The Lead Strategist is responsible for leading a portfolio of communications, marketing and engagement strategies within the Community Services Department, specifically supporting the Sport and Recreation branch, the Attractions, Culture and Nature branch, and Edmonton Fire Rescue Services. This role manages the overall design and delivery of integrated services, ensuring seamless collaboration across teams and projects. As a leader, you will provide strategic counsel, manage a team of 10-14 professionals, and translate high-level strategies into actionable plans.

You will manage and mentor a dedicated team of professionals, providing leadership and strategic oversight to the development and implementation of innovative communications, marketing and engagement strategies. From driving the narrative behind world-class sports and cultural events to supporting life-safety public awareness programs, your work will drive participation, shape Edmonton's place brand, build public trust, and ensure meaningful resident participation in civic decision-making. You will serve as a trusted partner to department leaders, steering them and your team toward high-value strategic opportunities.

What will you do?

Strategic Council & Portfolio Management:

• Lead the design, implementation and evaluation of comprehensive integrated marketing, communications and public engagement strategies rooted in data and industry best practices
• Lead the communications and engagement planning process, developing strategies that are aligned with corporate priorities and department goals
• Build strong relationships with program leaders to understand their business needs
• Analyze business priorities to identify and prioritize high-value communications and marketing opportunities to ensure optimal resource allocation
• Navigate politically sensitive or emergent issues, providing strategic counsel, mitigation plans, and support to senior leadership
• Identify issues, opportunities, trends, and gaps, and provide strategic advice and proposed solutions to leadership

People Leadership & Culture Champion:

• Provide leadership and direct supervision, coaching, and mentorship to a team of communications, marketing and engagement professionals
• Nurture a supportive, relationship-driven team environment centered on growth and continuous development
• Serve as the conduit between the leadership team and staff, balancing direction from leadership with feedback from staff

Quality Assurance & Performance Stewardship:

• Utilize market research, public opinion methodologies, and historical evaluation data to build highly targeted, results-focused campaigns
• Establish and track transparent performance metrics to demonstrate the tangible impact of your portfolio's work
• Perform quality management and oversight on deliverables to ensure they meet the City's standards and guides
• Contribute to the design and continuous improvement of section and unit-level processes and practices
• Ensure the prudent use of human and financial resources, and effectively oversee external agency or vendor contracts

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, Public Relations, Business, Communications, Public Engagement or a related field, with 6 years of progressively responsible experience OR a related diploma from a recognized post-secondary institution with 8 years of progressively responsible experience
• Six to eight years of experience leading and providing strategic consulting and advising services in communications, marketing and public engagement

Assets:

• A Master's Degree in a related field
• Certification in Change Management or Project Management
• International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) certificate or similar professional training

Skills required for success:

• Strategic People Leadership: Proven track record of directly supervising, mentoring, and developing high-performing professional teams, ideally within a large, complex, or unionized service-delivery organization
• Full-Cycle Strategy & Execution: Extensive experience translating high-level business goals into integrated communications, marketing, and public engagement initiatives-expertly guiding portfolios from data-backed research and planning to multi-channel execution and impact evaluation
• Political Acumen & Strategic Advisory: Exceptional ability to read the room, analyze the broader political, social, and economic context, and navigate highly sensitive, complex issues while providing trusted counsel to leadership
• Collaborative Client Consultation: Strong service-excellence orientation with a proven ability to build robust working relationships across all corporate levels, reconcile diverse viewpoints, and solve unique problems smoothly without relying on positional authority
• High-Impact Communication & Brand Stewardship: A deep understanding of brand management techniques to successfully elevate and champion the City's identity and place brand, and City facilities, attractions, programs and services
• Proficiency in Google Workspace and various virtual platforms
• Alignment to our Cultural Commitments and Leadership Competencies ( https://bit.ly/4brRrXm )
• Embracing a culture of equity, diversity, reconciliation and inclusion

Up to 1 permanent position

Hours of Work: 33.75 OR 40 hours per week

Salary Range:

• 33.75 hours - $50.689 - $72.414 (Hourly) $89,301.35 - $127,575.36 (Annually)
• 40 hours - $47.901 - $68.430 (Hourly) $100,017.29 - $142.881.84 (Annually)

Recruitment Consultant: SM / RF

Edmonton rests in the heart of Treaty Six territory in Alberta and the homelands of the Metis Nation.

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