Strategic Communications & Enterprise Leader

Socket.dev; Newmarket; Hybrid; CAD 122,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

HOOPP

Health + dental benefits

Learning & development opportunities

Job summary

CMHA York Region is seeking a Senior Director, Communications and Strategy to provide senior leadership for organizational communications and a defined portfolio of enterprise strategy responsibilities, reporting to the CEO.

The role leads the Communications function while coordinating strategic planning, executive governance support, organizational performance reporting and cross-functional initiatives, with accountability remaining with the CEO or the accountable executive.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, business, public administration or a related field; graduate education is an asset.
• Significant progressive leadership experience in communications, strategy, stakeholder relations, governance support, organizational performance or related functions.
• Experience advising senior leaders and preparing executive- and Board-level communications and decision-support materials.
• Experience leading staff and managing complex, cross-functional initiatives in a multi-stakeholder environment.
• Health, community mental health, social services, public-sector or not-for-profit experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead organizational communications strategy, planning and delivery in alignment with organizational priorities.
• Provide oversight of internal and external communications, media relations, executive communications, public affairs, brand and reputation.
• Guide communications for organizational change, sensitive matters, service launches, campaigns, partnerships and community engagement.
• Identify and escape significant reputational risks, ensuring substantive legal, labour relations, privacy, clinical and operational decisions remain with the appropriate executive or specialist.
• Coordinate defined elements of strategic plan development, implementation, monitoring and renewal under the authority of the CEO.
• Translate approved strategic priorities into coordinated workplans, milestones, accountabilities and reporting processes.
• Monitor progress against approved commitments and identify emerging gaps, dependencies, risks and opportunities for executive consideration.
• Support organizational intelligence by synthesizing sector developments, stakeholder insights and internal information into decision-support materials.
• Recognize that final enterprise strategy decisions, priority trade-offs and resource allocations remain with the CEO, Executive Leadership Team or Board, as applicable.
• Prepare executive briefings, presentations, key messages, issue summaries and decision-support materials for the CEO and senior leadership.
• Coordinate selected executive planning, priority reviews, decision-tracking and follow-up.
• Support the coordination and quality of Board and Committee materials within established governance processes.
• Maintain clear boundaries between coordination support and the CEO’s accountability for executive team effectiveness, Board relationships and governance advice.
• Coordinate initial enterprise dashboards and consolidate performance information provided by accountable portfolio leaders.
• Support cross-functional planning and follow-up while preserving each executive’s accountability for clinical, financial, people, quality, legal and operational performance.
• Lead a limited number of CEO-sponsored enterprise projects with documented scope, authority, governance, timelines and escalation paths.
• Support accreditation, quality improvement, change management and organizational effectiveness initiatives where aligned with approved priorities.
• Support strategic engagement with funders, government, health-system partners, municipalities, community partners and other stakeholders.
• Prepare stakeholder briefs, correspondence, presentations and follow-up materials for the CEO and designated relationship owners.
• Coordinate communications and issues-management responses after substantive decisions are made by the accountable executive.
• Participate in external relationships as assigned, while primary ownership remains with the CEO or designated executive.
• Lead, coach and support the Communications Advisor and Communications Coordinator.
• Establish clear priorities, service expectations, workflows, approval thresholds and performance measures for the Communications function.
• Manage the Communications budget, vendors and external partners within approved authority.
• Promote an inclusive, accountable and collaborative culture focused on quality, responsiveness and continuous improvement.
• Review workload and priorities regularly with the CEO to ensure the combined communications and strategy mandate remains sustainable.

Skills

Exceptional writing

Presentation skills

Facilitation

Relationship-building

Strategic thinking

Leadership experience

Education

Undergraduate degree in communications or related field

Job description

CMHA York Region is seeking a Senior Director, Communications and Strategy to provide senior leadership for organizational communications and a defined portfolio of enterprise strategy responsibilities, reporting to the CEO.

The role leads the Communications function while coordinating strategic planning, executive governance support, organizational performance reporting and cross-functional initiatives, with accountability remaining with the CEO or the accountable executive.