Community Engagement & Project Assistant

This position is a part of the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).

This position has a term length of one year plus a day and offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed at: Faculty & Staff Benefits .

Location : This position is located in Fort McMurray, and will be a hybrid of working from home and office. There is also a requirement to travel on occasion within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, either by air or vehicle.

Working for the University of Alberta

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.

The University of Alberta is teeming with change makers, community builders, and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to more than 40,000 students in 200+ undergraduate and 500+ graduate programs, over 13,000 faculty and staff, 260,000 alumni worldwide and have been recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for over a decade.

Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross section of people—from our students and stakeholders, to our renowned researchers and innovators who are quite literally curing diseases, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger, and more just.

Department Summary

The University of Alberta School of Public Health, located in Edmonton, Alberta, integrates the strengths of faculty, staff, adjuncts, and instructors involved in research, graduate education, and various initiatives to engage communities. Ours is a non-departmentalized faculty made up of several administrative and academic groups, including our centres.

Position Summary

The Community Engagement & Project Assistant is an integral position within the Wood Buffalo Indigenous Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (I-HeLTI) funded for 6-years by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). The program is focused on restoring Indigenous healthy family systems – grounded in Indigenous Knowledge, cultures, and experiences – across the lifespan, starting in childhood. The 6-year intervention cohort study aims to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous parents and parents-to-be from preconception (before conception) and into pregnancy and the postpartum period. This initiative will also help us understand how to optimize child well-being and development, and reduce risk factors for child health issues, chronic diseases and illness.

This position will liaise with the Aunties Within Reach Program (AWR) in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB); the program offers mentorship and support from Aunties and Indigenous birth workers through the stages of life, with a focus on improving connectedness and social and emotional well-being, disrupting intergenerational cycles of trauma, and promoting physical and mental well-being, as well as spiritual and cultural cohesion of individuals and families. This community-based research ensures that research undertaken in the communities adheres to Indigenous protocols and is respectful to the cultures, languages, knowledge, values, and rights of Indigenous communities in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

Under the direction and mentorship of the Research Coordinator the Community Engagement & Project Assistant assists the research team by building relationships in the Wood Buffalo region to ensure that all project activities and outcomes are premised from a local and an Indigenous perspective.

Duties

• Assist in recruiting families for the I-HeLTI research study in RMWB by forging and maintaining relationships with participants and prospective participants
• Conduct some administrative duties including submitting project expenses, scheduling meetings, and taking minutes
• Foster respectful communication, relationship-building and engagement with community partners. This will involve routine communications to community partners, agencies, collaborators, Community Advisory Circle members, and research participants via newsletters, emails, and letters
• Provide program supports to community-based teams (e.g. support-line triage and meeting attendance)
• Act as a liaison between the project and community partners and agencies
• Attend community engagements and meetings, along with community-based teams to promote the program and research initiative (e.g. community visits, partner meetings)

Minimum Qualifications

• May be required to work occasional evenings and weekends to attend events
• In depth knowledge of the local communities and Indigenous traditional cultural practices; knowledge of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo area
• Minimum 1 year experience event planning
• Post-secondary certificate or diploma in a field such as health and community studies, community engagement, communications, administration, or other related fields
• Must be willing and able to travel periodically, by air or vehicle to communities within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
• Valid Alberta Class 6 driver’s license and a reliable vehicle for travel
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word & Excel), Google Workspace, and social media platforms
• Outstanding communications skills (oral and written) and interpersonal skills
• Minimum 1 year experience with community engagement and relationship-building, preferable with Indigenous communities and partners

Preferred Qualifications

• Training or familiarity with the principles of Ownership Control Access and Possession (OCAP) as defined by the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC
• Undergraduate degree in a field such as health and community studies, community engagement, communications, administration, or other related fields would be an asset
• Familiar with strengths-based, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial approaches to collaborative research