Director Communications

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Job Requisition ID:

2026-01702

Time Type:

Full time

Employee Group:

Staff

Job Category:

Communications

Employment Type:

Permanent

Department:

Advancement and External Relations - Communications and Institutional Relations

Hiring Range:

$113,285.63 - $141,607.03

Posting Information:
This posting is for an existing vacancy.

The internal posting deadline for this position is Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 11:59PM.

Job Description:

Primary Purpose

University of Waterloo is a leading global innovation hub that drives economic and social prosperity for Canada and the world. With more than 41,000 students, we are home to the world's largest co-op education talent pipeline, to game-changing research and technology, and to an unmatched entrepreneurial culture. Together, these create partnerships and solutions to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

At the university, the Marketing and Communications function is responsible for enhancing and protecting the university’s reputation. The communications function specifically leads by helping the university communicate with clarity, credibility and purpose, while developing governance, standards and protocols to uphold consistent, coordinated and effective communications across campus.

The Co-operative and Experiential Education communications team helps Waterloo engage the employers, industry leaders, community organizations, government stakeholders and sector partners who make experience-driven learning possible. The team develops employer- and partner-facing communications that build understanding of Waterloo’s approach to co-operative and experiential education, highlight the contributions of students and partners, and support strong, enduring relationships. Working closely with CEE leaders and colleagues across Waterloo’s communications and marketing functions, the team brings stakeholder insight and local expertise to coordinated institutional communications.

The Director, Co-operative and Experiential Education Communications is the senior communications lead for Co-operative and Experiential Education’s (CEE) employer- and partner-facing communications. The role applies institutional communications strategy by advising CEE leaders, leading the embedded employer communications team and aligning CEE communications with university priorities, standards and service-line direction. Serving as the principal communications bridge between CEE and central teams, the Director ensures local needs, risks and opportunities are integrated with institutional direction and support. The role is accountable for ensuring employer- and partner-facing communications are strategically grounded, coordinated and aligned with the wider communications function.

As the senior communications lead for CEE’s employer- and partner-facing portfolio, you will shape how Waterloo communicates one of its most distinctive strengths: connecting learning with the changing world of work. You will advise the Associate Provost and CEE leadership, lead and develop the communications team, and set priorities for communications involving employers, partners, work-integrated learning and talent development. The role calls for strategic judgment, political acuity and an instinct for partnership. You will connect stakeholder needs with institutional direction, identify emerging opportunities and sensitivities, and help Waterloo communicate with clarity and credibility across a complex external network.

Key Accountabilities

Strategic Communications Leadership

• Serves as the senior communications adviser to the Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education and the CEE leadership team on communications priorities, stakeholder considerations, positioning, and communications approaches.

• Supports leaders in translating CEE priorities into clear communications strategies aligned with university direction.

• Advises on the communications implications of strategic initiatives, external engagement activities, institutional positioning, organizational change, emerging issues, and stakeholder opportunities.

• Provides strategic counsel on employer, partner, government, and sector stakeholder communications.

Institutional Communications Strategy Application

• Applies institutional narrative direction, messaging frameworks, planning expectations, and communications standards within CEE's employer- and partner-facing context.

• Ensures CEE communications reflect Waterloo's priorities, voice, and governance requirements while remaining relevant to employer, partner, government, and sector audiences.

• Contributes CEE-specific insight, stakeholder perspectives, and external audience understanding to institutional communications planning, storytelling, and communications development.

• Supports alignment between CEE communications activities and broader institutional communications priorities.

CEE Communications Leadership

• Leads communications planning and prioritization within the employer and partner communications portfolio.

• Works closely with Directors, Communications, central communications service lines, embedded communicators, and relevant marketing colleagues to support coordinated communications planning and delivery.

• Provides direction, coaching, and oversight to communications staff to ensure local communications planning, advice, and execution align with institutional frameworks, service expectations, and partnership standards.

• Ensures communications activities are coordinated across audiences, channels, stakeholders, and institutional initiatives.

• Clarifies what work is led locally within CEE communications, what is supported through central communications or marketing service lines, and what requires joint planning and escalation.

• Operates within the overall budget framework set by the AVP, CIR, with responsibility for monitoring, forecasting, and ensuring appropriate and effective use of funds across the Director’s portfolio in alignment with strategic priorities

Stakeholder Communications and Institutional Representation

• Leads communications approaches that strengthen Waterloo's relationships with employers, industry partners, community organizations, government stakeholders, and other external audiences connected to co-operative and experiential education.

• Provides strategic communications support for employer engagement initiatives, partnership activities, and external stakeholder communications.

• Supports institutionally coordinated communications related to work-integrated learning, talent development, experiential education, and employer engagement priorities.

• Identifies emerging stakeholder issues, sensitivities, opportunities, and reputational considerations requiring institutional awareness or coordination.

Insights, Risk Management and Continuous Improvement

• Uses stakeholder feedback, audience insight, environmental scanning, and performance information to improve communications planning and effectiveness.

• Identifies communications risks, competing priorities, and reputational considerations within CEE's external environment and escalates where institutional coordination is required.

• Supports adoption of shared planning tools, standards, reporting expectations, and continuous improvement practices across the communications function.

• Integrates stakeholder insights and organizational context into communications planning and decision-making.

Functional and People Leadership

• Leads, develops, and evaluates communications staff within the Co-operative and Experiential Education Communications portfolio.

• Establishes team priorities, allocates work and resources, and ensures alignment with institutional communications objectives and priorities.

• Provides functional leadership for communications practice within CEE by promoting shared frameworks, standards, and communications approaches.

• Builds a high-performing, collaborative, and audience-focused team culture that reflects both CEE's operating environment and the standards of the wider communications function.

• Promotes high standards of judgment, service excellence, responsiveness, and continuous improvement across the team.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Undergraduate degree in communications, public relations, journalism, English, political science, or a related field.

• Graduate degree is considered an asset.

Experience

• 7–9 years of progressive experience in communications, stakeholder communications, public affairs, external relations, or a related field.

• 3–5 years' experience leading, managing, and developing staff within a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.

• Experience advising senior leaders on communications strategy, messaging and stakeholder considerations.

• Demonstrated experience leading an embedded communications team, or operating successfully in a matrixed organizational model

• Experience coordinating communications work across multiple internal partners and functions.

• Experience managing change, competing priorities and politically sensitive issues in a decentralized environment.

• Experience in higher education, work-integrated learning, employer-facing environments, the broader public sector or a comparable context is strongly preferred.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Strong expertise in strategic communications planning, stakeholder engagement, communications advisory services, and communications governance.

• Advanced knowledge of communications strategy, narrative development, issues management, editorial planning, and organizational communications models.

• Strong understanding of employer, industry, government, and partner-facing communications in a complex institutional environment.

• Ability to translate institutional priorities, stakeholder needs, and local context into effective communications strategies and plans, while identifying when matters require institutional coordination, escalation, or central ownership.

• Strong analytical capability and ability to synthesize information, stakeholder perspectives, and organizational context into communications recommendations and advice.

• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence diverse stakeholders.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, editing, and executive influencing skills.

• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and influence adoption of enterprise standards and practices.

• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic priorities, operational requirements and stakeholder interests in a complex environment.

• Demonstrated political acuity, diplomacy, and sound judgment when navigating complex organizational, stakeholder, and reputational considerations.

• Strong relationship-management capability across senior leadership and distributed communications environments.

• Strong understanding of higher education, work-integrated learning, employer engagement, and the external environment in which universities operate.

Equity Statement

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion.  As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at [email protected] or 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.