Careers

Career opportunity: Vice President, Media Strategy & Communications

Posted on: March 20, 2024

careers
CBA

Massey Henry is pleased to support the recruitment for a Vice President, Media Strategy & Communications on behalf of the Canadian Bankers Association. The Canadian Bankers Association (“CBA”) is the voice of more than 60 domestic and foreign banks that help drive Canada’s economic growth and prosperity.

About Canadian Bankers Association

The Canadian Bankers Association ("CBA") is the voice of more than 60 domestic and foreign banks that help drive Canada’s economic growth and prosperity. The CBA advocates for public policies that contribute to a sound, thriving banking system to ensure Canadians can succeed in their financial goals. One of Canada’s oldest business associations, the CBA was founded in Montreal on December 17, 1891, and subsequently incorporated by a special act of Parliament in 1900.

The Association promotes financial literacy to help Canadians make informed financial decisions and sponsors two financial literacy seminar programs: Your Money Students and Your Money Seniors. The Association also works with banks and law enforcement to help protect customers against financial crime and promote fraud awareness.

Member Service

The CBA provides its members with information, research, and operational support, and contributes to the development of public policy on issues that affect financial institutions. The Association is continually involved in financial data collection and analysis, consumer protection efforts, fighting bank fraud, and developing industry consensus on issues impacting banks in Canada.

The CBA is guided by its purpose, vision, mission, and values:

PURPOSE: Ensuring the sector is at the forefront of growing a sustainable economic future for Canadians.
VISION: To be an industry-driven and forward-looking organization that is responsive to the needs and interests of its membership.
MISSION: The CBA is an industry-driven organization that works to advocate for and promote banking in Canada.

Values

Service: Service-oriented toward our members to define the industry's position.
Transparency: Transparent in our communications, activities, and services we provide to our members and with each other.
Collaboration: Collaborative in our work, leveraging open communications among ourselves and members to arrive at the best solution.
Adaptability: Embrace change and continuous learning, recognizing they are necessary for growth.
Professionalism: Operate with the highest code of ethics to enhance trust in the sector and among our members.

CBA Community Involvement

As the industry association for the banks, the CBA and its employees are committed to giving back to communities. Over the years, employees of the CBA have participated in events and fundraisers and provided donations to the United Way of Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, the North York Harvest Food Bank, the North York Women's Shelter, Denise House, and the Cure Foundation.

As part of its efforts to support youth, the Parliamentary Internship Programme (PIP) has also received funding and support from the CBA for more than 30 years. The PIP is a non-partisan initiative that gives young Canadians an opportunity to work on Parliament Hill with both Government and Opposition Members of Parliament. Since 1969, almost 400 young Canadians have benefited from the Programme, with many going on to senior positions in the academic, public, and private spheres.

Governance

The Association’s rules and procedures are contained in the Special Act of Parliament of Canada incorporating the CBA, as amended, and the bylaws of the CBA. Decisions are made by committees that are comprised of member bank representatives.

Board of Directors

The composition of the CBA’s Board of Directors includes:

A Board Member (senior executive) from each individually represented bank (nine largest banks)
Two representatives from the Domestic Bank Group
Two representatives from the Foreign Bank Group
The CBA President & CEO also sits on the Board of Directors.

Working with others

In Canada

The CBA works with federal and provincial governments, business associations, and consumer groups to help ensure that regulations and other rules impacting the banking industry are efficient and effective. The banking industry is a strong driver of the Canadian economy and annually contributes tens of billions of dollars to Canada’s GDP and delivers financing for consumers and businesses. With more than 40 banks offering retail financial products and services to Canadians, consumers are well served by an innovative and competitive marketplace.

Internationally

The Canadian Bankers Association is also active in promoting the Canadian banking system internationally and is a member of the International Banking Federation (IBFed).

The Opportunity

Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President, Strategy, Marketing & Communications, the Vice President, Media Strategy & Communications (“VP”) is a forward-thinking leader, responsible for media relations, communications, and social media strategy in English and French.

Accountable for establishing and maintaining strong relationships with CBA members and stakeholders alike, the VP ensures that the CBA is provided with timely and accurate communications advice and insights related to public policy issues that have an impact on the financial sector and banking in Canada.

Key Responsibilities

Media Relations

As the CBA’s leader for daily interaction with media, the Vice President actively engages with journalists in positioning the CBA’s stance on key issues on a proactive and reactive basis.

