Director, Strategic Communications & Media Relations

Position Title Director, Strategic Communications & Media Relations

Research Project

Department/Unit

Department/Unit President's Office

Location

Posting Number

Posting Number S310-26

Employee Group

Employee Group DPMG

Position Type

Position Type Regular, On-Going

Duration of Contract (if applicable)

Employment Type

Employment Type Full Time

Full-time Equivalency (FTE)

Full time Equivalency (FTE) 1.0

Salary $94,506 - $127,448 per annum based on 35 hours per week

Classification

Classification ADM-08

Provisional Statement

Dalhousie University is Atlantic Canada’s leading research-intensive university and a driver of the region’s intellectual, social and economic development. Located in the heart of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with an Agricultural Campus in Truro/Bible Hill, Dalhousie is a truly national and international university, with more than half of our almost 21,000 students coming from outside of the province. Our 6,000 faculty and staff foster a vibrant, purpose-driven community, that celebrated 200 years of academic excellence in 2018.

Job Summary

The Strategic Communications & Media Relations function is part of the central Strategic Communications team within the President’s Office and serves as the university’s lead resource for media relations, issues management and crisis communications. It is responsible for strategically building, enhancing and protecting the reputation of Dalhousie University. Reporting to the Senior Advisor, President’s Office and Communications, the Director, Strategic Communications & Media Relations provides leadership for the university’s strategic communications,



issues management, crisis communications, media relations, and reputation management functions, serving as a senior communications advisor to the President, Provost, Vice-President, and other senior university leaders.

Key Responsibilities

- Provide expert counsel on complex, sensitive, and reputation-impacting matters, and oversee the development of integrated communications strategies and institutional responses to emerging issues, risks, opportunities, and high-profile challenges.
- Anticipate, identify, and assess emerging issues, trends, challenges, opportunities, risks and threats that may have institutional implications for the university, and lead proactive planning to support institutional preparedness and response.
- Lead the university’s overall media relations strategy and maintain the university’s principal relationships with media at the local, regional, national and international levels, and serve as one of the university’s principal media contacts and spokesperson on reputation-impacting issues as required.
- Develop and oversee proactive and responsive media relations strategies and practices (annual, event and issue specific) that enhance Dalhousie’s reputation regionally, nationally and internationally.




- Work collaboratively across communications professionals and other partners across the university to advance institutional priorities through integrated communications planning, coordinated messaging, and a consistent approach to stakeholder engagement and reputation management.
- Provide leadership, direction, and oversight for the Strategic Communications & Media Relations function, ensuring the achievement of departmental and institutional objectives. Provide leadership, direction, coaching, and performance management for direct reports.

Note

The successful applicant will be eligible for hybrid work (combination of in-person work on campus and remote work from within Nova Scotia) as agreed by all parties based on operational requirements and university guidelines.

Occasional evening and weekend work will be required.

Required Qualifications

- Undergraduate degree in public relations, journalism, communications, or other related area plus at least ten years’ of progressively senior strategic communications experience (or equivalent combination of training and experience).
- Demonstrated leadership of issues and crisis management, public relations, and media relations, including acting as spokesperson, and leading communications responses to complex, sensitive, and high-profile issues in rapidly evolving environments.
- Significant experience providing strategic communications counsel to senior leaders and supporting executive decision-making on complex and reputation-impacting matters.
- Extensive experience analyzing and synthesizing complex issues, risks, opportunities, and stakeholder cons

📌 Director, Strategic Communications (Canada)
🏢 Dalhousie University
📍 Canada