Community Engagement Coordinator (Temporary, 12 months) en The City of Guelph

When you join the City of Guelph, you join a team of over 2000 employees who deliver services the community relies on every day. Together, we are bringing to life Guelph’s vision of an inclusive, connected, and prosperous city where we look after each other and our environment. As a single tier municipality, we offer a variety of occupations and career specialities within our organization. Guided by the goals and objectives of the Future Guelph: Strategic Plan and committed to the Corporate Values of integrity, service, inclusion, wellness and learning, the candidate will aid in the achievement of the Community Vision for an inclusive, connected, prosperous city.

What we offer

We offer competitive wages and comprehensive benefits to meet the needs of our diverse employees. Many of our positions offer:

• Paid vacation days, increasing with years of service
• Paid personal days;
• Defined benefit pension plan with OMERS, including 100-per-cent employer matching;
• Extended health and dental benefits, including Health Care Spending Account;
• Employee and Family Assistance Program;
• Parental leave top up program;
• Learning and development opportunities including tuition assistance
• Employee recognition programs.

Resumes are being accepted for the temporary position of Community Engagement Coordinator with the Strategic Communications and Community Engagement department. This position plays a key role in establishing and supporting community engagement initiatives; building capacity across the Corporation to deliver meaningful engagement; creating and maintaining systems that streamline work; and coordinating a centralized approach to understanding and using community engagement data. Guided by the goals and objectives of the City of Guelph Corporate Strategic Plan and committed to the Corporate Values of integrity, service, inclusion, wellness and learning, the candidate will aid in the achievement of the Community Vision for an inclusive, connected, prosperous city.

Key duties and responsibilities

• Aligned with the City’s Community Engagement Framework, update, implement and evaluate community engagement related to annual or recurring City projects and initiatives and provide project implementation support across all other community engagement projects.
• Advise departments on best practices and techniques for implementing community engagement projects. Support them on projects where non-engagement staff are conducting engagement themselves.
• Coordinate all engagement activity on the City’s online engagement platform.
• Coordinate and support the delivery of in-person, virtual and hybrid engagement events.
• Maintain knowledge of engagement practices, tools and techniques. Promote and encourage openness to engagement approaches that align with the City’s Community Engagement Framework.
• Support the development of tactics and tools related to corporate training that align with the Community Engagement Framework
• Deliver corporate training related to community engagement
• Build and maintain positive, collaborative relationships with external and internal interest-holders including community organizations and City staff.
• Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of engagement activities using the City’s Community Engagement Framework.
• Interpret data from community engagement projects and communicate findings in plain language suitable for diverse audiences
• Centralize all community engagement data and lead social listening efforts to surface community insights from across departments, projects, datasets, and local organizations.
• Coordinate and maintain the community engagement CRM and communicate regularly about City engagement projects with invested external interest-holders.
• Implement and maintain the community engagement resource, tool and equipment library.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications and requirements

• Experience related to the duties listed above, normally acquired through the completion of a college diploma in communications, public engagement, public relations or related field and 2-3 years of experience planning and delivering community engagement in government, non-profit and community sectors. Candidates with an equivalent education and experience may be considered.
• Must possess a valid ‘G’ driver’s licence with a good driving record. Successful candidates will be required to provide a current driver’s abstract prior to their start date to confirm their licence is held in good standing and that it has not been suspended or revoked under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) or Criminal Code of Canada in the last 5 years. The City of Guelph will take into consideration the number of demerit points and/or nature of the infractions to determine if it meets our requirements.
• Completion of IAP2 Fundamentals of Participation and Engagement and Designing Public Participation and Engagement courses are an asset.
• Demonstrated understanding of community engagement practices, tools and techniques.
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills. Experience with interest-holder relations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including fostering collaborative relationships, building consensus among diverse interest-holders, and de-escalating tense interactions between interest-holders.
• Client service focused.
• Ability to manage in a busy environment; adjust priorities using sound judgement and informed discretion as project demands change.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to work both independently and in a team environment.
• Intermediate skills with Microsoft Office 365 applications (e.g. Word, Excel, Sharepoint, etc.);
• Intermediate skills with digital survey platforms (such as Crowdsignal, Survey Monkey, or other); online engagement platforms (such as Bang the Table/EHQ, Social Pinpoint, or other); and virtual meeting, event and collaboration platforms (such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Eventbrite, Mural, Miro, or other).

Hours of work
35 hours per week. Must be willing to work flexible hours, evenings and occasional weekends as required.

Pay/Salary
CUPE 973 Grade 8: $35.64 - $43.77 per hour

How to apply
Qualified applicants are invited to apply using our online application system by September 18, 2025. Please note all applicants must complete the online questionnaire specific to this position at the time they submit their resume and cover letter in order to be considered.

The City of Guelph is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where employees feel welcome, valued and engaged. Our employment policies strictly prohibit all forms of discrimination on any of the grounds in relevant laws. All employment practices are solely based on individual merit, qualifications, and organization's needs at the time. In keeping with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, we are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals in our job application procedures. If you need an accommodation in order to participate in the hiring process, you may contact us to make your needs known in advance.

Personal information collected through the recruitment process will be used solely to determine eligibility for employment. We thank all candidates in advance; however, only those being considered for an interview will be contacted.