Contract: FT (Expected start date: IMMEDIATELY) 13 MONTH CONTRACT
WEtech Alliance and Pathway to Potential are seeking a Social Innovation Project Manager (Manager) to help advance their goals of building a regional community that fosters entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration, creating a wealth of opportunity and prosperity for Windsor-Essex.
As someone who has expertise in community collaboration, the Manager will move throughout the community to create and build capacity for sustainable social innovation projects. This role requires a self-motivated individual who has proven project management experience. The selected social innovation projects will focus on meeting priority needs in the community while providing opportunities for employment.
Purpose of Role
• Lead the development and implementation of the Social Innovation Project that increases community capacity (knowledge, awareness and development) for social enterprising non-profits and entrepreneurs;
• Coordinate relevant activities including community outreach, marketing, and events, partnership development, collaboration, monitoring and evaluation;
• Actively promote the valuable role that social innovation can play in addressing barriers in the community and increasing community wealth; and
• Assist entrepreneurs and organizations to identify social innovation opportunities.
Key Activities
1) Exploring, Promoting and Demonstrating the Value of Social Innovation
• Exploring and partner building with regional, provincial, federal and global social innovation networks;
– Convene community members to explore shared space feasibility
• Identify creative and engaging ways to showcase the concept and benefits of social innovation in Windsor-Essex;
• Plan and execute workshops to educate interested members of the public; and
• Develop web content that includes videos and blogs profiling social enterprise, and information and links to learning and funding opportunities for those interested in social enterprise.
2) Enhancing Social Innovation Skills:
• Provide social innovation resources, knowledge exchange, training and support to the social innovation community;
• Facilitate learning opportunities and capacity building activities along the continuum of social innovation development;
• Convene and liaise with community partners to develop curricula that will support skill building for social innovation management and governance;
• Engage in ongoing knowledge transfer with key stakeholders; and
• Identify and provide supervision that will assist in building community capacity for social innovation activities.
3) Expand Market Opportunities to Accelerate Social Innovation
• Identify funding from external agencies to support ongoing social innovation projects in the community;
• Work with community partners to promote existing funding opportunities that could support social entrepreneurship and social enterprise; and
• Work with community partners across all sectors to determine how procurement and purchasing mechanisms can be used to maximize benefits for social innovators.
Key Skills and Abilities
• A combination of experience and education in the business and/or social sector;
• Demonstrated history of working in community building including engagement and facilitation;
• Demonstrated experience in developing strategic partnerships and collaborative initiatives;
• Demonstrated ability in community development and project planning;
• Familiarity and proven ability to work with government and community systems;
• Analytical skills to identify and resolve problems, assess project needs, formulate recommendations, and determine actions to address issues as they arise;
• Strong interpersonal skills – able to liaise with the community and communicate effectively both verbally and in writing to audiences of various backgrounds;
• A creative thinker with a collaborative and strengths based leadership style;
• Excellent client service skills with the ability to work effectively with external stakeholders;
• Ability to work effectively within a team and independently;
• Detail oriented with proven capacity for initiative development and ability to carry out projects with minimal supervision;
• Good judgment with the ability to act tactfully and diplomatically;
• Proven organizational and project management skills with the ability to work to deadlines, handle pressure and competing priorities;
• Technical skills in an MS Office environment including Word, Excel and PowerPoint; and
• Proven research and analytical skills.
To Apply: If you are interested in this opportunity please email your resume and cover letter to ypilon@wetech-alliance.com no later than May 1st, 2016. Please include Social Innovation Project Manager in the subject line.
We thank all applicants in advance. Please note that only individuals selected for an interview will be contacted. All applications will be kept confidential
Apply in Confidence:
Yvonne Pilon
President & CEO
WEtech Alliance
ypilon@wetech-alliance.com
