Engagement Specialist

Role Responsibilities

Join Our Team as an Engagement Specialist: Making a Real Impact Together!

Are you passionate about building strong relationships, driving impactful stakeholder engagement, and supporting innovative initiatives? We are looking for a talented Engagement Specialist to join our team! You’ll play a key role in coordinating high-level engagements and supporting vital projects that shape the future of our ministry.

The Stakeholder and Community Engagement unit at Children and Family Services, believes that engaged stakeholders are the heart of successful programs, policies, and services. As an Engagement Specialist, you'll be supporting and helping to shape the way we interact with our stakeholders, from internal teams and government departments to Indigenous communities, the public and external organizations. You'll have the unique opportunity to lead and participate in diverse projects that make a real difference in the lives of Albertans, all while working in a supportive and collaborative environment that values your insights and expertise. 

Some of the key responsibilities include:                                                         

• Support Engagement Projects: Organize logistics for stakeholder events, manage travel, accommodations, and ensure seamless execution of workshops and meetings with ministry leaders.
• Support Strategic Planning: Work alongside teams to design and execute stakeholder engagement initiatives, from research and risk analysis to final reports and recommendations.
• Facilitate Collaboration: Execute stakeholder meetings and workshops and support engagement sessions to foster strong relationships with government departments, Indigenous communities, and other key organizations.
• Manage Stakeholder Data: Steward the stakeholder database, provide technical support, and assist in ongoing system improvements to enhance engagement activities.
• Innovate and Research: Stay ahead of trends by developing innovative engagement tools like surveys and collaborative platforms that give stakeholders a voice in decision-making.
• Contribute to Ministry-Wide Goals: Support key ministry initiatives, monitor emerging issues, and provide the management team with critical insights for strategic decision-making.

Please click on this LINK to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies: https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following competencies:

• Agility: Works effectively in a dynamic and evolving environment by proactively adapting approaches and continuously improving processes. Anticipates shifting priorities and adjusts behaviour and engagement strategies to meet emerging stakeholder and organizational needs, while remaining calm, positive, and solutions-focused under pressure. Seeks input and guidance from colleagues and partners to ensure changes are appropriate and aligned with objectives and applies creativity within established guidelines to enhance engagement methods, tools, and outcomes.
• Build Collaborative Environment: Builds strong, accountable partnerships to achieve shared objectives and consistently exceed expectations. Draws on past experience to plan collaboratively, align roles, and set clear commitments across teams and stakeholders. Fosters a culture of mutual responsibility by holding self and others accountable for results, while supporting partners to deliver on agreed outcomes. Actively works across groups to coordinate efforts, remove barriers, and strengthen collective ownership, ensuring goals are not only met but surpassed through effective collaboration.
• Systems Thinking: Applies a holistic and strategic lens to engagement work by considering the interrelationships between stakeholders, programs, and broader organizational or community contexts. Seeks diverse perspectives and analyzes the implications of different options to ensure decisions align with long-term goals, public participation values, and emerging trends. Anticipates downstream impacts and identifies potential unintended consequences, adapting approaches to support sustainable, inclusive, and well-informed outcomes.
• Creative Problem Solving: Demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement by seeking to fully understand issues before acting and exploring innovative ways to enhance outcomes and processes. Asks thoughtful questions to identify root causes, gathers diverse data and stakeholder perspectives, and evaluates different approaches to determine what drives success. Applies insights and lessons learned to refine methods, introduce new ways of working, and share knowledge with others to strengthen overall engagement practice and results.
  
  

Qualifications

Minimum Recruitment Standard: 

• University graduation in a related field (i.e, Public Health, Public Policy, Education, Humanities, Social Sciences, Public Administration, Communications, Political Science, or Business, etc.) plus 2 years progressively responsible related experience; or equivalent as described below.
  
  

Equivalency: Directly related experience or education considered on the basis of: one year of experience for one year of education or one year of education for one year of experience.

Assets:

• Training or certification in public participation and engagement methodologies (e.g., IAP2), with experience designing and delivering stakeholder engagement initiatives using both in-person and hybrid approaches.
• Demonstrated expertise in human-centred design, systems thinking, or design thinking to develop innovative and inclusive engagement strategies.
• Strong facilitation and communication capabilities, including leading workshops, presenting to diverse audiences, and building and sustaining positive stakeholder relationships.
• Solid analytical and project coordination skills, including planning and managing engagement activities, interpreting feedback/data, and applying project management principles.
• Proficiency with stakeholder databases or relationship management tools, with a high level of attention to detail and accuracy in engagement records and materials.

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification.  Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

Notes

This competition is for 1 permanent full-time position available.

This competition may be used to fill future vacancies, across the Government of Alberta, at the same or lower classification level.

Hours of Work: This position works Monday to Friday, 36.25-hours a week.

Location: Edmonton, Alberta

The final candidate for this position will undergo appropriate pre-employment checks and provide a suitable security screening.

Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in. 

Application Requirements:

• There will be a written assessment as part of the hiring process. Please ensure to provide your current email address in your resume.
• A cover letter outlining your experience and assets that aligns with this position is required.
• In your resume, please include dates (including months and years) associated with all education and work experience. Also indicate indicate whether your work experience is casual, part-time or full-time.
• Complete all pre-screening questions. These questions are intended to help us better understand your experience related to the responsibilities and asset qualifications of this role.
• Applicants who meet the minimum recruitment standards are encouraged to apply, even if they do not have experience in every asset area.
• Please be advised that your current supervisor and manager will be contacted as references.

Links and information on what the GoA have to offer to prospective employees:

• Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) - https://www.pspp.ca
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits
• Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.
• Leadership and mentorship programs.