Program Manager, Sport Communications

Be part of building a national
brand.  Headquartered in Toronto, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is a national, private,
not-for-profit organization committed to high-performance sports excellence.  We are the largest private supporter of high-performance sport in Canada and we are responsible for all aspects of Canada’s involvement in the Olympic Movement, including the participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games.

Reporting to the Director, Communications and Media Relations, the Program Manager, Sport Communications’ key objective is to build and maintain positive relationships with the sport community. This role is a mix of internal communications and membership communications. The Program Manager is primarily responsible for leading sport communication community outreach to build the COC’s reputation among the sport system’s communications professionals, leading key functions in advance of- and
at- Games, managing a large team of external communications professionals at Games, and helping the COC and its members tell a cohesive story about sport in Canada, all to drive engagement in sport with the aim of enhancing the COC’s brand and reputation.

LOCATION

This position will be located in the COC office in Toronto located at ON at 250 Yonge St. Suite 3000 or in
Montreal, QC, at 500 René-Lévesque Boulevard West. We offer a hybrid work model that allows for up to three days of remote work each week.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRIORITIES
Sport System Communication and Collaboration

•  Develop and execute stakeholder communication plan and delivery for National Sport
  Organizations (NSOs), Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network (COPSIN), Own The Podium (OTP), AthletesCan and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) with the aim to maintain relationships and act as point-of-contact for all NSO, COPSIN, OTP, AthletesCAN and CPC
  communications leads, including:
  • • Quadrennial plans with key milestones identified
    • Alignment on cross-system issues
      • Pre-identification of issues
    • Identify opportunities to support member organizations’ communications
    • Servicing by sharing updated key messaging
    • Maintaining contact list
    • Supporting with ad hoc requests such as photography, Chef de Mission appearances, steering digital requests, etc.
  • Lead regular Communications calls with the Canadian Sport Community
  • Lead and execute communications strategies on COC initiatives that impact NSOs
  • Lead communications events such as press conferences, ceremonies, etc. that fall under the scope of Sport Communications
  • Using data to make informed decisions and recommendations
  • Developing and executing stakeholder specific communications and PR strategies

• Ensure excellence for all COC communications to sport system stakeholders:
  • Supporting the Sport team and understanding their needs
  • Identifying opportunities to work cross-functionally with brand and marketing partnerships
  • Fostering relationships across the sector and providing value to members
•  Ensure a positive public image for the organization and brand by:
  • Ensuring sport messaging is incorporated in overall messaging documents
  • Maintain system wide key talking points
  • Regularly join sport team meetings to ensure awareness of key system issues
• Work closely with PR team on press operations at Games

• Lead the team announcement process, including:

o   Develop a team announcement strategy that aligns internal and external stakeholders to maximize earned media

o   Contribute to the creation of defined success metrics (KPIs)

o   Oversee the successful execution of the process by the Communications Coordinator

Team Management

• Manage the Communications Coordinator, including performance management, objectives setting, development and coaching
• Manage contractor support for Games and Sport Communications

• Manage the media attachés for Games:

o   Develop the media attaché program strategy which outlines the risks and opportunities for the COC and its member organizations

o   Selection and training of media attaché roles to ensure we have an optimal team at the Olympic Games

o   Coordination and scheduling of media-attaché program

o   Manage contract support

Communications Team Collaboration

• Collaborate with the Communications Team and contribute to the strategy and delivery of various
  Communications-led projects including calendarization of departmental key dates, information management and editing materials from all communications pillars
• Support the project management for targeted cross-functional projects and internal
  communications workstreams
• Support on communications events such as press conferences, ceremonies, etc., that
  fall outside of the scope of Sport Communications

Sport Team Connection

• Act as link between the Sport Team and Communications Team
• Consult the Sport Team during the strategic planning of assigned projects to ensure the sport lens and needs are considered in the program delivery
• Provide communications advice to the sport team on challenging communications related topics
•  Responsible for the Months Ahead workstream
  • Ensure all applicable upcoming deadlines, Games-delivery communications to sports, and
    Games-related events/conference calls are tracked using clear and consistent language
  • All Months Ahead materials are kept up to date with utmost accuracy and attention to
    detail
  • Responsible for ensuring consistency of language, accuracy and proper formatting for all
    Games-delivery mass communications to the sport system (Memos)

• Other duties, as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS AND CRITICAL SKILLS

Education and Experience

• University degree or college diploma or equivalent experience in a field related to marketing,
  communications or digital media
• 3 – 5 years of relevant experience

Skills and Abilities

• Passionate about sport from grassroots to high-performance
• Team player and a high sense of professionalism
• Excellent writer
• Strong understanding of the current communication trends and practices
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills both oral and written
• Knowledge of the Canadian Sport System is essential
• Proven organizational and time management skills to respond to varied and often tight deadlines
  and effectively balance competing stakeholders and agendas
• Understands the need for planning, follow through and follow-up
• Management skills, including planning, problem solving and leadership
• Proven critical thinking skills combined with common sense
• Bilingualism is a strong asset (English/French)
• Demonstrates and embodies the COC values of Accountability, Excellence, Fun, Respect and
  Bravery

COMPENSATION
Competitive salary based on experience, excellent benefits package.

CONTACT Please submit your cover letter and resume by October 2, 2023.

The COC is committed to ensuring our recruitment and selection processes and work environment are inclusive and barrier-free. At the COC, we celebrate and welcome the diversity of all employees and believe that having a team of individuals with different backgrounds, views, experience and capability working together makes us stronger and better as an organization.

Accommodation is also available upon request for individuals taking part in all stages of our recruitment and selection processes. Please advise the recruiter to ensure your accessibility needs due to a disability are accommodated. Information received relating to accommodation will be addressed confidentially.

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