergies with members and external partners/collaborators:

• Plan, deliver and evaluate the success of CMC’s annual national congress and other events as required.
• Put into collaborative action current and future relationships to advance CMC’s mission in a collaborative manner through joint communications activities and events.
• Engage members and external partners/collaborators in the vetting, production and release of key information related to the sector, as well as in the development and production of sector-related events, to enhance the brand of CMC and its members, external partners/collaborators.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.

SUPERVISION:

One direct report.
Oversees work and assign tasks to contractors, as required.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Excellent communications skills.
• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• A minimum of five years’ relevant experience in areas such as the not-for-profit sector, association management, and/or internal organizational service delivery.
• Experience in fields including external relations, promotional campaign design, budgeting, and human resources management.
• Experience in planning, delivering, and measuring the success of large-scale events.
• Understanding of federal/provincial government jurisdictions.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to build long-term professional relationships with a national community of stakeholders.
• Fluently bilingual (English and French) – both spoken and written.
• Working knowledge of the co-operative economy and/or the not-for-profit sector is an asset.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Limited domestic travel is required.

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to Madeleine Brillant at mbrillant at canada.coop