We Are Hiring: Communications Manager

LeBlanc (& co.) Communications is a social impact communications agency. We partner with movements, nonprofits, labour, philanthropy, and values-driven organizations to advance justice through strategy, campaigns, brand and web design, and training.

We focus on both brand transformation work and campaigns. Our brand transformation work helps our clients fulfil their mandates through creating effective communications strategies, key messaging, rebrands, and websites. In our campaigns, we support our clients with campaigns spanning from grassroots budgets to large advertising spends.

Annual salary: $81,000

Work hours: LeBlanc (& co.) Communications has a 4 day (32 hour) work week for salaried employees, from Monday-Thursday. 

Reports to: Strategy Director

Vacation: We provide 4 weeks vacation per year; plus a company shutdown between Christmas Eve and New Year’s.

Location: This role will be hybrid in Canada with a mix of primarily virtual and some in-person work. 

Contract length: Permanent

Health benefits: This position will come with a partial subsidy of health benefits.

This position requires the ability to work in Canada.

The senior management team (Strategy Director, CEO, and Director of Operations) are dedicated to providing training and guidance to onboard the Communications Manager and to support their ongoing work and career advancement.

We are hiring a communications practitioner with experience in nonprofit, labour, philanthropy, or social impact work who will help our clients develop effective communications strategies and messaging.

The Communications Manager leads our portfolio of communications projects related to brand transformation. In the area of brand transformation, our primary communications service is creating a communications strategy and a message guide for an organization as a whole (i.e. not for a campaign or individual project). While this is sometimes a standalone service, it is typically bundled with additional creative services, particularly a visual rebrand and new website. 

We partner with a wide range of clients to write their communications strategies and improve their key messaging. This role aims to build capacity for social impact organizations, so that their organization's communications and branding helps them to fulfil their mandates. Our rigorous approach includes audience analysis, environmental scans, channel audits, in depth discovery conversations, key informant conversations, and surveys.

The Communications Manager is responsible for managing client communications and producing key strategic materials, including communications plans, message guides, insights reports, and other digital communications products. The Communications Manager collaborates closely with the CEO and Strategy Director to refine strategies, incorporate feedback, and ensure projects remain organized and on schedule. 

The Communications Manager supports client engagement through meeting preparation, scheduling, background research, and facilitation.

• Lead communications strategy projects, primarily for nonprofits, unions, and foundations undergoing brand transformation 
  
  • Lead client communications (including milestone meetings, check-in meetings, and emails) as the account manager on your assigned projects 
  • Schedule, plan, and facilitate key informant conversations with clients on strategic communications topics
  • Write communications plans; message guides; and other required deliverables
  • Prepare ‘desk research’ for environmental scans and communications SWOT analyses
  • Create decks and present deliverables to clients 
  • Revise strategy documents and materials after receiving feedback from our senior leadership and from clients, while staying organized and meeting deadlines 
  • Update our client-facing project management dashboards
  • Plan and deliver client trainings
• Support campaign projects
  
  • As needed, support the Strategy Director (our lead on campaigns) in writing or reviewing campaign strategy documents 
  • As needed, write or review communications products for campaigns (such as social media content, email, web copy, advertising copy, etc.)
  • As needed, advise on campaign projects and participate in team brainstorms
• Prepare for and attend both client meetings and internal meetings and complete tasks such as drafting agendas; taking notes; and leading meetings 
• Stay on top of sector news and best practices
• Maintain a proactive, open stream of internal communication with the Strategy Director, CEO, Director of Operations, and any other relevant colleagues when working on client projects 
• Collaborate with the Director of Operations, Strategy Director, and CEO on process improvements for the communications department

Required Communications Experience and Skills:

• Experience in social impact communications, and a commitment to social change and equity
• Experience writing communications plans and key messaging
• Experience ‘diagnosing’ branding, messaging, and communications problems (likely gained as a consultant, in an agency, or in an in-house leadership role in social impact communications)
• Ability to troubleshoot and independently solve problems

Required General Skills 

Project management; client service ability; teamwork 

• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to receive and act on feedback 
• Ability to foster relationships with clients; meet client requests; and bring excellence in ‘client service’
• Ability to be organized, meet deadlines, and conduct project management work under the guidance of the company’s operational systems and purview of the Project Manager
• Commitment to upholding an equitable work environment

Desirable Skills and Experience:

Desirable Skills

• Experience in consulting or freelancing 
• Fluency in French
• Experience with digital ads
• Experience with advocacy campaigns

Desirable Experience

• Experience with the labour movement 
• Experience with communications for private or public foundations
• Experience with global nonprofits or global foundations
• Experience with climate communications
• Experience with communications for gender justice, 2SLGBTQI+ communities, sexual health, or reproductive rights

Applications will be accepted to hiring@leblancandco.ca with the subject line “Communications Manager”. Please provide a cover letter and CV.

The deadline to apply to this posting is May 20th at noon EST.

We are asking for all correspondence about this hiring process to take place through the email listed. In order to lead an equitable hiring process, we are asking potential candidates to not use other ways of contacting our team (such as contacting our team through DMs or other email addresses). We are doing this to ensure that everyone has access to the same information during the hiring process.

We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to an equitable hiring process and a safe work environment. We actively encourage applicants from all equity-deserving communities to apply for this role. 

We will compensate anyone invited to interview with us with an honorarium totalling $50 for their time during the interview process.

We will provide written interview questions to interviewees in advance.

We will update all applicants who are not hired at the end of the process.