SCWIST Short Term Contract Opportunity

SCWIST is seeking a resourceful and proactive contractor, “Communications and Events Process Improvement Specialist“, to join our team. The role reports to the Director of Policy & Impact and is a 3-month term (until early August 2020) with a total of 180 hours – an average of 15 hours per week, of which: 10 hours per week (120 hours in total) on process improvement and an average of 5 hours per week (60 hours in total) on content development and dissemination. It is funded generously by our grant with the Government of Canada’s Women and Gender Equality department and through our job board revenues. 

The Communications and Events Process Improvement Specialist will focus on building our organizational capacity, effectiveness and sustainability of our external communications and our in-person and virtual events. Our members and community are most numerous in BC, and we have affiliates in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, and our online programs are across Canada.

Key Results:

• Organizational capacity, effectiveness and sustainability of our external communications and our in-person and virtual events
  • Critically evaluate existing communication channels and events to develop strategic offerings for members and community to improve our advocacy and program delivery towards removing barriers to women in STEM
    • Channels for consideration: SCWIST Blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SCWIST Storybook on Medium, Instagram, YouTube (and another), Wikipedia, etc
    • Events for consideration: Job Fair, Wonder Women in STEM, brown bags, “pub” nights / coffee chats, AGM, political debates, mentoring matchups, etc
  • Collaborate with the Brand Committee to ensure cohesion and adherence to our Brand Guide
  • Collaborate with webmaster to connect and create a dashboard for website, mail,  and social media analytics and trends analysis (see Skills section below for tools we already use). Develop a template for a monthly high-level report on impact metrics to the Board of Directors and for use by the Communications committee.
  • Collaborate with the Technology Committee regarding virtual meeting and workshop tools and proven methodologies
  • Collaborate with Director of Leadership for role description development for communication and event committees then assist with recruitment and onboarding of the volunteers
  • Develop format and communications strategy for volunteer training and appreciation such as volunteer day which includes workshops, team building and appreciation (for both delivery in-person and virtually)
  • Collaborate with the Translation Committee regarding priorities for content to be translated into French (majority) or from French into English (occasionally)
  • Develop press release and media list; create mechanism to keep maintained and easy to contact
  • Develop an annual calendar for communication campaigns (e.g. International Women’s Day, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, Volunteer Appreciation Week, Giving Tuesday, etc)
  • Develop templates and manuals for the best SCWIST events both in original in-person format and a version for virtual delivery, including for replication by our Affiliates across Canada 
  • Develop content for training other portfolios (what they need to know to work well with communications and events)
• Content development and dissemination
  • Collaborate with the Communications and Events portfolios
  • Streamline the content solicitation and creation processes 
  • Coordinate with the Communications committee to solicit content (and develop as required to publication-ready standards) for our monthly e-newsletter, and essential communication channels (as reviewed in 1A above); ensure consistency to branding and SCWIST-voice
• Update Communications and Events Knowledge Transfer Guides (handbook for directors responsible for the portfolios); train new Director of Communications and Director of Events
• Report on progress through semi-monthly activity reports and a monthly invoice.

Skills and Qualifications

The successful candidate will possess many of the following skills. When in doubt, apply!

• Studying or graduate of a communications, event planning, marketing, journalism, business process improvement or other applicable post-secondary program
• Interest in gender equity and science, technology, engineering and mathematics policies and programs 
• Ability to write clear instruction manuals and guidelines
• Ability to develop live and self-study training materials for various volunteers, contractors and directors 
• Proficient in using WordPress, Hootsuite, Google Suite, Slack, Smart Sheets (dashboard) and MailChimp 
• Demonstrated ability to effectively use the tools and techniques of social media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, etc)
• Strong ability to collaborate and work with people remotely
• Organized and detail oriented
• Positive attitude and strives to be a productive, solution focused teammate
• Self-motivated and a strong work ethic
• Good English communication skills, both verbal and written is required; French is an asset
• Completion of GBA+ certification (or complete shortly after contract starts)
• An equivalent combination of training and experience will also be considered

Term, Location and Compensation

The standard hours for the Contractor are 15 hours per week (equivalent to 180 hours within the 3-month term). These hours are estimates and exact hours will be determined by the contractor and the President. Ideal term start date in early May 2020 with completion in early August, 2020.

This contract is ideal for someone anywhere in Canada as it can be done remote/virtually. 

Compensation is $28/hr and this is as an independent contractor position.

How to Apply

Include your cover letter and resume in your application with “Communications and Events Process Improvement Specialist” in the subject line of your email to resourcecentre@scwist.ca. 

Applications will be reviewed as received with a closing date of May 3, 2020.

We encourage candidates of all backgrounds and diversity to apply including those with lived experience or otherwise don’t have the exact skills and qualifications noted above. Thank you for your interest in this opportunity to remove barriers for women and girls in STEM!