Ocean Week Canada Partner Coordinator

Reports to: Executive Director

FTE (based on 35 paid hr work week): 100% FTE

Start date: February 2, 2026

Annual salary: $60,000-65,000

About the Centre for Ocean Literacy Collaboration

The Centre for Ocean Literacy Collaboration (COLC) is a living lab for high-impact public ocean engagement. We work with partners and communities to mobilize research and knowledge into collaborative action. Launched in 2018, and formerly known as the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition, COLC is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in ocean literacy collaboration and innovation. Our mission is building an ocean-engaged society – a society that better understands, values, and cares for the ocean.

COLC’s position as a living lab for high impact public ocean engagement, is rooted in transdisciplinary research and impact measurement. Our work generates evidence-based insights on effective design and approach to knowledge mobilization and public ocean engagement (e.g., what works, how do we know, what is being measured and how, what change is happening). We work with a network of over 600 partner organizations representing a range of sectors, through key initiatives such as Ocean Week Canada, Community Grants Program, Ocean & Society Survey, and Blue Schools Canada, as examples.

COLC operates as a national project office with an administrative home at the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) at Dalhousie University.

The Role:

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Ocean Week Canada Partner Coordinator plays a key role in the successful delivery of Ocean Week Canada (June 1-8), an annual national celebration of the ocean from coast to coast to coast. The Coordinator supports and engages partners, event hosts, grant recipients, regional hub leads, and ambassadors to ensure smooth communications, strong collaboration, and timely delivery of festival activities. This position also supports the broader Communications and Operations teams to amplify festival visibility, streamline processes, and help capture the festival’s impact across the country.

What You’ll Do:

Partner & Event Host Coordination

• Serve as the primary point of contact for regional hub leads, ambassadors, museums, and other partner organizations.
• Support event hosts and partners across Canada, ensuring they have the tools, resources, and branding needed for a successful event.
• Maintain clear, timely, and consistent communication with all stakeholders.
• Assist partners and hosts in submitting events to the Ocean Week Canada events portal.
• Coordinate translation and publication of event listings and related content.
• Ensure brand consistency across events, communications, and promotional materials.
• Manage the timely distribution of promotional materials across Canada.

Grant & Ambassador Support

• Serve as the primary point of contact for grant recipients and ambassadors
• Prepare grant agreements and collect all required documentation for the Operations Manager to enable the issuing grants.
• Support ambassador engagement, including honorarium processes and communications.

Communications & Marketing Support

• Provide logistical and administrative support to the Communications and Marketing team.
• Contribute to content preparation and dissemination, including newsletters, updates, and toolkits.

Reporting & Impact

• Coordinate collection of post-event impact surveys from event hosts, regional hub leads, and grant recipients.
• Support the Communications team in analyzing survey results and compiling festival impact reports.

Required:

Experience must include:

• Minimum of 2-3 years experience in event coordination, project management, and/or program delivery.
• Demonstrated experience managing partnerships or stakeholder relationships, ideally in multi-regional initiatives involving a nonprofit, cultural, and/or environmental context.
• Experience organizing logistics for multi-stakeholder initiatives, including shipping, packaging, and distributing materials.
• Familiarity with communications, marketing, and/or public engagement campaigns.

Competency requirements:

• Strong interpersonal, relationship-building, and collaboration skills, working with diverse team members, partners, and collaborators.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills.
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• Ability to handle (and enjoy!) a large-scale, multi-partner project.
• Proven track record in achieving project goals while working in a fast-paced environment, meeting established and sometimes changing deadlines, and producing high quality deliverables.
• Ability to effectively problem-solve.
• A flexible and adaptable approach to work requirements.
• Ability to work independently (remotely) and collaboratively in a team environment.
• Ability to take ownership of responsibilities, proactively identifying next steps to ensure the best outcome for the project
• Superior level of skill in a networked, computer environment that includes software packages such as Word, Excel, and Google.

Assets:

• Experience working with grant programs, including coordinating applications, agreements, and reporting.
• Understanding of ocean and climate science, education, and communication.
• Bilingual in English and French.

Working Conditions

• Occasional work after hours and on weekends may be required.
• Occasional travel within Canada may be required.
• The employee will be eligible for either remote work or hybrid work (combination of in-person work on campus and remote work) as agreed by all parties based on operational requirements and university guidelines.

How to apply:

Interested applicants are invited to submit (1) a résumé and (2) a cover letter to jobs@centreforoceanliteracy.ca. Please submit your completed application as a single PDF file and use a subject line that includes “OWC Partner Coordinator - LAST NAME”. Feel free to include any additional portfolios or work samples. The deadline for receiving applications is January 11, 2026.

We thank all applicants for their interest. We will review all applications and conduct interviews with select candidates the week of January 19-23, 2026. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. All applicants must be eligible to legally work throughout Canada at the time of applying. This posting may remain open until a qualified candidate is hired.

COLC and Dalhousie University are equal opportunity employers. We are committed to building a diverse team, where everyone can work safely in a barrier-free environment. We encourage candidates from historically marginalized groups, including women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and those who identify themselves as 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply.