Director of Communications

SEIU Healthcare; Richmond Hill; On-site; CAD 125,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental benefits

Pension plan

Flexible time

Employee Assistance Program

Professional development

Job summary

SEIU Healthcare Canada is seeking a Director of Communications to lead a multidisciplinary team and unify the union’s communications efforts from our Richmond Hill office. The role reports to the Executive Vice-President and requires strategic vision, strong writing, and seasoned media leadership to reach members, the public, media and government.

The successful candidate will align department workflows, governance and brand standards, while advising senior leadership and coordinating with all

Qualifications

• Senior communications leadership in a union, health care organization, advocacy group or comparable member-based institution, with 6-10 years of progressively senior experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• A record of bringing a team together and building the systems it relies on
• Excellent writing and editing, shown in published work
• Direct experience with news media, including difficult stories under pressure
• Experience leading communications for campaigns with defined goals and deadlines
• Working command of digital channels, social media, analytics and visual production
• Sound political judgment and the ability to advise elected leaders
• Working knowledge of how unions operate and how health care is delivered
• A demonstrated commitment to justice for working people
• Strongly Preferred: Experience in the labour movement and with collective bargaining communications
• Knowledge of Ontario’s health care system and its workforce
• Government relations or press secretary experience
• Experience leading a crisis response for an organization in the public eye
• Experience communicating with a large, diverse, multi-sector membership
• Translation, accessibility or adult education experience
• Bilingualism in English and French. Other languages spoken by members are also an asset

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and develop a team of design strategists, brand journalists, a new media specialist, a digital media strategist, a photographer and a web architect, and build a respectful, healthy team culture
• Build one intake, approval and project management system for all communications work
• Set clear roles, named owners and editorial sign-off for everything that goes out
• Manage the department budget and vendors, and decide what is produced in-house
• Develop and deliver an annual communications plan tied to the union’s priorities
• Advise the President and officers on communications and reputation, before decisions are made
• Work with each department from the start of its projects, through a regular planning rhythm
• Own the union’s visual identity, voice, brand standards and templates
• Shape how the public, allies, employers and government understand the union and its members
• Personally lead media relations: build reporter relationships, pitch stories, issue releases and statements
• Prepare spokespeople and serve as a spokesperson when asked
• Set social media strategy and oversee content, community management and paid promotion
• Anticipate emerging issues, maintain the crisis communications plan, and lead the response when an issue breaks
• Keep members, stewards, elected leaders and staff informed on a reliable schedule
• Make sure bargaining, ratification and meeting notices reach members accurately and on time
• Serve as senior writer and editor for speeches, statements, opinion pieces, reports and member materials
• Lead communications for bargaining, organizing and political action campaigns, including print, digital and worksite materials
• Make communications accessible, in plain language, and available in the languages members use
• Apply an equity lens to all communications and meet Ontario accessibility requirements
• Support member and steward education materials with sound adult learning practice
• Set website strategy and keep the site a current, useful source for members
• Direct photography and video that put members and their work at the centre
• Maintain a current, consented library of photos and footage
• Report regularly on what reaches members and what moves them to act

Skills

Communications leadership

Team building

Writing and editing

Media relations

Campaigns

Digital channels

Political judgment

Union knowledge

Diversity equity inclusion

Job description

Director of Communications

Permanent, full time | In office at Richmond Hill, Ontario | Application deadline: November 23rd, 2026. Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

About SEIU Healthcare Canada

SEIU Healthcare Canada is the healthcare union that wins with and for its members. We are more than 70,000 frontline workers who care for people in hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes, and home and community care. We are change makers. We challenge a system that too often treats care workers as an afterthought, and we refuse to accept the status quo as the limit of what is possible.

We are building a union around the member. That means bold, innovative action and milestones that open new ground for working people. It means relationships with employers, governments and allies that advance our members’ priorities. It means growing our membership and developing the leaders and activists who carry this work forward, with the tools, training and education members need to shape decisions and take control of their future.

Our values guide how we do it. Everyone is included, because diversity, equity and inclusion define who we are. We build authentic connection through honesty and transparency. We take courageous action and speak our truth, no matter what. We activate the power of our members. And we are stronger together, in a union where every person can thrive and make a meaningful impact.

Our Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression

SEIU Healthcare is committed to advancing anti-racism and anti-oppression throughout the work of our union. We strive to identify and address systemic racism, discrimination, inequity, and other barriers affecting our members and their workplaces. Through member representation, education, workplace leadership, organizing, and collective action, we work to build the capacity of members and leaders to advance equity and create meaningful, lasting change in their workplaces, their union, and their communities.

