Senior Coordinator, Advocacy and Government Engagement

Overview: The Senior Coordinator, Advocacy and Government Engagement supports IJM Canada’s efforts to advance justice system strengthening by cultivating strategic relationships with Canadian government officials, agencies, and key development‑sector partners. This role leads day‑to‑day government engagement activities, tracks policy and legislative developments, develops briefing materials, and ensures IJM Canada’s advocacy priorities are well‑positioned with decision-makers. In addition, the role provides secondary support to public engagement efforts, particularly the coordination of advocacy volunteers, the development of supporter-facing messaging, and the execution of public engagement campaigns in collaboration with the Advancement team.

Key Result Areas (KRAs):

The success of this role is measured by the following KRAs:

1. Strengthen relationships with elected and non‑elected officials, ministries, and relevant agencies to advance IJM’s priority issues.
2. Monitor legislative, regulatory, and policy developments relevant to IJM’s global and Canadian priorities.
3. Prepare concise, accurate briefings for government meetings and advocacy engagements.
4. Support the development and execution of IJMC’s advocacy strategies in collaboration with Global Programs, Survivor Networks and relevant regional teams.
5. Maintain partnerships with development sector actors and nonprofit collaborators contributing to policy influence and joint advocacy.
6. Provide accurate tracking of government interactions, Salesforce entries, and Lobbyist Registry reporting.
7. Produce quarterly metrics on advocacy outcomes and engagement reach.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Strategy and Knowledge Development

1. Conduct policy and legislative research to ensure IJM Canada’s government engagement is aligned with priority program outcomes.
2. Develop specific, measurable and relevant government engagement objectives and tactics as well as evaluate progress against objectives, making necessary adjustments to the plans to ensure efforts result in the most relevant and impactful outcomes.
3. Maintain awareness of IJM’s theory of change and programmatic outcomes and outputs supporting priority casework, regional or country work.

Communication and Engagement

1. Prepare briefing notes, backgrounders, and government submissions for meetings, consultations, and hearings.
2. Draft government‑facing correspondence and follow-up communications.
3. Support the development of public-facing advocacy content in collaboration with the marketing and fundraising teams.
4. Provide subject‑matter input for supporter engagement materials (emails, campaigns, events).
5. Ensure the creation and distribution of advocacy information including presentations and publications such as position papers or submissions to government committees or consultations.
6. Manage the advocacy email inbox and facilitate the use of all advocacy and public engagement related tools such as Engaging Networks.

Networking and Partnerships

1. Participate in government consultations, development-sector roundtables, and policy dialogues relevant to IJM’s advocacy priorities.
2. Maintain regular contact and relationship tracking with government officials and sector partners as well as internal partners in other advancement offices and global teams
3. Identify and initiate relationship building with relevant government, ministry and agency contacts as well as other Canadian non-profits.
4. Enable individuals, businesses or corporations offering pro bono efforts to contribute to the implementation of government engagement activities.

Project Management and Administration

1. Using internal systems and tools, provide project management support to all advocacy and government engagement projects, such as email communications, communication material production, and in-person or online events.
2. Assist and support the production and mailing out of all event materials (letters, invites, posters, flyers, etc.), managing venue and vendor relationships.
3. Managing speaking engagement requests related to advocacy and organizing all pre‑event planning with government and development‑sector partners, ensuring IJM speakers are equipped with the necessary materials.
4. Coordinating logistics for government meetings, policy consultations, and advocacy-related events to ensure smooth execution.
5. Providing administrative and operational support for gatherings involving advocacy volunteers and, when needed, for broader public engagement activities.
6. Initiating, facilitating, and supporting meetings with advocates, government officials, and development-sector stakeholders to advance IJM’s advocacy priorities.

Documentation, Reporting, and Data Management

1. Support IJM Canada’s Advocacy efforts by monitoring, tracking and reporting activities intended to deepen the Government of Canada’s engagement, relationship and partnership with IJM.
2. Ensure accurate categorization of government interactions to meet all compliance requirements.
3. Provide relevant data, analyses and learnings from IJM Canada’s Advocacy and Government Engagement activities for quarterly and year-end impact reporting.
4. Track revenue, expenses, and provide expense budget estimates for all Advocacy and Government Engagement activities, including estimating and tracking hours spent on each activity.
5. Monthly reporting and data entry in Salesforce, Canadian Registry of Lobbyists and other required platforms.

General Tasks

1. Participate in IJM’s community of spiritual formation.

Supervisory:

1. Position reports to the Vice President, Strategy & Advancement and works in close partnership with the CEO.
2. Supervises vendors and volunteers supporting events and/or campaign-related activities.
3. Supervises volunteers and pro bono contractors contributing to advocacy strategy development research or content development.

Education & Experience:

1. Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field such as Public Policy, Political Science, International Development, Public Administration, Human Rights, Criminology, Communications (with government relations or public affairs focus).
2. Additional coursework or certifications in Government Relations/Public Affairs, Public Policy Analysis, and Strategic Communications is a bonus.
3. Experience working in a non-profit or government is strongly preferred.
4. 4- 5+ years of working experience in government relations or public policy engagement roles.
5. Direct experience with:
   1. Interacting with elected officials, political staff, or government agencies;
   2. Preparing briefing notes, policy submissions, or meeting materials;
   3. Coordinating advocacy events, government meetings, or public policy consultations;
   4. Stakeholder and partnership management (government, NGOs, sector partners).
6. Some knowledge of communication and marketing principles and best practices.

Technical Competencies:

1. Strong research and analytical skills
2. Project management skills
3. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
4. Meeting and event facilitation
5. Monitoring legislation, policy developments, or regulatory updates
6. Stakeholder Relationship Management
7. Knowledge of government and legislative process
8. Experience with Salesforce or other CRMs
9. Volunteer or community engagement
10. Fluency in French is strongly preferred

Non-Technical Competencies:

1. Political acumen
2. Analytical skills
3. Awareness of trauma-informed engagement
4. Teamwork and collaboration
5. Experience with public speaking preferred
6. Strategic thinking
7. Collaborative and able to build trust
8. Leading through influence
9. Sound judgment and problem-solving
10. Organized
11. Maintenance of spiritual and emotional health
12. Professional and diplomatic
13. Unfailing integrity and honesty
14. Passion for IJM’s mission
15. Able to drive to clarity amidst ambiguity
16. Eager commitment to IJM’s Core Values: Christian, Professional and Bridge-Building.

Other Duties:

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of activities, duties or responsibilities for the position. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. All positions are required to perform any additional tasks assigned by the supervisor. This position will require up to 30% travel – regular visits to IJM Canada’s headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, quarterly visits to IJM’s international headquarters in Washington DC and other US offices, visits to Ottawa, Ontario, for Advocacy and Public Engagement initiatives as required, and some international travel.

IJM holds strict safeguarding principles and a zero tolerance to violations of the Safeguarding Policy, Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Policy, and Code of Ethics. Candidate selection is based on technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring criteria, subject to assessing the candidate's value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check processes.

This posting is for a current vacancy. Our hiring process does not involve the use of artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants.