Strategic PR Manager, Canada & Religious Freedom Outreach

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Toronto; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Toronto area seeks a Manager of Public Relations to lead a team, develop outreach as part of the communication strategy, and build relationships with government, interfaith, and community leaders. This role requires coordinating with international teams and visiting leaders, with regular travel to Canada Area Office and beyond.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years in public relations, strong leadership, excellent English writing, and preferably

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in communication-related field or equivalent (ie, public relations, communication, journalism, marketing, international relations, political science, social science, social media)
• Must have at least 7+ years’ experience.
• Bilingual English and French capabilities are preferred
• Must demonstrate a proven track record of effective people management with at least two years’ experience in people management.
• Experience in developing, designing, and executing strategic outreach plans
• Ability to understand critical issues such as religious freedom and other legislative issues that are essential to the establishment and growth of the Church
• Strong understanding of the Canadian political system and organizations
• Strong people skills and experience in building relationships with key opinion leaders
• Extensive experience with a wide variety of communication channels
• Strong understanding of public relations and relationship building
• Skilled at utilizing research methods and strategies to address practical problems
• Ability to communicate complex ideas and processes in a straightforward way to leadership and communication teams at all levels
• As areas grow, may build a team of relationship staff and work to develop them professionally
• Excellent writing and editing skills in English
• French language capability is preferred
• Ability to think critically and solve problems
• Ability to function in a team setting and collaborate with other members of the area team
• Competency in the use of technology, including the Microsoft Office product suite and customer relationship management tools such as Salesforce

Responsibilities

• Lead the team that develops the outreach portion of the communication strategy that will build, maintain, and strengthen critical relationships with government, interfaith, and community leaders and their staff at national and local levels
• Establish relationships between key opinion leaders and Church leaders that align with the priorities of the First Presidency and the Area Presidency (such as strengthening families and youth or protecting religious freedom)
• Develop, maintain, and prioritize a list of key contacts across the area with whom the Church should seek to build and maintain relationships of mutual understanding
• Oversee the training of national and local communication councils to build, maintain, record outreach efforts, and provide ongoing support to communication volunteers
• Assure that the necessary permissions to visit with heads of state are received from Church headquarters well in advance of outreach visits
• Develop the effort to monitor and report key issues related to religious freedom or other legislative matters across the area
• Coordinate government relations and communication initiatives in the area
• Coordinate closely with the international government relations team in Salt Lake City and the Church hosting team
• Provide speaking points for outreach visits to opinion leaders and diplomats
• Assure outreach interactions are recorded in the Connect customer relations database
• Oversee the effort to identify and develop relationships with key members of the media across the area to encourage sharing of Church messages

Skills

People management

Strategic outreach

Media relations

Public relations

Bilingual English/French

Education

Bachelor's degree in communication-related field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Salesforce

Microsoft Office

Job description

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Toronto area seeks a Manager of Public Relations to lead a team, develop outreach as part of the communication strategy, and build relationships with government, interfaith, and community leaders. This role requires coordinating with international teams and visiting leaders, with regular travel to Canada Area Office and beyond.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years in public relations, strong leadership, excellent English writing, and preferably