Communications Manager - Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Agency

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Agency (RRA) has been established to lead and coordinate recovery efforts across the Hawke’s Bay region following Cyclone Gabrielle. The RRA provides vital coordination between the region, Government and government agencies to ensure that the best possible outcomes are achieved for our region and our people. 

The RRA needs to effectively work with Councils, mana whenua, government agencies and other partners and stakeholders to bring about positive recovery outcomes. We seek an experienced Communications Manager to aid this work. 

The Communications Manager is a pivotal role for the RRA, with its key purpose of supporting the Hawke’s Bay recovery through outstanding communications and stakeholder engagement across the region. The role will see you playing a proactive and strategic role in building a strong and coherent recovery narrative, developing and delivering excellent communications collateral for both internal and external use, and positively engaging with and managing media and stakeholder relationships.

Ideally, we would like to engage a staff member on a fixed-term basis until 30 June 2025, however we will also consider expressions of interest from consultancies who can provide communications services on a cost-effective basis. 

Key aspects of this role will be to:

• Lead and coordinate regional recovery communication activity across staff in partner agencies.
• Position regional recovery as an opportunity to build back safer, stronger and smarter – including proactively identifying aspirational / thought-leadership opportunities. 
• Promote regional recovery progress on a regular basis to help build and maintain recovery momentum.
• Build excellent key relationships within the RRA and across the region, particularly with our partner organisations.
• Assist with advocacy for government support for recovery initiatives.
• Oversee the development and execution of a Media Strategy and a Social Media Strategy.
• Prepare a community engagement planning framework for broader recovery-related community engagement,  and provide associated content to partner organisations. 
• Contribute to Regional Recovery Plans. 

You will be a creative individual with the ability to think on your feet, bring people along on the journey and guide strategic outputs. We need someone who can think broadly and connect the dots, identifying opportunities and leveraging relationships to support the work the RRA is committed to undertaking for our region, community, and stakeholders. 

Ideally you will also:

• Have proven experience managing communications and engagement in a complex organisation, with a history of delivering change, and achieving results against a strategic plan. 
• Be able to communicate effectively to inspire, convey and interpret complex concepts/data/information to a wide range of audiences, tailoring your approach to suit the target group. 
• Show proven success in building coalitions, collaborative work practices, and strong working relationships. 
• Have a tertiary qualification in a relevant field. 
• Show resilience, adaptability, and flexibility to keep up with the ever-changing nature of recovery. 

The ability to work constructively with iwi/Māori and mana whenua organisations together with an understanding of Te Ao Māori appropriate to the position will be essential to the role.

View a copy of the full job description HERE

For further information regarding this role please contact enquiries@hbrecovery.govt.nz

Applications close Friday 6th October at 12.00 noon

Please apply via SEEK. 

11 October 2023

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