Senior Communications Officer, Media & Government Relations

FNHA Overview

About us

The First Nations Health Authority is a diverse and transformational health organization of professional, innovative, and dedicated team members and leaders.

The first of its kind in Canada, FNHA works as a health-and-wellness partner with BC First Nations to support self-determination and decision-making to improve health outcomes.

The Communications and Media Relations team works in partnership with FNHA program areas, leadership, regional teams and health partners to support First Nations in BC to achieve their health and wellness goals and improve access to culturally safe, quality health services for all First Nations people in BC.

The team provides strategic communications, publishing and graphic design services, and develops content for a range of channels to ensure clear, timely and appropriate messaging for internal and external audiences.

Title : Senior Communications Officer Media and Government Relations

Salary : $84,250 - $99,117 - $113,985 per year (pay range explained below)

Contract : Permanent

Hours : 37.5 hours / week (core hours 9am-3pm Mon-Fri)

Location : FNHA’s Park Royal Office location. Hybrid working is an option in line with FNHA’s flex work policy. Please note, this role will be relocating to our new office building in North Vancouver on Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) land, south of Mount Seymour Parkway, after April 2024.

About the role

As Senior Communications Officer - Media and Government Relations, you will provide support to the Director, Communications and Health Promotion in proactive media and government relations, media training, media strategy and issues management.

You will communicate complex and, often time-sensitive communication to a wide range of stakeholders including external media community.

You will act as the first point of contact for external media. You will work with the Director and with approval from the FNHA executive team, develops proactive media relations strategies and content to support the FNHA’s mission and mandate.

You will assess the value of interview requests from the media, source appropriate spokespeople and coordinate interviews.

About you

To be successful in this role you will have a University Degree in Communications, Public Relations, Writing or Journalism or relevant combination of education, training and experience.

You will have 4-6 years’ experience in media relations with progressively senior responsibilities, a minimum 5 years’ experience working in a First Nations environment, especially in the area of developing key messages, press releases and communication in a way that is culturally sensitive and appropriate.

Please refer to Job Specification section of the Job Description for more details.

You may have experience in; Communications Officer, Communications Generalist

Working at FNHA

As a member of the team, you will have access to a wide range of employee benefits from day one, including :

• Municipal Pension plan with an employer contribution of 9.31% (after 3 months)
• 3 weeks’ vacation, which increases with service to 4 weeks, plus 5 personal days, 1 volunteer day, and 14 public holidays including National Indigenous People’s Day and National Day of Truth and Reconciliation
• Access to group health benefits and a Health Care Spending Account through Canada Life on day 1 of employment
• And more!

The First Nations Health Authority is committed to respecting diversity within our workforce; preference will be given to individuals with Indigenous ancestry who chose to identify (First Nations, Inuit, Métis).

Leading with culture, all FNHA employees complete San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training. We support our family to be leaders in wellness and all staff members develop a yearly wellness plan as part of their performance partnership and goal-setting.

The Pay Range is the minimum and maximum annual salary based on full time equivalent hours.

Incumbents are typically hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the range based on their knowledge, skills, abilities and experience in relation to the role requirements.

The top 10% of the pay range is for the incumbents who are industry experts in the job with the combination of exceptional experience and competencies needed to perform all duties and responsibilities at a superior capability level.

As a health and wellness organization, the FNHA has aligned with the Provincial Public Health Order released on October 14, 2021.

We have a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for all employees at First Nations Health Authority. This policy requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

If selected for employment, you will be required to provide proof of vaccination by providing a copy of your BC Vaccination Card Passport with the QR code.

How to apply

If this sound likes the opportunity for you, please click on the 'Apply for Job' button.