Leader, Issues Communications

The Opportunity

The Leader, Issues Communications, collaborates across the organization to lead, govern, and execute issues, crisis, and reputation management communications strategies. This role is accountable for developing, implementing, and continuously improving an integrated approach to identifying, assessing, and responding to emerging issues that may impact the organization’s reputation, operations, stakeholders, and employees. The role ensures communications related to sensitive and confidential matters are handled with a high degree of professionalism, accuracy, and strategic intent.The Leader provides senior strategic counsel to the Executive Leadership Team and plays a critical role in supporting organizational priorities by ensuring timely, transparent, and coordinated communication to the public, government, clients and external stakeholders. The role oversees earned media strategies and ensures alignment between proactive storytelling and reactive issues management to strengthen public trust and engagement.As a member of the Corporate Brand Office and crisis leadership structure, this role develops enterprise standards, tools, and frameworks that enable strong communication practices, build organizational capability, and ensure consistency across all channels and business units.

Status: Regular, Full-Time, Excluded
Number of Positions: 1
Pay Grade: Grade 18, ($95,200 - $128,800)
Location: Vancouver
Reports to: Director, Marketing, Client Enablement & Value Realization

As a Leader, Issues Communications, you will support:

Communications Plans and Strategy

• Develops, implements, and oversees enterprise communications plans, including sensitive and confidential issues communications and engagement strategies.
• Ensures strategic information is effectively communicated to media, government, clients, and external stakeholders.
• Leads proactive and reactive communications planning aligned with organizational priorities and manages earned media calendars.

Strategic Communications Support:

• Provides senior-level advice and guidance to executives and leadership team on issues communications.
• Ensures consistent enterprise messaging and supports decision-making during complex issues and high-risk situations.
• Coaches leaders in effective communication and media engagement.

Writing and Editing Materials:

• Oversees creation of high-quality communications materials including strategy briefs, change briefs, press releases, media statements, issue updates, briefing notes, speeches, presentations, and campaign content.
• Ensures clarity, consistency, and alignment with corporate messaging and brand standards.

Media Relations:

• Acts as a key point of contact for media enquiries and may serve as an organizational spokesperson.
• Oversees timely, accurate, and strategic responses to media. Manages external partner relationships and supports executive spokesperson readiness.
• Ability to communicate in additional languages is an asset.

Crisis Communications and Issues Management:

• Leads crisis communications planning and response.
• Oversees communications during incidents and ensures coordination with business continuity efforts.
• Develops and maintains crisis protocols and leads simulations and preparedness activities.

Earned Media Strategy and Execution:

• Leads development of earned media strategies and products that enhance public awareness and support organizational priorities.
• Coordinates and executes media announcements, briefings, and events.
• Ensures alignment between issues management strategies and proactive media opportunities.

Cross-functional Leadership:

• Acts as the central point of contact for priority issues and liaises with business units including Legal, People & Culture, Operations, and others to ensure consistent messaging.
• Drives alignment across teams and ensures integrated communications approaches.

Monitoring and Environmental Scanning:

• Monitors industry trends, public sentiment, media coverage, and emerging risks.
• Anticipates potential reputational impacts and develops proactive strategies to address issues before escalation.

Continuous Improvement:

• Performs regular analysis of communications effectiveness, media coverage, and audience engagement.
• Uses insights to refine strategies and improve performance.
• Leads post-incident reviews and applies learnings.

Leadership and Capability Development:

• Builds enterprise capability in issues communications through training, tools, and standards.
• Fosters a high-performance culture focused on responsiveness and excellence.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience you have:

• Requires a degree in communications, public relations, journalism, or a related discipline supplemented by 7-10 years of progressive communications experience.
• Extensive experience in issues management and crisis communications, including handling sensitive and confidential matters.
• Experience developing earned media strategies and managing media relations and events.
• Demonstrated success advising senior leadership and executives.
• Strong writing, editing, and storytelling skills across multiple formats.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally and manage stakeholder relationships.
• Advanced digital, media monitoring, and analytics capabilities.
• High level of confidentiality, professionalism, and judgment.
• Advanced web-based skills, including sentiment analysis, social measurement, presentations, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other platforms when required.
• Self-starter with excellent presentation skills.

Beyond the role:

• Community & Wellness – We recognize and respect each other’s diverse needs. We strive to maintain a healthy culture of psychological safety, belonging, and space to prioritize healthy minds and well-being. This includes Wellness Wednesday (meeting free time), flexible paid holidays, a free subscription to the Calm app, and a flexible hybrid work environment focused on connections. Our teams also enjoy giving back to the community, and having fun, whether volunteering in the community, or running together on our Sun Run team. In 2024, Technical Safety BC supported BC Cancer Foundation, Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness, Crisis Centre BC, Quest Non-Profit Grocery Markets, A Loving Spoonful, and Greater Vancouver Foodbank.
• Learning & Development – We value giving and receiving feedback, as well as encouraging different ways for us to continuously learn as a company. This can be through lessons learned, wrap up sessions, one-on-one meetings, and team or individual courses, workshops, and conferences. In addition, we offer up to $1500 tuition aid per calendar year to support your education and learning goals.