Communications Specialist

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie; North Bay; Hybrid; CAD 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Great benefits package

Paid vacation & personal leave

Opportunity to shape a new role

Job summary

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie in North Bay is seeking a Communications Specialist to lead storytelling and safeguard the voice of St.

Joseph's Neighbourhood. This new role blends strategy and hands-on content creation as the organization transitions into a vibrant community hub. You will collaborate with leadership, craft internal announcements, manage websites and social channels, and help shape messaging around partnerships, programs and growth.

Qualifications

• Strong writing, editing and storytelling skills, with ability to write clearly, warmly and persuasively.
• Portfolio of original written and visual content, with experience across digital and print formats.
• Experience supporting media relations and advising senior leaders.
• Excellent project management skills and the ability to work independently in a start-up-like role.

Responsibilities

• Internal communications: write and coordinate announcements, newsletters, leadership messages, presentations and FAQs for employees, Sisters, tenants and volunteers.
• Mission and values: rollout of Vision, Mission and Values; tell stories that show them at work.
• Content creation and visual storytelling: produce content across formats; manage content calendar; build image library.
• Community and development communications: strengthen profile in North Bay and region; coordinate with partner organizations.
• Digital and media: maintain website and social media; prepare media releases; speaking points.
• Advisory and planning: advise leaders on audience, message, timing; maintain annual communications plan.

Skills

Exceptional writing and editing

Storytelling and visual storytelling

Portfolio of original content

Media relations support

Project management

Independent initiative

Inclusive communications approach

Education

Post-secondary education in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing or related discipline

Tools

CMS and web publishing tools

Photography and video tools

Job description

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay

Communications Specialist

Storyteller and guardian of the voice of a Neighbourhood that is becoming something new

Location

2025 Main Street West, North Bay, ON (on-site with a possible option for Hybrid)

Status

Full-time, permanent, 37.5 hours per week

Salary range

$55,000 to $65,000 per year

Reports to

Director of People, Culture, Mission & Spirituality

Vacancy

This posting is for an existing vacancy

Who We Are

For more than ninety years the Motherhouse in North Bay has been a place of care, prayer and welcome. Founded and guided by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, St. Joseph's Neighbourhood is home to Sisters, residents, tenants and partner organizations, and workplace to more than ninety employees across care, hospitality, property, administration and mission. We are working towards a significant transformation, from a Motherhouse into a vibrant neighbourhood where people live, work, gather and are cared for. Our work is rooted in five values: sacredness of all creation, community of belonging, unifying and reconciling love, wholeness of body, mind and spirit, and diversity and inclusion.

The Role

The Communications Specialist serves as the storyteller and guardian of the voice of St. Joseph's Neighbourhood, ensuring that everything we say, write, publish and share reflects who we are, honours where we come from and invites others into what we are becoming. This is a new position, you will build communications expertise for the organization from the ground up: the channels, the rhythms, the templates and, most of all, the voice.

It is a hands-on role for someone who moves comfortably between strategy and execution. One day you are helping the Lead Integrator shape a message to staff about an organizational change. The next you are photographing a celebration, cutting a short video, drafting a media release about a new partnership, refreshing the website and finding the story behind a Sister's fifty years of service. You will report to the Director (Steward) of People, Culture, Mission & Spirituality and work closely with the Lead Integrator, the Sisters' Leadership Team and managers across every part of the organization. Because the role is new, its shape will be worked out together over the first year, in step with the development projects underway on the campus. It will be, in every sense, a growing together.

What You Will Do

• Internal communications: write and coordinate announcements, newsletters, leadership messages, presentations and FAQs for employees, Sisters, tenants and volunteers, so people hear what is happening from us first, clearly and with context, and help leaders communicate priorities, decisions and change well.
• Mission and values: work with the Mission Integration Committee on the rollout of our Vision, Mission and Values, and find and tell the stories that show them at work in everyday life.
• Content creation and visual storytelling: produce original content across formats, from feature stories, profiles and photo essays to short-form video, graphics, presentations and print, manage a content calendar that follows the seasonal and liturgical rhythms of the Neighbourhood, and build a living library of images and stories.
• Community and development communications: strengthen our profile and relationships in North Bay and the wider region, support communications on partnerships, programs and the planning and development of the Neighbourhood, and coordinate with partner organizations, including the St. Joseph's Health Centre communications team, on matters of shared interest.
• Digital and media: maintain and grow our website and social media presence, prepare media releases, key messages and speaking points, and support spokespersons ahead of interviews.
• Advisory and planning: advise leaders on audience, message, timing and channel, help shape responses for sensitive or emerging situations, and maintain an annual communications plan with practical standards and templates.

What You Bring

• Post-secondary education in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing or a related discipline, and approximately five or more years of progressively responsible communications experience, preferably in health care, social services, not-for-profit, community, faith-based or similarly complex settings.
• Exceptional writing, editing and storytelling skills, with the ability to write clearly, warmly and persuasively and to shift tone for different audiences.
• A portfolio of original written and visual content, and working proficiency with contemporary design, photography, video and digital publishing tools, website content management and social media platforms.
• Experience supporting media relations, sound judgement and discretion, and comfort advising senior leaders.
• Strong project management skills, a calm and steady presence under pressure, and the initiative to work independently in a role being built for the first time.
• Respect for the history, culture and Catholic heritage of the Sisters of St. Joseph, alongside an inclusive approach that welcomes differences in culture, background, ability and belief.

Considered strong assets:

experience communicating organizational change or complex and sensitive matters; advanced photography, video production or graphic design; fluency in French.

What We Offer

A salary of $55,000 to $65,000 per year based on experience, a great benefits package, paid vacation and personal leave, and the rare chance to define a new role and a new organizational voice from the beginning, in a workplace where the work is meaningful, the pace is human, and colleagues know each other's names.

Our Commitments to Applicants

Accessibility and accommodation.

St. Joseph's Neighbourhood is committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Accommodation is available on request for applicants with disabilities at every stage of the hiring process, including application, interview, testing and selection. If you require accommodation, or need this posting in an alternate format, please contact Brenda Curran at [e-mail] or [phone] ext. 271 and we will work with you to meet your needs.

Equal opportunity.

We welcome applications from all qualified individuals and select on the basis of merit, without discrimination on any ground protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Use of artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is not used to screen, assess or select applicants for this position. All applications are reviewed by members of our team.

Privacy.

Personal information submitted with your application is collected and used solely for candidate selection for this position and is handled in accordance with applicable privacy legislation.