POSITION SUMMARY

This 9-month contract seeks an experienced government and stakeholder relations professional to maintain continuity in the Vector Institute’s work with both the federal and provincial governments.
The role requires sustaining and improving existing project management approaches to ensure measurable engagement outcomes and ongoing strategic relationships aligned with Vector’s business objectives.
Reporting to the VP, Marketing & Communications, with a dotted line to the Chief Operations and Finance Officer, the role has the following :

• Provide continuity and leadership in government and stakeholder engagements by managing and executing existing strategies with federal and provincial governments and innovation ecosystem partners;
• Lead the development and execution of government-facing engagement plans including ministerial roundtables, meetings with officials, site visits, and hosting dignitaries at Vector events;
• Collaborate with Vector’s external GR firm on strategy development, meeting support, and ensuring alignment with Vector’s objectives, products, and timelines;
• Oversee coordination protocols and budget management for an external GR firm, including tracking timelines, invoice reviews, and liaising with the Finance team;
• Participate in meetings with GR firm at both a planning and tactical level, documenting action items, and supporting deliverables in shared government engagement plans;
• Support preparation, review, and delivery of government-facing submissions and advocacy materials;
• Strengthen relationships with institutional officials and government departments/ministries funding the AI ecosystem, and maintain a modular presentation library for rapid audience customization;
• Create stakeholder-specific messaging demonstrating Vector’s value proposition to different government departments / ministries and innovation ecosystem partners;
• Capture and document AI success stories and case studies for government relations materials in collaboration with the Marketing & Communications team;
• Maintain understanding of organizational challenges, regulatory and industry trends, and public policy issues affecting Vector’s work;
• Identify high-profile and contentious issues, supporting risk mitigation for government interactions with the external GR firm, Communications team, and senior management;
• Maintain a dynamic CRM database of government and AI ecosystem contacts, including interaction history, follow-up items, and relationship health indicators;
• Develop quarterly reports on government relations activities, synthesizing stakeholder interactions and strategic outcomes for the Board of Directors;
• Develop tailored briefing materials, strategic talking points, and quarterly government updates supporting Vector’s AI leadership;
• Support stakeholder engagement planning and execution for Vector’s AI Ecosystem Report and Annual Report;
• Represent the Vector Institute at government and stakeholder meetings and events during business hours, with occasional evening/weekend attendance for high-priority engagements;
• Work directly with CEO’s Office to ensure lobbying legislation compliance, compile reports, and document meetings as required;
• Prepare comprehensive handover documentation and brief the returning Manager to support a seamless transition; and,
• Complete other duties as may be assigned from time to time.