About Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada and Stand Up for Kids

Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada is our country’s leading charity dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth involved in the child welfare system. We raise and grant funds and deliver a wide range of high-impact programs and services in partnership with 74 child- and youth-serving agencies across the country that support more than 19,300 vulnerable young people and 4,200 families annually.

Stand Up for Kids is our national public movement uniting caring Canadians in changing the futures of our nation’s most vulnerable kids – those who have experienced abuse and neglect. We know that by helping these young people to overcome their trauma and break the cycle for future generations, they gain the strength and resilience to create a lifetime of their own unstoppable successes.

The Foundation is a dynamic and growing organization committed to the long term growth and stability of funding for child welfare programs across the country. Our staff members are a highly committed team of professionals who are dedicated to delivering excellence and maximizing the social value of donations and volunteer contributions to child welfare in Canada.

Purpose of the Position

The Senior Manager, Communications plays pivotal role in strategic communications, brand development, and thought leadership with key audiences to will drive growth and awareness and ultimately lead to increased funds to better serve our three priority areas: 1) children and families at risk, 2) children and youth living in government care, and 3) youth transitioning out of care. Reporting to the Vice President, Marketing, Brand and Communication, the Senior Manager is responsible for the implementation of the Foundation’s strategic/corporate communications and public engagement strategies and will play a lead role in the creation of a strong brand narrative.

Work collaboratively with the Senior Manager, Marketing, this role will deliver on omni-channel marketing communications programs and revenue generation activities at the Foundation including 1) leading the creative ideation, development and execution of multifaceted creative campaigns for new lead generation, donor acquisition, stewardship and retention; 2) leading the development of communications strategies to grow our national presence, influence and impact through key stakeholders, including media, industry experts, elected officials, and the public at large, 3) using insights and data to optimize the Foundation’s communications strategy to engage new supporters, increase our donor base, and establish a pipeline for future higher giving levels.

The ideal candidate is an ambitious strategic leader and creative thinker who is passionate about raising awareness about children and youth.

Responsibilities

Strategic Communications and Public Affairs – 50%

• With the VP, lead the development of annual and long term strategic communications plan to deliver on awareness building activities, revenue generation, and thought-leadership priorities of the Foundation;
• Identify public relations risks and opportunities for the Foundation and provide strategic plans and recommendations through tot execution;
• Partner with a cross-functional team (including Grants & Programs, Development, Finance) in the development and execution of the Foundation’s public engagement activities – considering a range of stakeholders, including donors/prospective donors, media, elected officials, industry experts and the public at large;
• Lead the team responsible for developing original content and creative to be leveraged across teams and in multiple communications channels;
• Lead the development and execution of the Foundation’s editorial calendar aligned to organizational priorities and in support of the teams’ key revenue and engagement goals:
  • Build key internal relationships across the Foundation to facilitate timely information gathering;
  • Build key external relationships (ie Child Welfare partners, child and youth serving agencies etc.);
  • Lead research projects to uncover statistics, studies, trends and industry information to leverage in Foundation content;
  • Interface with donors, volunteers and staff to gather stories, interviews and experiences to leverage in Foundation content;
  • Collaborate with a cross-functional team to build and maintain Content library, establish processes to support this key internal resource.

Brand Stewardship, Thought Leadership and Organizational Reputation – 30%

• With the VP, lead the development of the Foundation’s overall brand strategy, reputation and thought leadership including: corporate communications materials such as brand playbook, brand training and style guidelines, corporate publications (Strategic Plan, Annual Reports, Impact Reports, etc.) key messages, standard messaging etc.;
• Plan and execute high impact media, public relations and thought leadership strategies and plans, elevating the impact and visibility of the Foundation’s programs and national profile;
• Lead the management of the organization’s reputation, including a pro-active thought-leadership strategy, speaking opportunities, corporate awards and issues management;
• Implement brand and style guidelines to ensure the brand is represented in a clear and consistent way across all internal and external facing applications.

 Cross Team Collaboration and Leadership – 20%

• Collaborate with the Marketing team to ensure creative content reaches target audiences and brings in new leads and conversions to donors;
• Collaborate with the Grants and Programs team as well as the Development team to create content that showcases the incredible stories of our programs and the people we serve as well as stories about the generosity of our donors;
• Lead and mentor a team of two staff and support their career growth, aspirations and potential.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in building integrated communications strategies with experience in areas such as: corporate communications, public affairs, advertising, journalism;
• University or college degree in communications, advertising, journalism or equivalent experience;
• Results-oriented and highly adaptable with an entrepreneurial mindset;
• Demonstrated experience with writing on complex topics for a variety of audiences;
• Strong understanding and awareness of the need for sensitive communications and representation with the ability to find the right balance between effectively telling stories in a truthful and representative manner while ensuring that the communication avoids stereotyping and labelling of individuals or communities;
• Proven success developing and executing thought leadership, corporate communications and media/public relations campaigns;
• Practical experience leveraging donor cultivation, acquisition and stewardship cycles;
• Experience working in a non-for-profit fundraising environment is a strong asset.

Skills and Abilities

• Proven creative and strategic thinker with the ability to bring the organization’s key strategic priorities to market in a high quality, impactful and efficient way;
• Strong collaboration and consultation abilities to best understand the full picture – including business objectives, budgets, timelines, and project or donor specific requirements;
• Excellent communication skills and experience in developing and executing high impact awareness building and fundraising creative campaigns;
• Ability to work independently, communicate at all levels with confidence and sound judgement, tact and confidentiality in relation to beneficiaries (the children and youth that we serve), donors, volunteers, staff and the public;
• Excellent time management and organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple projects and priorities concurrently;
• Creative problem solver, curious, pro-active, collaborative, goal oriented;
• Alignment to organizational values: Care & Compassion, Child & Youth Focused, Excellence & Leadership, Integrity, Collaboration/Teamwork.

Hours of work

• Regular office hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
• Occasional evening and weekend hours.
• Vacation restrictions during busy periods.

Travel requirements

• Local travel occasionally, during business hours.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Two direct reports

CAFC provides equal employment opportunities to employees regardless of their gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from equity seeking groups, including members of communities that are overrepresented in the child welfare system. We offer a family-friendly environment that allows for flexible work arrangements in order to support staff diversity and ensure a healthy work-life balance.

Note that currently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, CAFC staff are working remotely with a plan to return to the office, located in downtown Toronto when it is safe to do so however, this role has the opportunity to be remote and/or flexible.

To Apply:

To Apply Please forward a current resume, with covering letter in one single document, detailing how your qualifications match this opportunity, to enza@cafdn.org and include “Senior Manager, Communications March 2022” in the subject line of your email by March 18, 2022.

We thank all candidates for their interest in the work of Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada; but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone inquiries please.