OHA: Director, Public Affairs

Director, Public Affairs
Policy and Public Affairs Division
13-month Contract or Secondment (Maternity Leave)
Target hiring range $110,626 to $129,063 ($147,501 maximum)

Position Profile:

The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) serves Ontario’s 141 hospitals and is committed to building a better health system for patients and families. We support our member hospitals by forming strong relationships with government stakeholders, hospital leaders, and other partners that cultivate a mutual understanding of and shared commitment to a high-performing health system. The OHA is seeking an interim Director, Public Affairs to join its Policy and Public Affairs Division to assume responsibility for a diverse portfolio of responsibilities.

You are a great listener and coach, and your communication style, energy and self-confidence motivates people to work with you. You thrive in a fast-paced environment and you have a strong sense of accountability for your work and the service that you and your team provide to your colleagues, the organization, members and partners.

The Position:

Reporting to the Vice-President, Policy and Public Affairs and the Chief, Strategic Communications, the Director, Public Affairs is a strategic, proactive and collaborative individual who will be responsible for developing and implementing stakeholder outreach and government relations activities and ensuring strong alignment with overall messaging and strategic communications in support of OHA strategic directions. You are a seasoned public affairs professional with hands-on experience involving government relations and advocacy planning, writing, supporting issues management, media relations and related activities. You have a solid understanding of government, the political environment and the health care sector.

Working in a highly integrated team environment, you will support the organization by:

• Serving as a key strategic advisor to senior management, and managing all advocacy, government and stakeholder relations activity, drawing support as needed from an integrated team of communications and public affairs specialists;
• Developing and implementing stakeholder outreach and government relations activities, including liaison with health care partners, Ministers’ offices, external consultants and government;
• Anticipating contentious external issues and supporting the senior team in preparing for their effective management; and
• Oversee development of high-quality and strategic written materials, including government policy submissions, position statements, reports and speeches

The Candidate:

You are a seasoned, creative and high energy public affairs professional with mature judgement, diplomacy, and knowledge and experience in developing and implementing government relations and communications strategies. You have extensive knowledge of the Ontario government and policy development and a strong understanding of the health care sector and hospital issues.

You have a degree in Political Science, Public Administration, Communications or related discipline and/or experience in the health care field.  You have proven management skills and superior leadership and interpersonal skills and comfort working across teams in a matrix environment that rounds out your background and provides you with the necessary skill set to deliver on a demanding mandate.

The ideal candidate might be described as collaborative, dynamic, positive, persuasive, resilient, flexible, driven and results-oriented.

The Organization:

The OHA is a not-for-profit Association. Our purpose is serving Ontario’s hospital to build a better health system. At the OHA, our members are at the heart of everything we do. Through advocacy, learning and engagement, labour relations and improved access to data and analytics, the OHA is enhancing the direct services it provides to members.

Interested in helping the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) deliver on the promise of health care?

We can offer you a fulfilling role, an inspiring and creative place to work, and the chance to change the health care system (for the better) – and oh yeah, have a lot of fun in the process.  As you may know, employee engagement is key in the success of any business, and the OHA is proud of our 98 percent employee engagement rate.

Need more proof the OHA is a great place to work? Well, how about this… we were recently recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in Canada, five times, as well as Best Workplaces in Canada for Women.

Leading the transformation to a better health care system, the OHA is a dynamic organization offering innovative education, tools, and practices that enable people to deliver effective, safe and efficient health care. For more information visit www.oha.com.

To Apply:

Potential applicants are invited to submit a resume and covering letter online by January 23, 2019. If contacted for an interview, please inform us should accommodation be required.