Communications Specialist, Vancouver Acute

Come work as a Communications Specialist, Vancouver Acute with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)!

Vancouver Acute communications supports three acute sites in Vancouver, including one of the largest hospitals in Canada, Vancouver General Hospital.

The communications team works with the operations team to inform, educate and build awareness of critical priorities for Vancouver Acute among staff, medical staff, patients, families and the public visiting these sites. As the Communications Specialist, you will be on the front lines, making an impact every day. You will be planning and executing internal and external communication and engagement strategies on a wide range of exciting projects. You bring superior written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills and you are extremely detail oriented, capable of simultaneously managing multiple projects and client expectations.

You have a flair for “productive innovation,” meaning you bring new ideas for content and communication approaches to the table but use your intuition and a keen sense of observation to understand what will work for leaders, adapt on the fly, and consistently meet deadlines.

When it comes to writing, the Specialist does it all – from original storytelling in newsletter articles, video scripts, blogs, speeches and presentations, to succinct operational communication in memos, briefing notes, web copy, intranet updates and more. Reporting to and working with the Communications Leader, you will develop communication strategies and thrive on implementation, executing on the myriad of communication tools and tactics necessary to engage a range of audiences on the issues, changes, opportunities and everyday successes happening in the world of health care.

The Specialist knows how to build trust with a broad group of internal and external stakeholders. You listen closely for insights about what clients really need to connect with a range of audiences. You are also a hungry learner who is keen to grow.

On a daily basis, you will attend project and team meetings, coordinate special events, conduct interviews and write original copy for numerous communication channels, run down the hall to shoot a quick video or two, and liaise with colleagues to assess emerging communication priorities. The Specialist also serves as a local point person to supplement the efforts of the Public Affairs team by investigating and flagging potential good news opportunities and identifying emerging issues.

This is a hybrid role, with three days on site each week. 

As a Communications Specialist, Vancouver Acute with Vancouver Coastal Health you will:

• Consult with the Communications Leader for Vancouver Acute to develop, contribute to, and implement communications strategies in support of internal and external audience engagement around organizational projects and priorities.
• Support the development of VCH’s communications strategy to advance internal and external audience engagement.
• Research, write and distribute original content across all of VCH’s internal and external communication channels.
• Support leaders in the development of operational communication tools, including memos, issues notes, surveys and bulletins.
• Support internal audience engagement by planning and executing all aspects of special events and forums.
• Work closely with corporate communications and public affairs teams to ensure consistent messaging and alignment with corporate brand.
• Provide counsel to leaders to enhance and protect organizational reputation, including identifying and advocating adoption of fresh approaches to employee and physician engagement as appropriate.
• Act as Project Manager in executing communications tactics in accordance with strategic plans, along with monitoring costs and budgets, timelines, resources and measuring outcomes.
• Provide communications support to corporate and regional project teams as required.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.