Specialist, Community & Council Relations

Specialist, Community & Council Relations 

Human Services - Housing Services 

Status: Regular Full Time

Salary Range: $92,153 - $115,189 per annum (plus comprehensive benefits)

Work Mode: Hybrid *see below for more details about this work mode. 

Location: 10 Peel Centre Dr., Brampton, ON 

Hours of work: 35 hours per week 

**Join our diverse team and be part of our vision. Think big. Channel your creativity. Make a difference.
At Peel Region, we can create lasting impact, together.**

The Role: Responsible to act as a representative on behalf of the Director, Housing Services with Council and Council staff, Community Partners, stakeholders and Peel citizens. Responsible for the development, management and ongoing improvement of a proactive, responsive and comprehensive stakeholder service plan aimed at building relationships, ensuring trust and confidence and increasing awareness of housing and homelessness related issues, services and supports.

What you will do in this role: 

• Acts as an interface between Council and the Director, Housing Services.
• Advises the Director, and the Management Team, on matters relating to Council
• Provides advice to the appropriate Management Team members on ways to improve or further strengthen the relationships with council and provides an proactive communication on any potential or emerging risks or opportunities that are observed.
• Keeps abreast of municipal, provincial, and federal political issues as well as current best practices in Human Services.
• Regularly connects with Council and Council staff to ensure that Housing Services’ is responsive and meeting the needs of constituents from an integrated service perspective. Acts as key contact point for Council for support and guidance on issues pertaining to the division.
• Identifies and seeks to understand key power/political relationships as an important input to understanding the work, building relationships, and assisting with the decision-making process.
• Regularly required to proactively communicate with Council in order to provide information that will benefit constituents or impact them allowing Council to provide timely and important information to the community.
• Prepares specialized reports, communications and presentations on behalf of the Director, Housing Services.
• Responsible for the coordination, editing and distribution of the Director’s Newsletter and Council updates.
• Identifies any issues with staff for documentation for Council and the community which includes reviews and recommended edits. Coordinates revisions and ensures materials are produced prior to distribution deadlines.
• Ability to provide the Director and Managers with excellent written and oral communication to support the needs of Council and stakeholders.
• Acts as a resource to management to create presentations, reports and content on behalf of the Director and Housing Services’ division.
• Works with members of the management team and divisional staff to produce consistent, accurate, visually appealing informational materials for Council members and other relevant stakeholders.
• Represents the Region at public consultations, presentations, open houses, and face-to-face interactions with the public, contractors, and regulatory agencies. Plan, coordinate, develop materials for and deliver public stakeholder engagements. Presentations cover a wide range of housing and homelessness topics.
• Responsible to lead the creation, development and maintenance of a Council and Community Inquiry tracking system and the processes to support this system.
• Analysis of information obtained through an inquiry tracking system and dissemination of this information for the purposes of planning, improving service and proactively responding to the needs of Council and the Community.
• Ongoing responsiveness to Council and Community inquires received at the Director and Commissioner level in regard to all divisional programs and services.
• Ability to proactively develop and maintain positive and productive interactions and partnerships with other levels of government and their organizations.
• Act as the division’s link to the Region of Peel Clerk’s office.
• Frequent handling the special cases or complex client needs that have been identified through Council or Council staff and holds responsibility for the responsiveness of the division.
• Ongoing facilitation of meetings and orientation for Council staff. Position involves the handling of sensitive and confidential information.
• Support the work of the Human Services Commissioner’s office and Legislative Services to ensure Housing Services information on the web is current, valuable and presented in a professional manner.
• Responsible for the sharing of information with our clients, communities and constituents about regional programs and services in addition to the gathering of information, trends, issues, gaps and statistics for inclusion in the development of Housing Services planning and program design.
• Ensure positive stakeholder and partner relationships.
• Work with senior management staff across the Human Services Department. Develop and participate in presentations to Regional Council, ELT, HSLT, etc. Promotes and fosters a service-oriented culture and focus.
• Promotes teamwork and integration within the unit, division and department as well as with community partners and stakeholder.

What the role requires: 

• Post secondary education in Human Services, Political Science, Public Administration or related field combined with at least 5 years of job related experience
• Requires an in-depth understanding of Human Services programs and services
• Requires an understanding the socio-cultural, historical, political, and economic context within which Council operates; integrating understanding of the organization's global approach with awareness of trends.
• Expertise in the public sector and affordable housing preferred.
• Experience in execution of event planning and management.
• Must have demonstrated team leadership and participation skills, involving both government and community stakeholders.
• Knowledge of Council, and Committee procedures and municipal structure Working knowledge of change management.
• Evaluate and integrate the analyses which come from multiple sources in order to provide substantive recommendations or to develop major changes to programs.
• Manages internal partnerships / relationship as a critical part of the work.
• Provide recommendations or professional advice and guidance in areas not explicitly outlined by government guidelines.
• Manages external business partnerships and client relations as a critical part of the job.
• Work is based on interpretation of Department policies, objectives and strategic plans in the context of corporate-wide objectives.
• Makes decisions and recommendations that will significantly drive the direction of the Housing Services and its interaction with Council.

