Are You Who We’re Looking For?

Do you see yourself at a hospital foundation that has been at the forefront of raising funds to address the evolving health needs of the communities we serve and continually excels at providing resources to care for generations of families? Do you thrive in a setting where innovation, problem solving, determination, compassion and commitment frame your day-to-day activities? Are you a resilient, self-starter who thrives equally well in a work from home setting as you do in a traditional, team office environment?

The landscape is changing for community hospitals in Ontario. Recent multi-million-dollar gifts to several hospital foundations to build critical infrastructure, and high-profile brand positioning strategies/philanthropic campaigns are indicators that community hospitals and hospital foundations are moving to the forefront of public consciousness. This is undoubtedly underscored by more than two years of the pandemic.

This is an exciting time to join North York General Foundation (NYGF) as we are preparing for the largest fundraising campaign in our history, investing in our brand, and welcoming staff who are passionate about the critical role of community hospitals from birth to end of life.

North York General Hospital is one of Newsweek’s top 5 hospitals overall in Canada, the #1 community hospital and among the top 100 globally and we were recently named to the Forbes list of Canada’s Best Employers.

If you can imagine yourself working together to support the hospital’s strategic plan called Thinking Beyond then North York General Foundation may be the place for you.

About North York General Foundation

Constantly redefining what it means to be a ‘community hospital’, our partner, North York General is a multi-site acute, ambulatory and long-term care network for our diverse community, an incubator for applied research, a springboard for innovation in the health care landscape and a destination for philanthropy. Supported by an outstanding board of governors, North York General Foundation is strategically expanding our team in pursuit of new ways to reach our community, demonstrate impact and raise funds for an incredible Hospital.

We are relentless in our quest to secure revenue for strategic campaigns as we ready ourselves for the largest

capital expansion in the hospital’s history. We are driving towards the future, expanding our team and investing in volunteer leadership and staff who are changing the face of fundraising in community hospitals.

The Position

Reporting to the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, the Senior Communication Specialist is an experienced communications expert who brings to the table a combination of exceptional writing skills and solid strategic thinking. You have demonstrated success producing impactful communications built on strong storytelling as well as developing well thought-out communications strategies and plans. You also bring a natural curiosity and a high level of creativity to your work and thrive in a fast-paced work environment. You are a skilled communicator and will be able to interface with colleagues, hospital staff, patients and donors at various levels to execute high quality work on time. You also have a knack for searching out and interviewing for the stories and the content necessary to complete a myriad of projects. You are particularly adept at developing plain language communications and pulling out key insights from technical content. You also have experience with creating effective video content for use in social and other media.

Responsibilities

• Lead the researching, interviewing, and writing required to produce a wide range of key internal and external communications in the brand voice and with compelling storytelling, primarily for direct marketing (mail and digital), social media, website content (blogs and landing pages), event marketing material, and cases for support, but also for impact reports and special reports from time to time
• Develop communications strategies and plans outlining approaches for delivering on project objectives and engaging target audiences
• Act as a project manager on communications initiatives by building critical paths to develop and deliver best-in-class materials to support Foundation fundraising activities, and ensuring deadlines are met
• Ensure that brand standards, messaging and style guidelines are adhered to in all materials prepared, and that written materials are presented in an appealing and professional manner
• Maintain, organize, update and archive written materials
• Contribute to creative brainstorming for a variety of projects
• Proofread and fact check communications and marketing materials Other duties as

Qualifications

Education:

• An undergraduate degree in Journalism, English, Marketing, Communications or related field of study
• A post-graduate certificate/degree, and/or additional education in advancement/non-profit communications, fundraising, public relations, etc. is an asset

Skills & experience:

• 10+ years of relevant experience in a similar role, ideally in a fundraising and/or health care setting
• Experience crafting content for online and offline marketing channels, including direct mail, social media, email marketing campaigns and websites/blogs
• Critical thinker and self-starter with strong organizational, research, interviewing and information- gathering skills, and demonstrated ability to adapt writing styles for various audiences and communications channels
• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to source and write creative, compelling and emotive stories that demonstrate impact
• Demonstrated ability to create and deliver effective communications plans
• Expert project management and time-management skills with the ability to be proactive, responsive, adaptable and work independently
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-volume environment and to write impactful copy quickly, accurately and on deadline
• Ability to interpret, synthesize and articulate complex concepts into terms that are understandable and compelling to donors and prospects
• Ability to strategically identify content for various needs and to source information through internal and external resources
• Knowledge of best-practices and trends within non-profit/fundraising communications a strong asset
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a collaborative spirit
• The ability to interface with senior leadership
• Flexible and supportive team member

Position: Full Time Permanent. Occasional weekend, early morning or evening hours may be required.

HOW TO APPLY

North York General Foundation recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or age.

This position will be a self-starter who thrives equally well in a work from home setting and a traditional office environment. NYGF is working within a hybrid model with staff expected in the office 3 days per week. We offer a competitive, comprehensive compensation/benefits package with a starting salary range of $80,000-$85,000.

Please forward your resume and cover letter to FoundationCareers@nygh.on.ca by June 1, 2022. Please reference Senior Communications Specialist in the subject line and you will be contacted if we feel there is a fit. Only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.