Communications Specialist - Bilingual (English/French)

Department: Corporate Affairs

Location: Toronto, ON

Compensation: CA$68,000 - CA$75,000 / year

Description

The Communications Specialist leads employer brand and employee experience communications for GS1 Canada including onboarding, delivered bilingually across internal channels. This hands-on role is primarily responsible for standing up bilingual organizational onboarding content communications, building employer brand messaging and maintaining Pulse, the organization’s internal communications channel, alongside the writing, editing and digital publishing needed to execute internal and corporate communications day to day.

Working closely with the Corporate Communications team, People & Culture and business partners across the organization, the Communications Specialist gathers information, develops audience-appropriate bilingual content and helps ensure employee-facing communications are accurate, aligned with organizational messaging and delivered through the right channels at the right time. The role is well suited to a bilingual communications professional who wants to build ownership of employee communications, onboarding and internal storytelling

Key Responsibilities

Employee Communications, Onboarding and Bilingual Content

• Stand up and maintain bilingual organizational onboarding communications and content for new employees.
• Establish and maintain employer brand messaging aligned to department plans.
• Lead employee experience and recognition communications end to end.
• Draft, edit and publish bilingual internal and corporate communications, applying GS1 Canada’s brand standards, editorial guidelines, key messages and tone of voice consistently.
• Review content for accuracy, clarity, grammar, consistency, accessibility and overall quality in both English and French.

Internal Communications and Channel Support

• Launch and maintain Pulse, GS1 Canada’s internal communications channel, alongside broader internal communications plans, campaigns and recurring communications.
• Write, format, publish and maintain content on the intranet and other internal communication channels.
• Help keep editorial calendars current and track upcoming communications, deadlines and dependencies.
• Monitor internal channels and support timely content updates, corrections and archiving.
• Contribute practical ideas to improve employee engagement, channel use and communications effectiveness, particularly around onboarding and employee experience touchpoints.

Planning, Coordination and Stakeholder Support

• Build and maintain intake, review and approval workflows for internal content
• Work with internal stakeholders to gather information, clarify objectives, identify audiences and confirm required actions.
• Maintain timelines, approval records and publishing schedules, escalating risks or delays as needed.
• Help coordinate communications across channels to reduce duplication and support message consistency.
• Provide execution support for communications plans connected to organizational priorities, employee initiatives, events and change activities.

Digital Publishing, Measurement and Team Support

• Provide basic publishing support for approved corporate social media content; social media strategy, channel ownership and primary content development sit with the Content & Communications Specialist role.
• Track communications activity and channel performance, and assist with communications reporting by gathering channel metrics and maintaining tracking tools.
• Maintain templates, distribution lists, content libraries, project files and communications documentation.
• Support event communications, registrations and promotional activities as required.
• Provide other hands-on communications and administrative support that helps the team deliver effectively.
  
  

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

Qualifications

• Post-secondary education in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing or a related field.
• One to three years of relevant experience in communications, employee communications, HR communications or a related role; equivalent combinations of education and experience may be considered.
• Strong writing, editing and proofreading skills in both English and French, with the ability to adapt content for different audiences and channels.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Effective interpersonal skills and confidence working with stakeholders to gather information and move work forward.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft 365; experience with content management systems, intranets, email platforms or social publishing tools is an asset.
• Bilingual (English/French) required, written and spoken - this is a core requirement of the role, not an asset as this role is required to draft, review, and publish content in both English & French for internal & external stakeholders.