Community Liaison, CANSTOREnergy (term)

Date Posted: 06/11/2024

Req ID: 37884

Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science

Department: Dept of Political Science

Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Position Number: 00056491

Description:

About us: The Faculty of Arts & Science is the heart of Canada's leading university and one of the most comprehensive and diverse academic divisions in the world. The strength of Arts & Science derives from our combined teaching and research excellence in the humanities, sciences and social sciences across 29 departments, seven colleges and 46 interdisciplinary centres, institutes and programs. We can only realize our mission with the dedication and excellence of engaged staff and faculty. The diversity of opportunities and perspectives within the Faculty reflect the local and global landscape and the need for curiosity, innovative thinking and collaboration. At Arts & Science, we take pride in our legacy of innovation and discovery that has changed the way we think about the world.

The Department of Political Science is home to a community of established and emerging scholars — researchers, teachers, and students — who engage with novel ideas thorough scholarship and creative research. We draw on the university's intellectual buzz and the city's cultural diversity to address urgent and enduring questions of politics, both locally and internationally. The University of Toronto and the Department of Political Science are strongly committed to diversity within its community and we especially welcome applications from racialized persons/persons of colour, women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. In addition, the CANSTOREnergy team is committed to fostering an inclusive, supportive, diverse, anti-racist, and respectful research environment. We welcome applicants with different backgrounds, identities, academic and life experiences, and knowledges.

Your opportunity: We are recruiting a Community Liaison to advance and support our community-involved research on energy transformations and technologies in the City of Hamilton. The candidate will join the "CANSTOREnergy" team, a research project that has partners at 11 universities across Canada and is funded by the Canadian federal government through the New Frontiers in Research Fund – Transformation stream. Our interdisciplinary team is undertaking community-informed energy technology design, with a focus on carbon conversion technologies in two regions: southern Canada (the city of Hamilton, Ontario), and northern Canada (the Yukon territory). Our mission is to consider how early community, utility, government, and industry input into energy technology design might be able to identify and avoid the challenges and unintended negative consequences that often arise in the deployment of such technologies. The team will consider when, where, under what conditions, and with what outputs—if any—carbon conversion technologies can support community energy futures. The technology has the potential to store renewable energy over seasonal timescales, reduce carbon emissions, secure energy justice, and support social and environmental well-being, and we are asking if and how these possible benefits might be realized through integrated community-informed research.

The CANSTOREnergy project operates through three sub-teams with distinct roles—Direct (leading community engagement efforts that will inform technology design), Develop (developing the carbon conversion technologies), and Discover (modelling policy and economic dynamics and lifecycle assessments for possible implementation of technologies). The Community Liaison will join the Direct subteam, led by Kate Neville, Political Science and School of the Environment at the University of Toronto, and will support our community relationship building and research efforts in Hamilton. The Community Liaison will help inform the project team on processes and protocols for appropriate community outreach, identify areas of potential mutual benefit for community and research team partners, and participate in research design and communication efforts. The ideal candidate will be able to develop ideas for how the project team can support existing community-based efforts in Hamilton in the areas of energy and environment. There are diverse community partners participating in this research project, from community and non-profit groups to municipal government offices and industry representatives. The project team is aiming to expand our community partnerships and hear from a diverse range of people and groups in Hamilton. The role of the Community Liaison is to support, grow, and coordinate these community partnerships. The Community Liaison be responsible for supporting the team of researchers as they engage in an iterative process with various community members and groups in Hamilton to inform the exploration of carbon conversion technologies (shaping early-stage design and identifying areas of potential benefit or concern). The Community Liaison will recommend and support outreach efforts to engage community members in Hamilton; contribute to and provide feedback on the research team's strategies for organizing surveys, workshops, listening sessions, and other community engagement efforts; and guide the research team's efforts to understand community energy contexts more deeply in Hamilton. The Community Liaison will also contribute to and join regular online and in-person meetings in Hamilton with university researchers to guide and coordinate the work of the project team. We are committed to processes and practices of inclusion, reconciliation, and respect in all our research efforts. In Hamilton, we are on treaty territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and we seek a Community Liaison who understands and respects this context. Given the nature of this work, some evening and weekend work will be required. The schedule of work will be co-developed between the candidate and the research team.

Note: this is a one-year grant-funded term opportunity with the potential for renewal.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Building and strengthening relationships with community members and partners of importance (e.g., rightsholders, stakeholders, potentially affected communities)
• Fostering cooperative working relationships with a wide variety of internal and external contacts
• Developing and implementing community engagement strategies and plans
• Informing community members and partners of project progress
• Serving as a resource to others by providing (non-supervisory) job-related guidance
• Tracking and monitoring outreach activities
• Responding to enquiries within the defined scope of the role and redirecting as appropriate
• Assessing needs and contributing to the planning of research goals

Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree or acceptable combination of education and relevant experience
• Minimum two years experience working in the areas of community outreach, community engagement, and/or community organizing in the Hamilton region, with evidence of established networks across diverse communities in the Hamilton region, including but not limited to under-represented groups
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and trust across diverse groups
• Demonstrated success implementing and adhering to processes and practices of inclusion, reconciliation, and respect in research and relationship management efforts
• Experience in or knowledge of some or all of the following: (i) Hamilton's climate change commitments, climate action, and priorities; (ii) energy-related initiatives in the region e.g., energy use, pricing, efficiency, or access initiatives or challenges; (iii) sustainability issues in community development initiatives and activities in the Hamilton region; (iv) community development of greenspaces and urban food systems, air quality and water quality concerns, housing access and development, or other sustainability-related considerations; and (v) energy justice in Hamilton
• Strong communication skills including the abilities to listen deeply, consider multiple viewpoints and perspectives, and to communicate complex concepts in meaningful ways
• Proven ability to work well as part of a team and get along with colleagues

Assets (Nonessential):

• Experience living in Hamilton
• Past experience in energy-related projects
• Experience working in interdisciplinary teams
• Experience organizing and facilitating workshops, focus groups, and/or surveys

To be successful in this role you will be:

• Communicator
• Motivated self-learner
• Patient
• Proactive
• Team player

Closing Date: 06/25/2024, 11:59PM ET

Employee Group: USW

Appointment Type: Grant - Term

Schedule: Full-Time

Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: USW Pay Band 09 -- $65,407 with an annual step progression to a maximum of $83,646. Pay scale and job class assignment is subject to determination pursuant to the Job Evaluation/Pay Equity Maintenance Protocol.

Job Category: Research Administration & Teaching

Lived Experience Statement

Candidates who are members of Indigenous, Black, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, persons with disabilities, and other equity deserving groups are encouraged to apply, and their lived experience shall be taken into consideration as applicable to the posted position.

Diversity Statement