Various Senior Communications Advisor positions

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request specialized accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

Work environment

Are you a passionate communicator, looking to join a dynamic team?

The Strategic Communications and Marketing Sector (SCMS) is a full-service, multi-disciplined group at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).

Our shop is made up of strategic communicators, marketers, advertisers, graphic designers, videographers, social media experts, web professionals, speechwriters, translators/editors, data analysts, engagement experts and public opinion researchers who collaborate to craft messages and products that speak to and inspire Canadians, ISED employees and other federal public servants.

Our work is diversified and touches on various topics, such as innovation, science, industry, tourism, small business, employee engagement and client experience. You’ll get to work on a wide variety of initiatives that directly impact the Canadian economy as well as our daily lives as Canadians and as ISED employees.

Our goal is to be a one-stop shop for all of ISED’s business lines, as well as the ministers we serve.

Watch this short promo video to get a better sense of who we are: https://vimeo.com/374229864/7bb2b477fc

More about us:
• In addition to having head offices in the National Capital Region, we have regional offices in various cities, which open up employment opportunities to Canadians across the country.
• We value diversity and inclusion, and we foster a safe-space culture where authenticity matters.
• Work-life balance isn’t just a slogan. We offer a variety of policies to support our people, including flexible hours, the option to work from home or part-time, and extended leave for personal (parental, educational, etc.) reasons.

Bring your talent and energy to SCMS for an opportunity to thrive in the public service!

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) is proud to be named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers 2021, National Capital Region’s Top Employer 2021, and Canada’s Best Diversity Employers 2021. These awards recognize Canadian employers with exceptional human resources programs, forward-thinking workplace policies, and exceptional workplace diversity and inclusiveness programs.

Intent of the process

As per the following, The Strategic Communications and Marketing Sector, (SCMS) is looking to staff both generic and specialized Senior Communications Advisor positions:
Generic
Stream 1 (Specialized): Web
Stream 2 (Specialized): Marketing
Stream 3 (Specialized): Public Opinion Research and Consultations
Stream 4 (Specialized): Writer or Speechwriter
Stream 5 (Specialized): Data Analytics
Stream 6 (Specialized): Media Relations
Stream 7 (Specialized): Social Media
You may apply on more than one stream. In the questionnaire, you will be asked to indicate which stream(s) you are applying on.

- A pool of qualified candidates will be created to staff similar positions within Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada with various language requirements.
- The pool will be used to staff positions on an indeterminate or specified period basis in various locations.
- We may consider this pool for acting purposes.

Positions to be filled: 7

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

EDUCATION:

ALL STREAMS:

A degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in a field related to the positions such as communications, media studies, public relations, journalism, marketing, editing, translation or other acceptable specialization or an acceptable combination of education, training and experience such as a college degree in videography, graphic design, etc.

If you were educated outside of Canada, you must have your certificates and/or diplomas assessed against Canadian education standards. You are encouraged to begin this process as soon as possible. Consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca/

Notes:
1. Based on their education, training and/or experience, indeterminate incumbents of positions in the IS classification are deemed to meet the minimum education standard whenever a bachelor's degree without specialization is called for in a position classified as IS.
2. At the manager's discretion, an acceptable combination of education, training and/or experience, may serve as an alternative to the minimum education standard.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE:

ALL STREAMS:

- Experience providing strategic advice to management for at least two (2) years within the last five (5) years in one of the following areas: Strategic communications, issues management, social media, media relations, web, internal communications, public opinion research, marketing and advertising, or consultations.

- Experience developing and coordinating a variety of communications products and/or events in one or many of the following fields: media lines/responses, news releases, social media content, communications plans, articles, web content, briefing notes, speaking notes, speeches, presentations, marketing proposals, public environmental scans, surveys and reports.

- Experience leading meetings and presenting to clients or stakeholders.

- Experience in synthesizing information from different sources.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Various language requirements
We are looking for a variety of different language profiles:
- English Essential
- Bilingual Imperative BBB/BBB
- Bilingual Imperative CBC/CBC
- Bilingual Imperative CCC/CCC
- Bilingual imperative PPC/CCC – CCC/PPC

Information on language requirements

COMPETENCIES:

ALL STREAMS:

- Relationship Management and Collaboration – Building and maintaining effective, trusting and mutually-beneficial relationships through collaboration, networking, and managing conflict, i.e. respecting the needs and contributions of others, and negotiating win-win solutions to achieve common objectives.

- Client service – Understanding the importance of excellent client service and focusing efforts on discovering and meeting the needs of clients.

- Analytical Thinking - Using logical reasoning to break down and work through a situation or problem and arrive at an appropriate outcome, recommendation or decision, based on facts.

- Innovative Thinking – Ability to develop new or improved methods, products, technological solutions or processes and promote implementation.

- Achieving Results – Organizing and carrying out work to accomplish established objectives in the most effective, efficient and timely manner.

