Communications Manager (Outreach & Strategy)

Communications Manager (Outreach & Strategy)

Call for Applications

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Location: Vancouver B.C. (hybrid 2 days per week in office)

Terms: Full-time one-year fixed-term contract with the possibility of renewal
Salary range: $8000 $85000 per year (plus generous benefits package) commensurate with experience
Application deadline: November:59 p.m. PT; applications will be considered on a rolling basis

About APF Canada

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is Canadas only national public-purpose institution dedicated exclusively to Canada-Asia engagement. Our vision is a prosperous secure Canada shaping its future through high-impact engagement with Asia and our mission is to enable Canadians to understand connect with and succeed in Asia.

Through trusted insights high-level convening talent development and building sustained partnerships we enable more effective durable and impactful Canadian engagement across the Indo-Pacific.

About the Role

Are you a creative energetic and innovative communications strategist Do you welcome the challenge of building interest and engagement in a leading Canadian think-tank and its world-changing research programs and projects

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APFC) is looking for a full-time Communications Manager (Outreach & Strategy) on a fixed one-year contract. You will help us better leverage our current communications channels audiences and activities in the implementation of a forward-looking communications strategy that will enhance engagement with our research and programming outputs events networks and projects while building brand awareness for APF Canada in Canada and globally in alignment with APF Canadas Five-Year Strategic Framework.

The role is equal parts strategy and hands-on delivery. Alongside the strategic work you will support the communications team day-to-day across our websites publications newsletters events and networks with a particular focus on proactive media outreach to domestic and international media and on the curation of a daily internal media communications brief that keeps our senior staff and program managers informed of news issues and events at the intersections of APF Canadas work.

We are looking for an exceptional communicator with a proven track record of implementing innovative communications strategies that embrace new technologies and platforms to maximize and track audience outreach and impact across channels. You will report to the Director of Communications and work closely with colleagues in Vancouver Toronto Montreal and Singapore.

Key Responsibilities

The role has two streams of work that run in parallel: reviewing refining and implementing APFCs communications strategy and delivering against it day-to-day.

1. Communications strategy review and planning
   
   

Lead a light practical review of APFCs standing communications strategy and activities to improve the reach discoverability and effectiveness of communications supporting our research outputs programs events and network activities and improve efficiency through better processes sharper measurement and appropriate use of digital and AI tools.

You will:

• Audiences and objectives: confirm priority audiences and desired outcomes (awareness engagement event registrations/attendance media pickup stakeholder reach).
• Owned channels and distribution: assess the overall effectiveness of our newsletters social media channels and multimedia production and distribution and recommend what to stop start and continue.
• Content packaging and discoverability: recommend and implement improvements to content presentation titles summaries metadata SEO PDF best practices accessibility considerations and reuse/syndication.
• Measurement: recommend and implement improvements to existing KPIs reporting cadence and the practicality of tracking (e.g. GA4 email metrics current platform insights).

• AI and digital tools: identify three-to-six high-value low-risk automation opportunities (e.g. repackaging tagging audience segmentation for targeted outreach transcription summaries) with human oversight and clear guardrails.

Your main deliverable:

A prioritized 12-month implementation plan for APF Canadas targeted focused communications strategy that assists APFC in delivering on its mission building a more influential brand and increasing its impact and reach in alignment with APFCs Five-Year Strategic Framework.

• 90-day quick wins (immediately actionable low or no cost)
• A 12-month roadmap of prioritized initiatives with:

• clear objectives and success metrics
• owners/roles and effort level (low/medium/high)
• dependencies and risks
• recommended tools and process changes (practical minimal)
• estimated cost ranges (for additional platforms or technology)

• Working sessions with the communications research and programming teams to validate priorities and implementation approach

Media outreach content operations and measurement

Provide ongoing senior-level support to APF Canadas communications team; identify immediate opportunities for our experts to engage proactively with regional national and Asia-based media to amplify APF Canada as a recognized thought leader on Canada-Asia engagement; develop a structured multi-asset production workflow to systematically maximize the reach and impact of every major APFC research output and event; implement improvements to our media tracking/listening; and manage our editorial production calendar within a project management platform.

You will:

• Drive proactive outreach to domestic and international media pitching APF Canadas experts to journalists and editors in Canada and across the Indo-Pacific.
  
• Refine our media database and implement improvements to our media tracking and listening
  
• Manage and maintain our daily internal communications media brief for senior staff and program managers.
  
• Assist in the development of a lean must-track KPI framework drawing our currently disaggregated monitoring tools into one view of reach usefulness and influence across website media (including inbound requests) and social media with a recommended reporting cadence.
  
• Build a content multiplier workflow: the systematic scheduled production of secondary assets (summaries social posts podcasts video shorts) for every major output.
  
• Help implement and integrate a project management platform across the organization including the Central Canada Office in Toronto the Montreal Office and the Asia Regional Office in Singapore and recommend improvements to intra-organizational collaboration.
  
• Help manage the editorial calendar within that project management platform.
  
• Maintain a lightweight templates toolkit: editorial calendar a distribution checklist for research and programming outputs an event communications and asset production checklist and weekly monthly and quarterly reporting templates.

What You Bring

• 5-to-10 years of progressively senior communications experience ideally in a think-tank research institute university government or non-profit setting.
• Demonstrated experience with digital communications content strategy social media multimedia and implementing AI/digital tools ethically.
• A demonstrated record of placing stories op-eds and expert commentary with national or international media and of building durable relationships with journalists and editors.
• Hands-on fluency with digital analytics and reporting (GA4 email platform metrics social insights) and the ability to turn data into decisions rather than just dashboards.
• Experience running an editorial or content calendar in a project management platform (e.g. Asana ClickUp).
• Practical responsible experience applying AI tools (e.g. Claude) to communications work with a clear grasp of where they help and where they do not.
• Must be fluent in English with exceptional verbal and written communication skills; proficiency in French is an asset.
• Familiarity with CMS platforms (g. Drupal Wix) media monitoring services (e.g. Meltwater Cision) and email marketing platforms (e.g. MailChimp).

Eligibility

Applicants should be eligible to work in Canada and hold a university or technical institute degree or an advanced diploma in communications new/digital media or a related field. The successful applicant will work out of APFCs Vancouver office on a hybrid schedule Monday to Friday during regular office hours (2 days in the office).

Compensation

Compensation for this role is an annual base salary with a range of $80000-$85000 commensurate with experience and expertise.

APF Canada also offers a comprehensive extended health benefits package including but not limited to vision and dental care paramedical services telemedicine and the Employee & Family Assistance Program (E&FAP).

Application Procedures

Applicants should submit the following documents as a single PDF. An incomplete application will not be considered.

Please click here to apply.

• One-page Cover Letter detailing the applicants interest in and suitability for the role.
• Résumé detailing the applicants academic background skills and professional experiences.
• A sample work portfolio or a link to an online portfolio.
• Name title and contact information (email and phone number) for two professional references. References will only be contacted if the applicant is short-listed for the role.

The application deadline is November 2 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and the position may be filled before the deadline so we encourage you to apply early. We thank all applicants for their interest; only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Please add to your contact list to ensure delivery of all correspondence from us.

For additional questions please contact Michael Roberts Director of Communications at

Equity Diversity Inclusion and Accessibility

APF Canada is committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the country we serve. We welcome applications from First Nations Inuit and Métis peoples racialized people women persons with disabilities and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Accommodations are available on request at every stage of the recruitment process. If you need one please contact Even Tong () and we will work with you to meet your needs in confidence.

Required Experience:

Manager