Manager, Stakeholder Engagement

About the role

Canadian Blood Services is looking for a Manager, Stakeholder Engagement to join our dynamic Stakeholder Engagement team in our Inclusion, Sustainability and Engagement division.

The Stakeholder Engagement Team is responsible for supporting Canadian Blood Services by gathering input from our various audiences on our policies, products or operations to inform our decisions. The team listens, shares information, engages in dialogue, and explores workable solutions for patients, families, caregivers, the broader communities we serve, and the health care system. Canadian Blood Services engages to make difficult, complex decisions in collaboration with the individuals and organizations affected by those decisions.

In this role, you will play a key role in enabling Canadian Blood Services to listen to, connect, and collaborate with stakeholders to best serve patients, donors and the public. You will play a leadership role in designing and delivering high-quality engagement strategies to inform the organization’s health policy decisions. With oversight by the Director, you will be responsible for leading a range of complex engagement projects, working closely with various business units, the executive management team and our board of directors to ensure that key programs are designed and launched with meaningful input from affected stakeholders. You will design and implement effective engagement strategies, facilitates dialogue, documents findings, briefs internal teams to assess what we heard, and follows-up with participants to demonstrate impact. You will connect regularly with key stakeholders, taking steps to nurture bilateral relationships. You will represent the organization at stakeholder events and conferences, acting in a spokesperson capacity. You will also monitor stakeholder landscapes to identify strategic risks to Canadian Blood Services’ mission, relationships, and reputation. 

Formula for success

• Drawing upon your strategic skills, you will independently design and lead complex, multi-engagement strategies to inform key organizational decisions by involving stakeholders. This involves identifying and analyzing stakeholders through stakeholder discovery and employing pre-engagement tools and techniques.
• Applying your adeptness, you will develop high-quality engagement strategies that not only meet stakeholder expectations but also achieve the organization’s desired objectives.
• Utilizing your facilitation expertise, you will adeptly manage interviews and facilitate small and large group dialogues, especially in sensitive or emotionally charged situations where differing perspectives exist.
• Employing your expert insights, you will provide valuable counsel to organizational leaders, ensuring appropriate stakeholder engagement that aligns with the organization’s strategic goals.
• Harnessing your creativity, you will design tailored engagement and stakeholder relationship management strategies aimed at maintaining stakeholder trust and fostering acceptance.
• Using your relationship-building skills, you will establish trust with stakeholder leaders by demonstrating active listening, empathy, a commitment to considering their input, and following up to demonstrate the impact of their contributions.
• Showcasing your representation capabilities, you will serve as the organization's ambassador at stakeholder events and conferences, assuming roles as a presenter and spokesperson. You will also take the lead in the preparation of public “what we heard” summary reports from engagement processes.

Desired education and skills

• Post-secondary education in a relevant discipline from a recognized academic institution is essential, preferably in public relations or communications, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 7 to 10 years of related experience, preferably in health care. 
• Experience designing and delivering engagement activities with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other stakeholder audiences within health systems. And experience building and sustaining targeted partnerships with a diversity of stakeholders.  
• Ability to work and collaborate effectively with colleagues in a large organization (i.e. internal communications, government relations, marketing, digital communications) and across national and regional offices.  
• Knowledge of the public participation and engagement field, including rationales for engagement and its role in supporting organizational decision making.
• Ability to demonstrate listening and empathy during interactions with stakeholders. Demonstrated ability to write accurate and easy-to-understand “what we heard” reports that summarize stakeholder perspectives and offer strategic analysis on the implications, opportunities and risks that these presents to the organization.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to nurture collaborative relationships with stakeholders, even in instances where stakeholder expectations cannot be met.

What we offer you

• Payment in lieu of vacation
• Payment in lieu of benefits
• Defined benefit pension plan
• Employee discounts, wellness program, professional resources

What you can expect

• This role will work in a hybrid environment with requirements to be onsite at a Canadian Blood Services location 40% of the time/2 days of the week.  
• You will work Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours per week, 7.5 hours per day.   
• You may be required to travel 20-40% within the GTA, as part of the role.