- Written Communication – Ability to produce clear, concise, logical and grammatically correct written material to effectively exchange information and ideas with others.

- Effective Interactive Communication - Expressing and transmitting information orally with consistency and clarity, using active listening techniques in order to effectively understand feedback, summarizing information according to the audience in order to promote engagement and increase understanding.

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

ASSET EXPERIENCE:

ALL STREAMS:
- Experience in supervising employees.
- Experience leading teams that produce communication products from planning to production.

STREAM #1 (Web)
- Experience with User Experience (UX) design, content strategy, content design, web writing, analytics, information architecture or accessibility.

STREAM #2 (Marketing)
- Recent and significant experience* working in marketing in a variety of the following disciplines: Brand strategy, social media campaigns and advertising, search-engine marketing, web, mobile applications, email marketing and data reporting.

*Recent and significant experience is defined as the breadth and depth of experience normally associated with performance of duties for a period of approximately two (2) years in the last five (5) years.

STREAM #3 (Public Opinion Research and Consultations)
- Experience in conducting and reporting on the results of public opinion research or consultations.
- Experience in researching the public environment and writing analysis reports.
- Experience in converting findings into plain language and/or visualization and presentation through summaries, infographics, or other products.
- Experience using online survey or consultation software (e.g. SimpleSurvey, Voxco, Qualtrix, etc.) and/or other software tools for statistical analysis of opinion (e.g. SPSS, Microsoft Excel, etc.).

STREAM #4 (Writer or Speechwriter)
- Significant** experience in writing high quality communications products or content*** that support senior officials (i.e: Minister, Deputy Minister, President, Vice-President, CEO, Director of a board, etc) within short deadlines.
- Significant** experience in providing advice to management on written communications products based on best practices and trends.

** Significant experience is defined as the breadth and depth of experience normally associated with performance of duties for a period of approximately two (2) years.

***High quality communication products or content are defined as products/content that are in the appropriate format for the target audiences, that meet or exceed standards, that demonstrate plain language and are free of errors or typos.

STREAM #5 (Data Analytics)
- Experience establishing and tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for communications planning and evaluation.
- Experience providing evidenced-based strategic communications advice using data assets.
- Significant** experience in data analysis and developing products such as dashboards for communications reporting.

** Significant experience is defined as the breadth and depth of experience normally associated with performance of duties for a period of approximately two (2) years.

STREAM #6 (Media Relations)
- Experience liaising with senior officials (i.e: Minister, Deputy Minister, President, Vice-President, CEO, Director of a board, etc) in support of media relations activities.
- Experience coordinating with other partners and stakeholders in response to media enquiries.

STREAM #7 (Social Media)
- Recent experience* in hosting livestreamed events on a variety of platforms, and being able to utilize tools to analyze social media metrics.

*Recent experience is defined as performance of duties in the last two (2) years.

ORGANIZATIONAL NEED:

At ISED, diversity is our strength. If you are a woman, an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability or a visible minority, please let us know by completing the Employment Equity (EE) section in your application. Appointments of members of these EE groups ensure our workforce is inclusive and representative of the Canadian public we serve.

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

Depending on the position to staff, operational requirements could apply such as:
- Ability to work overtime and work on the weekend often on short notice, and to adopt flexible work hours as per operational requirements.
- Shift work.
- Travel.

Conditions of employment

- Secret or Reliability (dependent on position)
This factor is not used at the screening stage. The department is responsible for the security clearance process.

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

If you do not fully complete the screening questions as instructed, you will be screened out.

Interviews will be conducted.

Reference checks will be conducted.

Candidates must meet the essential qualifications to be appointed to a position.

Candidates may be required to meet the asset qualifications or the organizational needs, depending on the requirements of the specific position being staffed.

Meeting one or many of the asset qualifications will be a deciding factor in appointing a particular candidate amongst the qualified candidates. Please note that one, some or all of the asset qualifications could be used at any stage of the staffing process.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice.

Communication for this process will be sent via email. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure accurate contact information is provided and updated as required; Candidates who apply to this selection process should include an email address that accepts email from unknown users (some email systems block these types of email).

Acknowledgment of receipt of applications will not be sent; we will contact candidates when the screening process is completed.

If you are not able to apply online, please contact the person below for assistance.

We will accept applications on-line only.

All job applications must therefore be submitted through the Public Service Resourcing System. Following are some of the benefits associated with applying on-line.

Applicants can create a profile and a resume that can be used when applying for other processes without having to recreate a new application each time.

Applicants can modify their application/resume at any time BEFORE the closing date indicated on the job advertisement.

Applicants can verify the status of their applications, at any time.

Applicants can be notified electronically of tests or interviews and results.

For some jobs, applicants will find important information, namely the job questionnaire and a complete statement of merit criteria that are only available when applying on-line.

To submit an application on-line, please select the button “Apply Online” below.

Persons with disabilities preventing them from applying on-line are asked to contact 1-800-645-5605.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.