Company Description

Halton Healthcare's vision of exemplary patient experiences, always, goes beyond just the patient experience; it has shaped our entire culture and remains at the core of every interaction in our organization, from our patients & families to our staff, physicians, volunteers and visitors. We believe in exemplary PEOPLE experiences always!

At Halton Healthcare you will thrive in a healthcare culture and environment that embraces inclusion, diversity and belonging with ‘exemplary patient care, always' at the heart of everything we do.

We empower our people to be the very best they can be so they can make a difference for our patients and the communities we serve.

Halton Healthcare takes great pride in providing quality, compassionate healthcare services to our rapidly growing communities of Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills. As a progressive and vibrant healthcare organization, we are committed to being an innovative center of excellence in community hospital care.

Job Description

As a key member of Halton Healthcare's Communications and Public Affairs team, the Manager, Communications & Public Affairs is responsible for the development and implementation of communication strategies to build positive and consistent brand awareness.

The position is responsible for developing, coordinating, and executing communications plans to support the portfolio of Halton Healthcare's programs and services, across all three sites. The position is responsible for providing strategic communications and public affairs advice and expertise to leadership, managing media relations and crisis communications, and ensuring that integrated care at Halton Healthcare, and its strategic priorities, are promoted and amplified with all internal and external stakeholders.

The position is a key advisor to the CEO and senior leadership team, the Communications and Public Affairs Director and the entire Communications & Public Affairs department. The role also works with a diverse, multidisciplinary team of clinicians, allied and enabling staff and leaders.

The manager is a passionate, forward-thinking, people-driven leader who can manage and prioritize competing priorities while leading, motivating and upskilling a high performing team.

Responsibilities:

• Work closely with and provide counsel to the CEO and senior leaders, as well as department/program leaders to support multiple initiatives across the entire organization (all three sites and 9 satellite sites).
• Consult with internal clients and external partners and proactively identify communications opportunities.
• Develop strategic and operational communications plans to support the effective and efficient execution of communications strategies and provide measurement and evaluation of such plans or campaigns.
• Produce, edit and approve supporting collateral such as key messages, speaking notes, news releases, FAQs, issues notes, board materials and other similar materials
• Proactively identify significant issues posing a potentially negative impact and work with the relevant teams and leaders to develop messaging and positioning statements.
• Contribute to the development of the corporate communications strategy for both immediate and long-term goals.
• Identify emerging issues and trends and their impact or opportunity for Halton Healthcare
• Provide support to corporate initiatives, events and campaigns as assigned.
• Contribute to the organization's issues management program and on call program
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with various stakeholders including hospital leadership, staff, credentialed staff and external stakeholders such as OHT, political dignitaries and community partners.
• Lead media training for spokespeople and leaders
• Coach, mentor and support the communications team and ensure continuous professional development and adoption of new technologies and best practices
• Continually assess, invest in and implement new programs and technology, such as AI, for maximized efficiency and productivity of team
• Conduct team performance reviews, ensuring team members are meeting their maximum potential and/or accessing supports to allow them to reach their full potential
• Manage materials to ensure they are on brand and explore opportunities to strengthen brand awareness internally and externally through templates, videos, events, and more.
• Ensure all materials are viewed with a lens of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and support EDI initiatives as required
• Support and lead change management communications plans working closely with key organizational partners.

Qualifications

• Post-secondary degree in a related field (Communications, Journalism, Public Affairs, Marketing Communications, Digital Communications) or recognized equivalent, such as a public relations/communications diploma from a recognized community college.
• Must have minimum of seven (7) years experience in Public Affairs or Communications role. Direct experience in healthcare or government is required.
• Masters Degree and/or professional designation, e.g., ABC, APR, preferred but not required.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in corporate communications or public affairs
• Ability to motivate creative people and lead the contracting and supervision of external creative suppliers and agencies.
• Solid knowledge of marketing and public relations principles and practices.
• Strong media relations skills and working knowledge of print, broadcast, online and social media.
• Ability to influence, negotiate, and manage contentious issues to resolution.
• Highly developed strategic communications and planning skills.
• Superior project management skills and ability to prioritize against competing deadlines and priorities.
• Strong understanding of marketing, branding, visual identify and graphic design
• Excellent critical thinking and judgement skills.
• Superior story telling skills using words, images, audio and video and a keen understating of how to create content to inspire engage and educate.
• Ability to work effectively across all levels of the organization in a fast-paced, high profile, deadline-oriented environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to establish effective working relationships with a broad range of internal and external partners, creative communications professionals both internal and external.
• Highly articulate with strong verbal communications and presentation skills.
• Experience working with a variety of technologies and platforms including social media, website and intranet content development and management.
• An understanding of Ontario's healthcare sector and/or best practices in public sector communications would be an advantage in this position.
• Highly proficient in the use of Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel, Access, Outlook.
• Must have a valid Ontario driver's license and a reliable insured vehicle to travel between all hospital sites.
• Independent worker.
• Flexibility to be on call outside of normal business hours.

Additional Information

Hours: Monday to Friday, 7.5 hour day shift

Salary: $51.537 to $63.851 per hour

Date Posted: October 18, 2024

Applications due by: November 8, 2024

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Halton Healthcare is an equal opportunity employer who is committed to integrating diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our operations, policies and culture. If you are passionate about what you do, motivated by a job well done, and as committed to excellence, quality and patient satisfaction as we are, we'd like to hear from you. Please attach your current resume directly to this posting.

We thank all those who apply but only those individuals selected for further consideration will be contacted.

Halton Healthcare is committed to providing accommodations for applicants with disabilities. In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code, Halton Healthcare will provide accommodations throughout the recruitment and selection process. If you require an accommodation, we will work with you to meet your accommodation needs to ensure your equal participation.

All new hires must be fully compliant with our Vaccination Policy as a condition of employment with Halton Healthcare. Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of vaccination or proof of a documented medical exemption as part of the hiring process.

All personal information is collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.