Communications Consultant

The Ministry of Advanced Education's Strategic Communications Branch is seeking an energetic, highly organized, creative and motivated Communications Consultant. The ministry is responsible for developing a skilled and educated workforce to meet Saskatchewan's labour market needs, working with the private sector, educational institutions, and community organizations.

This is a full-time permanent position.

The Opportunity

You will be part of a dynamic team of communications professionals responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating marketing and communications strategies to promote the province's post-secondary sector to provincial, national and international audiences. You will be responsible for:

• working independently and as part of a communications team to plan, develop, implement and evaluate communication strategies and plans;
• writing news releases, key messages, speeches and articles;
• developing, managing, and updating social media and website content, including the Saskatchewan Students Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts;
• graphic design, desktop publishing and video;
• planning, organizing and executing media events; and
• responding to media inquiries.

The Ideal Candidate

To be successful in this role, you will have the ability to organize and prioritize multiple projects in a fast-paced, busy work environment. You must be a team player with strong interpersonal skills who can also function with initiative and independence.

You will be reliable, proactive, organized, attentive to detail and demonstrate knowledge and experience in:

• developing, implementing and evaluating communication strategies and plans that support the ministry's strategic goals;
• communicating information visually, verbally, and in writing to a variety of audiences to persuade, build support, educate and promote understanding;
• writing and editing a variety of communications materials, including strategic communication plans, intranet and web content, news releases, speeches and publications;
• coordinating/responding to media requests using key messages, briefing the appropriate ministry spokespersons, and responding to media in a timely manner;
• planning and implementing media events;
• developing content for social media platforms and using a variety of tools to tell compelling stories to a digital audience through visual means;
• managing website content; familiarity with content management systems (e.g., Sitecore), Google Analytics, etc.
• building and maintaining positive, collaborative relationships with ministry staff, clients and stakeholders; and
• anticipating, identifying, and assessing broad issues in the context of the impact on ministerial/governmental mandate/strategic direction.

Experience in graphic design, Adobe Creative Suite, videography and video editing software is an asset.

You will be able to organize and prioritize a high volume of projects with competing deadlines and consistently produce high quality work.

You will demonstrate the values of the Government of Saskatchewan, which include showing respect and integrity, practicing excellence and innovation, providing service excellence to our citizens and working as one team.

Typically, the knowledge and skills required for this position would be attained through a degree in communications, journalism, marketing, creative technologies, or a related field of study plus work experience.

This position will be updated to SGEU.11 with an hourly salary range of $40.375 - $50.593 once the Class Plan Renewal process is completed and the HR system has been updated.

What we offer:

• dynamic, challenging work for talented individuals;
• a competitive salary;
• comprehensive benefits package including pension;
• vacation, earned days off (EDO) and other types of leave;
• an inclusive work environment; and
• opportunities for advancement.

Preference will be given to qualified equity group members who self-declare in this online application, as identified in "diversity groups" below