The Role

We are creating a new senior role to bring the union’s communications together. Reporting to the Executive Vice-President, the Director leads a creative team of eight, sets communications strategy, and partners with every department to reach members, the public, the media and government.

We need a builder first. You will bring talented design, writing, digital, photo, video and web staff together as one accountable department with clear systems. You will also be a strategist with sharp political judgment, and a leader who holds everything the union publishes to a high standard.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership and Systems

• Lead, manage and develop a team of design strategists, brand journalists, a new media specialist, a digital media strategist, a photographer and a web architect, and build a respectful, healthy team culture
• Build one intake, approval and project management system for all communications work
• Set clear roles, named owners and editorial sign-off for everything that goes out
• Manage the department budget and vendors, and decide what is produced in-house

Strategy and Brand

• Develop and deliver an annual communications plan tied to the union’s priorities
• Advise the President and officers on communications and reputation, before decisions are made
• Work with each department from the start of its projects, through a regular planning rhythm
• Own the union’s visual identity, voice, brand standards and templates

Public Voice

• Shape how the public, allies, employers and government understand the union and its members
• Personally lead media relations: build reporter relationships, pitch stories, issue releases and statements
• Prepare spokespeople and serve as a spokesperson when asked
• Set social media strategy and oversee content, community management and paid promotion
• Anticipate emerging issues, maintain the crisis communications plan, and lead the response when an issue breaks

Member Communications and Campaigns

• Keep members, stewards, elected leaders and staff informed on a reliable schedule
• Make sure bargaining, ratification and meeting notices reach members accurately and on time
• Serve as senior writer and editor for speeches, statements, opinion pieces, reports and member materials
• Lead communications for bargaining, organizing and political action campaigns, including print, digital and worksite materials

Access, Equity and Plain Language

• Make communications accessible, in plain language, and available in the languages members use
• Apply an equity lens to all communications and meet Ontario accessibility requirements
• Support member and steward education materials with sound adult learning practice

Digital, Visual and Measurement

• Set website strategy and keep the site a current, useful source for members
• Direct photography and video that put members and their work at the centre
• Maintain a current, consented library of photos and footage
• Report regularly on what reaches members and what moves them to act

What We’re Looking For

Required

• Senior communications leadership in a union, health care organization, advocacy group or comparable member-based institution, with 6-10 years of progressively senior experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• A record of bringing a team together and building the systems it relies on
• Excellent writing and editing, shown in published work
• Direct experience with news media, including difficult stories under pressure
• Experience leading communications for campaigns with defined goals and deadlines
• Working command of digital channels, social media, analytics and visual production
• Sound political judgment and the ability to advise elected leaders
• Working knowledge of how unions operate and how health care is delivered
• A demonstrated commitment to justice for working people

Strongly Preferred

• Experience in the labour movement and with collective bargaining communications
• Knowledge of Ontario’s health care system and its workforce
• Government relations or press secretary experience
• Experience leading a crisis response for an organization in the public eye
• Experience communicating with a large, diverse, multi-sector membership
• Translation, accessibility or adult education experience
• Bilingualism in English and French. Other languages spoken by members are also an asset

Compensation and Conditions

This posting is for an existing vacancy in a newly created, permanent, full-time, director-level position and It is not covered by a collective agreement. The position is based at our head office in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Evening and weekend work is required when issues break or campaigns peak, balanced through flex time, and some travel is required to reach members across regions. Most of our work is on-site and in the field. Remote work is available by exception, where it makes operational sense.

Salary range: $125,000 to $145,000 annually, commensurate with experience. We offer health, dental and insurance benefits, vacation and sick leave, a fully sponsored pension plan, flex time, an Employee and Family Assistance Program and professional development

SEIU Healthcare Canada is committed to employment equity and strongly encourages applications from women, Indigenous peoples, racialized communities, persons with disabilities and 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. We know the best people do not always have the same access to education, and we welcome equivalent experience. We provide accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Our Commitment to a Human-Led Search

SEIU Healthcare Canada will not use artificial intelligence or automated tools to screen, assess or select applicants at any stage of this search. Every application will be read by a person. Every hiring decision will be made by people.

A note on generative AI

Writing is central to this role, so please write your cover letter and written responses in your own words. By applying, you affirm that they are your own work. Finalists will complete a supervised writing exercise.

We thank all applicants for their interest. We will contact those selected for further consideration, and everyone interviewed will hear whether a hiring decision has been made. Accommodation is available at every stage of this process. Please tell us of any accessibility needs.