The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of Jewish life in Canada through advocacy. CIJA connects the power of a strong, national network to regional efforts in every Canadian province. Our team provides advocacy support to Jewish and pro-Israel communities across the country.
The Associate Director, University Relations reports to the VP, University and Local Partner Services, with lead responsibility for coordinating CIJA’s advocacy activities on campus across the country. The successful candidate will, therefore, travel extensively within Canada and require easy airport access.
The ideal candidate will be a confident, experienced individual with excellent judgment, flexibility, a capacity to master new tasks quickly, and the ability to work both independently and in a team. An organized team player with exceptional people skills and an ability to build meaningful relationships with stakeholders on campus and in the Jewish community, the candidate will be able to analyze and advance advocacy concerns in the university environment, possess excellent communications skills, a strong knowledge of the university sector, familiarity with the Jewish community, and a willingness to learn.
Key Areas of Responsibility
- Building and maintaining key relationships with university administrations, especially the President, VP Research, Provost, VP Communications, Human Rights staff, relevant Deans, and associations such as Universities Canada, U15, etc.
- Assessing and advancing advocacy concerns in the university environment
- With other members of the campus team, initiating and potentially staffing missions of university administrators to Israel
- Interacting with university administrations regarding campus challenges and advising campus team on strategy with administration and universities in general related to those issues (e.g., antisemitism, BDS votes, IAW, anti-Israel incidents on campus, and student mobility to and from Israel)
- Identifying and suggesting potential partnerships between Canadian and Israeli universities
- Coordinating university relations efforts with CIJA staff across the country to develop and implement best practices
- Other duties as required.
Job Skills and Requirements
- Outstanding organizational skills
- Enjoyment working in a dynamic and fast-paced environment
- Proven capacity to solve problems
- Comfortable making difficult decisions
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Motivation supported by working with a collaborative team
- Ease with public speaking
- Experience in pro-Israel and / or Jewish advocacy is an asset
- Experience in academia, including holding an advanced degree, is an asset
- Ability to travel frequently within Canada and internationally.
- The position requires occasional attendance at events in the evenings and on weekends and travel.
Interested candidates should apply in confidence to [email protected] with a curriculum vitae and cover letter.
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