Professional Development and Communications Specialist

About this position

Position title: Professional Development and Communications Specialist

Term: Full-Time Permanent

The ADR Institute of Ontario (ADRIO) is a non-profit, membership association for practising and aspiring practitioners of the full range of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods for settling disputes outside of court. With its membership close to 1,000 strong across Ontario, ADRIO strives to enhance the quality and standards of practice in the province’s ADR Sector, by supporting the accreditation and professional development of practitioners, including Mediators, Arbitrators, Adjudicators and Facilitators, and ADR students. ADRIO is one of seven Regional Affiliates of the ADR Institute of Canada.

The Professional Development and Communications Specialist is responsible for the annual lifecycle of ADRIO’s professional development program, and all related communications. This position works in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders to meet the professional development needs of ADRIO’s membership, and produce the ADRIO newsletters to promote knowledge sharing on effective ADR practices. The incumbent is also the staff lead for the Regional Course Accreditation Committee and Newsletter Committee. This role uses a customer relationship management (CRM) platform (currently Membee to heavily support the success of their role. This full-time position reports to the Executive Director, and is part of a staff team of four.

Key responsibilities:

Professional Development Program Coordination

• Develop, plan, implement and evaluate ADRIO’s annual professional development program, including webinars, in-house and external events.

• Act as the staff lead of the Program Development and Education Committee, and support the committee in soliciting and reviewing proposals for professional development events that are based on evaluations, research and strategic priorities.
• Coordinate delivery of events with speakers, venue providers, caterers and sponsors, including technology support for all involved.
• Coordinate distribution of educational materials and production of certificates as needed.
• Solicit and foster rapport with recurring and potential event sponsors.
• Apply for CPD credits as appropriate from the Law Society of Ontario.
• Collect evaluations from all professional development events, and provide feedback summaries, reports and statistics for stakeholders.
• Assist in the development of annuals budget with information on event revenue.

Course Accreditation

• Act as the staff lead for the Regional Course Accreditation Committee.
• Coordinate the lifecycle of course accreditation, including applications, reviews, recommendations for approval, and annual administration of approved courses.

Communications

• Develop content for all promotional materials, and design and produce materials for different audiences and mediums, including email communications to ADRIO members, event registrations, the ADRIO website, social media, and print.
• Update information on ADRIO’s website as needed, including blogs, photos, and course listings.
• Work with the Newsletter Committee to produce the ADRIO newsletter 3 times a year, and coordinate the entire production cycle of each newsletter, including:
  • • assign articles to the Newsletter Committee for review with proposed deadlines and format instructions;
    • follow up with writers;
    • work with the Newsletter Committee Chair to edit and review all preliminarily approved articles;
    • edit, format and design the newsletter (average of 35 pages each publication);
    • solicit and manage advertisements in the newsletters.

Volunteer Engagement and Support

• On-board and supervise ADR placement students, and liaise with their colleges.
• Guide and supervise volunteers on community engagement initiatives, including the New Practitioners Advisory Group, ADR Student Week, Making Space for Diversity series, and other campaigns.
• Attend other committee meetings, and perform other tasks as needed.

Desired attributes:

• A stellar communicator who is customer service oriented, enthusiastic, engaging, clear and patient.
• A passionate learner who understands and promotes the values of professional development.
• A pro-active and efficient worker who gets ahead of issues rather than just resolving them.
• A creative and collaborative team player.
• Well versed in working with culturally, demographically and professionally diverse groups.
• Highly process oriented and attentive to detail and immaculate record keeping.

Requirements:

• Two years of experience in professional development program coordination in member-oriented settings; non-profit experience in membership associations an asset.
• Demonstrated skills in program/project development, planning, implementation and evaluation.
• Experience in developing and creating communications material for a variety of mediums.
• Experience with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms (experience in using Membee a definite asset).
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office, Zoom and social media platforms.
• A Bachelor’s degree in communications, business management or related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Knowledge of the Alternative Dispute Resolution field and practice, including studies, would be an asset.

Salary, benefits and work environment:

• The annual salary range for the position is $50-55K.
• Health benefits upon successful completion of probationary period.
• The ADRIO staff team is based in the ADRIO office at 234 Eglinton Avenue East in Toronto. In view of COVID-19, the ADRIO team has been primarily using a hybrid model working remotely and in the office.
• Note: Subject to relevant accommodations or exemptions under the Human Rights Code, all ADRIO employees are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 at least 14 (per the public health guidelines) days before their first day of work.
• Equipment provided by ADRIO includes laptop and cell phone, along with remote access to ADRIO systems.

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered for the Professional Development and Communications Specialist role, please submit cover letter and resume to Executive Director, ADRIO, by email only to ed@adr-ontario.ca (email to ed@adr-ontario.ca) by 12:00 pm on Oct 14^th, 2022.  Clearly state in the subject line of your email: Professional Development and Communications Specialist role No phone calls please, and only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

ADRIO encourages applications from Indigenous persons, and members of equity-seeking communities including women, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.