Skills/Abilities: 

• Requires excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Must possess extensive skills in negotiation, facilitation, and consensus building.
• Excellent presentation and public speaking skills.
• The ability to act with tact and diplomacy handling complex situations professionally.
• Ability to review, comprehend and summarize complex documents
• Excellent business, organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to interpret legislation.
• Ability to handle multiple and very tight timelines.
• Detail oriented with excellent proofreading and editing skills.
• Ability to develop outcome indicators, evaluate and analyse data, making recommendations and improvement suggestions.
• Use considerable judgment to arrive at recommendations or conclusions.
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviors, and proactively managing bias

Nice to have:  

• Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification an asset.

Perks @ Peel and why you will love working for us:   

• Comprehensive Health, Dental, Vision benefit plan including psychological health, effective start date 
• Automatic enrolment into OMERS pension plan (where applicable) 
• Accrue Vacation on a monthly basis starting at 3 weeks per annum 
• 3 Paid personal days and floating holidays (non-union) 
• Flexible hours supporting your wellness and wellbeing (non-union) 
• Annual performance review and merit increases based on performance (non-union/ where applicable) 
• Supportive leadership and a culture of respect and inclusion 
• Access to tuition reimbursement (where applicable) and learning and development resources 

Be bold. Think big. Join us.

In this role, you’ll benefit from the flexibility of a hybrid work arrangement that prioritizes meaningful in-person connection. A minimum of two days per week on-site is expected, with additional in-person presence as operational needs evolve. This arrangement allows for a blend of in person and hybrid work that adapts to support both organizational priorities and employee flexibility and is subject to change over time.

It's important to note that your off-site work location must be within the province of Ontario. This ensures that we're compliant with all regulations and policies.

The Region of Peel offers job based flexible hours of work that allows employees to manage personal and professional responsibilities while at the same time ensures business operational needs and customer service expectations are achieved. 

Assessment: There will be an Assessment to be completed as part of the recruitment process. All communication will be sent to the email address attached to your application submission.

Interview: Our recruitment process will include video conference technology

Kindly ensure to regularly monitor your spam and junk email folders, as important communications regarding your application may be directed there.

If this opportunity matches your qualifications and experience, please apply on-line. 

Peel Region consists of the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, and the town of Caledon.  Peel Region delivers essential services to more than 1.5 million residents and approximately 200,000 businesses.

We’re working to create a community that is safe, inclusive, and accessible.  A place where everyone feels they belong and can access the services they need to thrive throughout each stage of life.

Our workforce is 6,700 strong and since 1974, we’ve been delivering a wide range of resident focused services. Our services include paramedic services, health programs, long-term care and services for seniors, child care support, garbage collection and recycling, waste water and water treatment, road maintenance, financial assistance, and housing support. 

Recognized by Canada's Healthy Workplace Month® with the Great Employer Award presented by Excellence Canada, Peel Region is a place where everyone feels they belong. We strive to develop a workplace that values and respects diversity, practices inclusion, recognizes the unique contributions and abilities of all people and facilitates innovative thinking. At Peel Region, people come first. Each employee has an important role within our community and when we work together, it’s impactful. We encourage you to join us in delivering essential services and programs to our diverse community. You won't find a better opportunity than Peel Region.

Peel Region is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is respected and valued for their contributions, and where everyone is treated fairly and has opportunity to grow and develop. As one of the most diverse regions in Canada, we are committed to establishing a qualified workforce that is reflective of the population we serve.

Peel Region is committed to providing accommodations throughout the recruitment process, upon request. If you require accommodation, please notify us and we will work with you to meet your needs. Accessible formats and communication supports are available. Please contact zzg-hrtalentacquisition@peelregion.ca 

Please be advised, Peel Region uses email to communicate with applicants for open job competitions and does not use AI technology in any part of the recruitment process. It is the applicant’s responsibility to include an updated email address that is checked daily and accepts emails from unknown users. As we send time sensitive correspondence via email (i.e., testing bookings, interview dates), it is imperative that applicants check their email regularly. If we do not hear back from applicants, we will assume that you are no longer interested in the position and your application will be removed from the competition.