The Vice President will also:

Act as a media spokesperson for the CBA following established protocols on a full range of industry issues.
Build and maintain a solid understanding of the banking sector’s strategic objectives and staying on top of issues as they evolve.
Provide recommendations about the messaging, positioning, and response strategy (e.g., decline interview, background only, interview, e-mail response) that should be used with media inquiries, ensuring that a balanced perspective is represented on behalf of the CBA’s interests.
As part of the CBA’s strategic plan, in co-operation with CBA staff and member banks, develop and execute plans that build profile for the industry’s priorities, viewpoints and objectives.
Prepare and distribute news releases and supporting materials.
Ensure that effective systems are in place for monitoring media and third-party organizations to track emerging issues and trends.

Communication Planning & Strategy

Provide forward-thinking leadership in communication planning and strategic execution of the function.
Assist the team in the planning, development and delivery of strategies and tactical plans in support of the CBA’s external communications and public relations objectives.
Help develop communications assets and strategic content intended for different audiences across several channels in support of CBA campaigns, including public opinion polling.
A major contributor to CBA Briefings, the CBA’s thought leadership pipeline for a broad range of articles on topics affecting the banking sector in Canada.
Draft remarks for the CBA’s President and CEO and CBA issue specialists in advance of external speaking opportunities and/or professional engagements for events such as Financial Literacy Month or CEO opening remarks at events.
A key contributor on the development of thought leadership, relevant speaking engagements, and sponsorships, and help build new relationships with relevant speakers’ forums.

Social Media Communications

Lead responsibility for the CBA’s social media presence in collaboration with CBA’s content lead.
Generate content suitable for a range of platforms, including Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms.
Implement an editorial calendar to manage content and plan specific, timely campaigns.
Develop and expand community and/or influencer outreach efforts.
Leverage Hootsuite social media management system to maximize tracking and oversight of multiple feeds, analyze CBA reach and improve social content over time.
Analyze key metrics and compile monthly reports for management.

Crisis Management / Business Continuity

Assist with the CBA and industry incident response efforts.
Develop and implement crisis management and quick response strategies in consultation with relevant CBA staff and member banks and according to established protocols, for communications on breaking issues to media, government, and the public.
Act as Secretary to the Media Relations Specialist Group.
Acts as key contributor and media relations lead for business continuity planning and execution.

Community & Philanthropy

Contribute to and play a leadership role in the CBA’s financial education programs, Your Money Students and Your Money Seniors.
Conduct research into areas of financial literacy and financial security to enhance the curriculum.
Plan and initiate new research projects related to financial wellness, manage the production process with external contractors, if applicable, and develop associated communications strategies and assets.
On an occasional basis, plan, research, and write industry submissions and responses to government, regulators and third-party firms engaged by government regarding the banking sector’s support for financial literacy and well-being in Canada.
Represent the CBA at stakeholder roundtables and external events within the financial literacy community in Canada, including events organized by regulators and government.
Initiate, develop, and measure the success of new strategic partnerships within the financial literacy community in Canada.

Management

Supervise work and provide guidance and expertise to help one direct report meet their assigned objectives.
Ensure that performance goals are on track.
Provide guidance for direct report’s professional development.

The Individual

The Vice President, Media Strategy & Communications (“VP”) is a seasoned bilingual communication executive with demonstrated leadership in managing a comprehensive strategic communications and media relations program to advance organizational objectives.

With a sound understanding of the banking and financial services sector, the successful candidate is an innovative and forward-thinking leader, able to influence and build strong internal and external relationships, including with key media and member stakeholders, while acting in the best interests of the organization.

Key Qualifications

Minimum eight years’ experience in a similar role, with a work history that includes communications agency/consulting experience.
Demonstrated leadership in managing a comprehensive strategic communications and media relations program to advance an organization’s mission and goals.
Understanding of the banking and financial services sector, including sound knowledge of key issues such as macroeconomic pressures, affordability, climate change, fraud prevention, and financial literacy.
Innovative thinker, with a proven track record for translating strategic thinking into action plans and output.
Strong writing, interpersonal, organizational, and analytical skills.
Ability to influence, demonstrating strong gravitas and confidence to gain credibility with internal and external stakeholders.
Ability to make decisions in a dynamic environment, anticipating future needs.
Must be fluently bilingual (English/French); some travel required.