Communications Coordinator- Closes Oct 27

Position Summary

The Communications Coordinator position is responsible for overall coordination of the Municipality’s communication products from concept through to completion. The Communication Coordinator works closely with all departments and senior leadership to deliver these products and initiatives using tact, independent judgment and diplomacy.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. Develop and manage the content, production (design and print) and distribution of all communications products, from concept through to completion, to ensure accurate and effective communication with staff, public and media.
2. Develops and disseminates information and promotional material internally and externally including open house boards, event posters, newsletters, guides, brochures, and presentations for various communication measures, including website, social media, and print, adhering to the branding guidelines and ensuring print readiness.
3. Work with all staff and Council to increase awareness of the importance of a consistent visual identity across all programs and communications products.
4. Updates and manages the Municipality’s website and social media accounts.
5. Creates and manages the Municipality’s weekly newspaper advertisements, ensuring all statutory advertisements and notices are included.
6. Draft public notices, press releases and other media communications as directed.
7. Develop and maintain an inventory of graphics, images, and videos.
8. Proofread and edit various publications authored by other staff members
9. Develop strong working relationship with key media contacts
10. Participates in the development, implementation, and maintenance of policies and procedures for the recording, indexing, filing, and retrieving of active documents and the storage or destruction of inactive documents.
11. Reviews and updates the Municipal records retention schedules.
12. Assists other departments in developing workflow processes with regard to archiving and file storage and provides guidance to other employees in preparing their files for scanning to electronic format. Prepares and sorts general municipal documents for scanning to electronic format, checking and correcting for clarity and quality, indexing, and filing in an appropriate electronic database.
13. Acting as point of contact for the day-to-day operations of the electronic records management system, responsible for coordinating and maintaining the Municipality’s computerized and manual documentation filing systems including setting up users, managing permissions, setting file containers, and troubleshooting and isolating system failures. 
14. Responsible for all aspects of the records and document management lifecycle, in both tangible and digital form.
15. Provides administrative support to respond to Freedom of Information Requests.
16. Participates in development of training materials, and assists in departmental and organization-wide training sessions on records management related topics and e-mail/internet policy.
17. Provides administrative support to design business processes and work flow strategies for the maintenance, access and retrieval of municipal data; defines data rules and relationships, and develops methods for quality control for the records management system. 
18. Customizes and maintains website and social media accounts; publishes documents; creates custom search forms and links to URLs.
19. Provides support to other departments on ad hoc projects as required.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills

• Knowledge of Legislation including the Municipal Government Act, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, municipal bylaws and policies.
• Excellent writing skills and ability to produce effective, well written, clear and timely communications to staff and public.  
• Well-developed communication techniques for dealing effectively with the public, vendors, contractors, and staff, in person, by email, through social media and over the telephone.
• Skilled in the use of software such as Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Canva.
• Competent to analyze problems, identify alternative solutions, project consequences of proposed actions and implement recommendations in support of goals.
• Competent to maintain security, confidentiality, and integrity of municipal records and information.
• Competent to perform work with accuracy, speed, and with little supervision.
• Ability to organize and prioritize a variety of projects and multiple tasks in an effective and timely manner; organize own work, set priorities, and meet critical time deadlines.
• Competent to exercise good judgment, flexibility, creativity, and sensitivity in response to changing situations and needs.
• Ability to establish, maintain, and foster positive and harmonious working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.
• Ability to operate a variety of office equipment and machines such as computers, printers, scanners, debit machine, photocopiers, laminators, labelers, postage meters, calculators and multi-line phone system.
• Knowledge in principles and practices of records management including records retention laws would be an asset.
• Knowledge and experience with manual and electronic records management systems would be an asset.

Education and Experience

This position requires the following minimum qualifications:

• A high school diploma supplemented by 2 years of post-secondary education in communications, marketing, or a related discipline.
• Two years of working experience working in marketing, communications or related field. 

Independence and Scope of Impact

Decisions and problems are varied and require the incumbent to use some judgement and discretion within policy, codes and/or legislation.  Supervision is available and can be consulted in cases where several options are available.  Decisions related to website and social media are public and as such, could cause some impact to the public image of the Municipality.

Contacts

Internal - Regular contacts are maintained with employees throughout the organization, working with them to exchange information ensuring accurate information is disseminated to the public, as well, instructing, providing guidance and settling requests with regard to the records management program.

External - Regular contacts are maintained with newspapers, vendors, user groups and IT providers involving the exchanging and explaining of information. 

Supervision Given

Supervisory responsibilities involve supervising the work of others performing similar duties or may involve giving periodic advice or direction to others without supervisory authority with regard to the electronic document management system.

Working Conditions

The work is performed in a typical office environment.  The incumbent is required to sit for several hours during the day and involves frequent use (many times a day) of computers for up to an hour each time.