Customer Relations & Comment Management Program Manager

hdr; Toronto, Richmond Hill, Calgary, Vancouver; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Living Wage Employer

Employee-owned culture

Job summary

HDR is seeking a Customer Relations & Comment Management Program Manager to establish and manage a scalable public comment response program across North America. The role focuses on timely, accurate, and defensible responses to inquiries during planning, permitting, construction, and operations.

The successful candidate will lead customer experience, contact center operations, and stakeholder response initiatives, partnering with HDR’s Strategic Communications professionals, project managers,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related field required.
• Minimum 5 years related experience.
• Strong PowerPoint, Word, Project and Visio skills.
• Expert Microsoft Access and Excel skills.
• Strong analytical and communication abilities.
• Ability to obtain, cleanse, merge and analyze data from multiple sources.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead HDR's Public Comment Response Program.
• Develop SOPs, response protocols, and QA processes.
• Create governance structures for consistent responses across projects and geographies.
• Build a scalable program to support multiple concurrent infrastructure projects.
• Train communications specialists to use CRM databases.
• Develop onboarding, training, and quality control programs.
• Partner with HDR’s Strategic Communications and project teams for stakeholder engagement.

Skills

Analytical skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Zoho CRM

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Project

Visio

Job description

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?
Watch Our Story: ' https://www.hdrinc.com/our-story'
Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.
At HDR, our employee‑ownership model shapes everything we do, including how we support and care for our people. Our diverse service lines, including Water, Architecture, Building Engineering Services, Field Services, Power, Waste, Industrial, and Transportation reflect our commitment to shaping resilient, sustainable, and forward‑thinking communities around the world. Across these disciplines, our teams design and deliver solutions that safeguard public health, enhance quality of life, power innovation, and drive responsible growth. Whether advancing clean water, creating healing and learning environments, engineering next‑generation facilities, or building the infrastructure that moves people and energy, our work is rooted in technical excellence and a shared sense of purpose. Our employee‑owners collaborate across specialties, combining creativity, precision, and deep expertise to solve the most complex challenges facing our clients and communities.

Customer Relations & Comment Management Program Manager Job Description:

HDR is seeking a Customer Relations & Comment Management Program Manager to establish and manage a public comment response and tracking program that supports infrastructure projects across North America. This individual will design, implement, and manage a scalable customer experience program that provides timely, accurate, and defensible responses to public inquiries, comments, and concerns received during project planning, permitting, construction, and operations.

The successful candidate will bring expertise in customer experience, contact center operations, stakeholder response management, or constituent services and will apply those skills to support transportation, energy, water, environmental, and community infrastructure projects. They will develop response protocols, governance frameworks, quality assurance programs, CRM workflows, reporting systems, and staffing models while working directly with a network of project coordinators and subject matter experts.

This role will partner closely with HDR’s Strategic Communications professionals, project managers, technical experts, and clients for consistent, transparent, and risk-aware public engagement across a diverse portfolio of projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and lead HDR's Public Comment Response Program.
• Develop standard operating procedures (e.g. sensitive issues, media inquiries, and regulatory comment periods), response protocols, and quality assurance processes.
• Create governance structures supporting consistent responses across projects and geographies.
• Build a scalable program capable of supporting multiple concurrent infrastructure projects.
• Train communications specialists to use and assist in maintaining CRM databases.
• Develop onboarding, training, and quality control programs.
• Foster a culture focused on customer service excellence and continuous improvement.
• Other duties as assigned.

Comment Management Operations

• Design workflows for managing inquiries and comments received through websites, contact forms, email, surveys, interactive maps, public meetings, open houses, and regulatory comment periods.
• Develop escalation pathways for sensitive, technical, legal, political, or high-profile issues.
• Create response templates, knowledge libraries, and decision trees.
• Monitor response quality, accuracy, consistency, and timeliness.

Technology & Systems

• Evaluate, administer, and optimize CRM and comment management platforms.
• Improve existing Zoho-based processes and recommend alternative technologies where appropriate.
• Develop dashboards and reporting tools that provide project teams and clients with actionable insights.
• Evaluate opportunities to use AI and automation while maintaining quality and accountability.

Strategic Communications Support

• Partner with project managers and communications teams to support project engagement goals.
• Advise project teams on stakeholder concerns, emerging issues, and response strategies.
• Participate in proposal development and client presentations.

Preferred Qualifications

• 10 years of experience in leading customer service operations, customer experience management, contact center leadership, constituent services, stakeholder response programs, or a related field.
• Experience building operational programs from concept to implementation.
• Demonstrated success managing teams and service delivery performance.
• Experience implementing CRM systems, workflow automation, or customer service technologies.
• Experience with Zoho CRM.
• Strong understanding of quality assurance, escalation management, and process improvement.
• Experience supporting highly visible, regulated, or politically sensitive initiatives preferred.
• Knowledge management skills to build response libraries, approved language banks, FAQ repositories, AI-assisted drafting tools, etc.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related field
• A minimum of 5 years related experience
• Efficient use of the internet and other electronic and hard copy media for research
• Strong Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Project and Visio skills
• Expert Microsoft Access and Excel skills
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to compile and present summary level information
• Ability to obtain, cleanse, merge and analyze data from multiple sources
• Excellent interpersonal skills and strong relationship, organizational and follow-up skills
• Self-starter with proven track record of accomplishments
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment

As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

At HDR, the health and safety of our employees is of the upmost importance. In accordance with local safety, health, and environmental legislation, HDR is committed to developing, maintaining, and enforcing proactive safe work policies, procedures, and standards.
In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and other applicable legislation, we are committed to meeting the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities. Candidates with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment and selection process by contacting our Human Resources team.
HDR is a certified Living Wage Employer in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta.

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity.

We are an Affinitive Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified candidates regardless of criminal histoires, arrest and conviction records.