SENIOR COMM ADVISOR STRATEGIC COMM

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced, strategic and agile Senior Communications Advisor to join the Issues Management team. Reporting to the Manager, Issues Management, the successful candidate is a problem solver, well versed in risk preparedness and mitigation. The individual is a specialist in reputation management, corporate positioning and communication across multiple partners in complex and sensitive environments. The candidate is accustomed to managing multiple reputational challenges simultaneously, with the ability to prioritize and execute appropriately. 

The ideal candidate has extensive issues and crisis communications experience, excels in high-pressure, rapidly evolving situations, and can confidently deliver issues management and emergency communications support. The Senior Communications Advisor will provide senior level support to key spokespeople and divisions, counselling them on appropriate positioning and communication delivery.  

Major Responsibilities

Issues Management: 

• Lead the development of proactive and reactive issues strategies that help address impactful reputational challenges.

• Work with multiple partners – of all seniority levels – to provide counsel and guidance to mitigate risk. 

• Draft large-scale risk assessments, playbooks, messaging briefings and guidance documents to supplement team-wide issues preparedness efforts. 

• Be the voice of calm in highly sensitive, pressure-packed incidents where swift, effective guidance is required to be delivered to several audiences. 

• Be able to forecast potential reputational challenges through traditional and social media channels and leverage these findings as part of overall trend analysis and preparedness efforts. 

• Demonstrate acumen for how content output can transcend different audiences and create potential risk. 

• Have the ability, and experience, working with media relations and social media functions, colleagues and/or clients to manage issues management and potential reputational threats. 

• Support on-call efforts, including after-hours and weekend issues response as part of a rotating standby schedule. 

Strategic Communications Leadership: 

• Build strong, collaborative relationships with senior management, divisional partners and stakeholders across the City. 

• Lead integrated issues communications approaches that align with organizational priorities and apply best practices in measurement and engagement. 

• Mentor and guide communications staff, promoting high standards, issues-based best practices and consistent application of communications principles. 

• Ensure communications practices respect equity, diversity and inclusion, and effectively reach multilingual and diverse audiences. 

Key Qualifications:

1. Post-secondary education in a discipline pertinent to the job function, such as journalism, communications, public relations. 

2. Extensive communications experience, ideally with significant issues and crisis management experience, preferably in an agency function. 

3. Extensive experience in corporate communications and public affairs. 

4. Experience with corporate reputation, brand management or mitigation efforts in multi-faceted communication programs, campaigns or outputs. 

5. Extensive experience advising senior stakeholders, officials and/or clients in complex, sensitive matters.  

6. Ability to think, and act, swiftly in high impact moments that carry significant weight and perception on decisions. 

7. Awareness and participation in social listening and trend analysis platforms to inform action and guidance recommendations. 

8. Strong leadership abilities with experience guiding teams and influencing decision-making across diverse stakeholder groups.  

9. Ability to cultivate trusting, collaborative relationships with colleagues, partners and external stakeholders.  

10. Ability to manage sensitive information with discretion and professionalism. 

11. Excellent organizational and multitasking skills, with the ability to perform effectively under pressure and tight deadlines.  

12. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including superior writing and editing expertise. 

13. Knowledge of outreach strategies for diverse and multilingual audiences, applying an inclusive and culturally responsive communications lens. 

Additional Assets: 

• Agency experience. 

• Experience working with global companies. 

• Involvement in large-scale crisis situations. 

• Experience coordinating with multi-faceted, complex, organizations. 

• Serving as lead representative through the entirety of an issue management process. 

• Experience managing communications related to civil unrest, cyber security, employee relations and litigation scenarios. 

• Experience as a media spokesperson. 

• Involvement in leading or participating in tabletop facilitation exercises. 

• Previous collaboration with internal, and external, general counsel.