External Communications Advisor
Requisition ID: 188378
Career Group: Corporate Office Careers
Job Category: External Communications
Travel Requirements: 0 - 10%
Job Type: Full-Time
Country: Canada (CA)
Province: Ontario; Nova Scotia; Québec
City: Mississauga, Stellarton, Montreal
Location: Tahoe Office, Bureau de Montréal-Nord, Foord St. Office
Embark on a rewarding career with Sobeys Inc., celebrated among Canada’s Top 100 employers, where your talents contribute to our commitment to excellence and community impact.
Our family of 128,000 employees and franchise affiliates share a collective passion for delivering exceptional shopping experiences and amazing food to all our customers. Our mission is to nurture the things that make life better – great experiences, families, communities, and our employees. We are a family nurturing families.
A proudly Canadian company, we started in a small town in Nova Scotia but we are now in communities of all sizes across this great country. With over 1,600 stores in all 10 provinces, you may know us as Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Lawtons Drug Stores or another of our great banners but we are all one extended family.
Ready to Make an impact?
The External Communications Team focuses on protecting and enhancing the corporate reputation while supporting key business objectives.
Collaborating directly with internal teams, external strategic partners, and the media, the External Communications Advisor will support daily media relations efforts and issues management. In this role, you will contribute to advancing important business priorities by partnering with internal project teams to define and implement stakeholder, government, and media relations strategies.
Here’s where you’ll be focusing:
- Develop and manage communications for external audiences.
- Act as a company spokesperson, handling media and social media interactions related to daily operations, including providing support for stores and distribution centers nationwide.
- Contribute to planning and crafting communications aimed at key external audiences, such as customers, government officials, and stakeholders.
- Provide media and public relations support for community-sponsored events and store openings.
- Collaborate with the business and Marketing teams to identify, plan, and execute proactive PR initiatives based on business activities and consumer PR opportunities.
- Assist with the creative development, writing, and production of external communications materials, including news releases, speeches, presentations, and corporate videos.
- Support crisis and issues management efforts to protect the corporate brand and reputation.
- Compile and distribute daily news clippings and maintain an up-to-date media database.
- Assist with issues and customer care in addressing customer inquiries and stakeholder requests.
- Help manage and maintain the corporate website.
What you have to offer:
- Post-secondary degree in Journalism, Communications, Public Relations, or a related field.
- A minimum of 5 years of prior communications experience, ideally in media relations and issues management.
- Strong team player with expertise in developing and executing proactive media relations and integrated communications plans.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
- Exceptional research, writing, and editing skills.
- Self-starter with excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate across all levels of the organization.
- Comfortable acting as an on-camera media spokesperson.
- Strong public speaking and presentation abilities.
- Proficiency in social media tools and MS Office.
- Bilingual (French/English) is a plus, as the candidate will be expected to collaborate with peers across Canada and provide support to Sobeys employees nationwide.
#LI-Hybrid #LI-LM1
At Sobeys we require our teammates to have the ability to adhere to a hybrid work model that requires your presence at one of our office locations at least three days per week. This requirement is integral to our commitment to team collaboration and the overall success of our office culture.
We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package, which varies by role and designed to help our teammates to live better – physically, financially and emotionally.
Some websites share our job opportunities and may provide salary estimates without our knowledge. These estimates are based on similar jobs and postings for general comparison, but these numbers are not provided by our organization nor monitored for accuracy.
We will consider factors such as your working location, work experience and skills as well as internal equity, and market conditions to ensure the selected candidate is paid fairly and competitively. We look forward to discussing the specific compensation details relevant to this role with candidates who are selected to move forward in the recruitment process.
Our Total Rewards programs, for full-time teammates, goes well beyond your paycheque:
- Competitive Benefits Package, tailored to meet your needs, including health and dental coverage, life, short- and long-term disability insurance.
- Access to Virtual Health Care Platform and Employee and Family Assistance Program.
- A Retirement and Savings Plan that provides you with the opportunity to build and add value to your savings.
- A 10% in-store discount at our participating banners and access to a wide range of other discount programs, making your purchases more affordable.
- Learning and Development Resources to fuel your professional growth.
- Parental leave top-up
- Paid Vacation and Days-off
We are committed to accommodating applicants with disabilities throughout the hiring process and will work with applicants requesting accommodation at any stage of this process.