Careers

BACKGROUND: The Emergency Planning Secretariat is an emerging body in the Lower Mainland looking to improve Mainland Coast Salish emergency preparedness and adaptation to climate change. Our main tool for achieving this is our Regional Action Plan, or Hilekw Sq’eq’ó, which localizes the Sendai Framework for the 31 Mainland Coast Salish First Nations, weaving together Mainland Coast Salish knowledge and culture with best practices in emergency management around the world. The recently released Action Plan focuses mainly on flooding for its first iteration. In addition to the Action Plan, the EPS also supports First Nations flood planning throughout the Lower Mainland.

The Environmental Justice for Climate Change (EJ4C) Project builds on a series of existing work being done in the flood-fish space. One partners project, called “Resilient Waters” (see www.resilientwaters.ca), is identifying key flood control sites where fish passage and fish habitat can be restored. The Build Back Better, Together Collaborative is another avenue through which multi-benefit flood recovery and management practices can be promoted. A strong component of this collaborative is advocacy and technical guidance. The desired result is to ensure that government flood management strategies, flood infrastructure upgrades and associated habitat restoration works find solutions that address the needs and priorities of First Nations alongside other community and sectoral values, while improving salmon habitat.

The EJ4C Project seeks to identify flood mitigation and resilience priorities within indigenous communities and residents of the Lower Mainland, and pull together flood management and adaptation values for implementation. This will be through a series of engagement meetings with indigenous community members and experts to pull together a best practices document of flood resilience options from the household to watershed scale. This project is in partnership
with Watershed Watch Salmon Society.

POSITION SUMMARY: The Project Coordinator is responsible for the coordination of the EJ4C Project for the EPS and Watershed Watch Salmon Society, as well as support with the Regional Action Plan, BBBT Project, and other flood-related projects of the EPS.

COMPENSATION: Starting salary at $55,000 – $65,000 depending on experience.

Job Description
1. Coordinate the EJ4C Project

• Coordinate regular project team meetings;
• Coordinate 3 workshops to define risk and risk reduction next steps;
• Coordinate a Best Management Practices report with defined flood risks, solutions and a list of priority flood mitigation and restoration projects;
• Work with project partners for continued engagement on report outcomes; and
• Educate public audiences about opportunities and solutions to address diverse values in modernized floodplain management.

2. Support with engagement and project management support for BBBT, Helikw Sq’eq’o and other EPS Projects.

3. Support Mainland Coast Salish First Nations as needed, and during emergencies.

4. Assist with communications and reporting for EPS and Watershed Watch Salmon Society.

5. Maintain respectful and effective relationships with each of the 31 Mainland Coast Salish First
Nations and external partners

REPORTS TO: EPS Program Manager

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: 

• Preference may be given to a candidate with formal education or training in a relevant field, such as business administration, project management, engagement, flood management, natural resource management, or Indigenous studies, or five years experience in the field;
• The ability to work in a team environment and independently;
• Experience conducting engagement within Indigenous communities including planning, organizing, and holding workshops and/or conferences;
• Experience with community engagement and outreach;
• The willingness to set up and disassemble meeting venues;
• An adaptable attitude to handle variable schedules, demanding schedules during emergencies, politically charged environments, and needs of different partners; and
• Intermediate computer and typing skills (MS Office Suite, Google Drive and Dropbox).

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Knowledge of B.C. First Nations perspectives and communication styles/preferences; Knowledge of political and social impacts that affect BC First Nations;
• Experience building and maintaining respectful relationships with First Nations, colleagues, external agencies and their representatives;
• Experience with project management, reporting and report writing;
• Familiarity with online calendar and task management systems; and
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• Must be willing to submit to a criminal record check;
• Must have a valid driver’s license and access to a reliable vehicle;
• Must be flexible to work from home, in office and some travel to communities; and
• A laptop will be provided, and travel will be compensated.

PLEASE EMAIL A COVER LETTER AND RESUME TO: gillian.fuss@emplans.ca

THIS JOB POSTING WILL BE AVAILABLE UNTIL SEP. 30, 2022.