Community Relations Specialist

UKA North America is looking for an experienced and motivated individual to fill the position of

Stakeholder / Community Relations Associate

within our Environmental Permitting, Land and Stakeholder Relations Group. The person hired for this position will join a smaller team of community relations professionals, overseen by the Director, and will be accountable for their team’s schedule-driven renewable energy project development portfolios. This individual is tasked with coordinating stakeholder and community relations across multiple jurisdictions in the USA.

They will be responsible for managing the day-to-day process related to stakeholder consultation activities, conducting outreach, and managing contact records and files for renewables development (greenfield) sites within UKA’s business development group.

The

Stakeholder / Community Relations Associate

position will be an integral player on the business development team and will interact with the various disciplines within our BD team including land acquisition, environmental permitting and engineering groups.

Responsibilities

Assess community attitudes in new areas UKA is prospecting for renewable development, based on existing projects and local opinions of wind developers/development

Identify important stakeholders and community leaders at early stages

Support the team in the creation and facilitation of in-person and virtual community meetings. Managing the relationship with our current and prospective landowners for all development sites across USA, which includes:

Participate with tracking all landowner communications, commitments and correspondence

Proactively interact on behalf of UKA with various landowner and stakeholder groups by establishing relationships through communication and engagement

Work with a wide variety of people and personalities, diffusing situations, and accomplishing simple negotiations.

Create and own a database of stakeholder communications for our renewable development portfolio in the US

Develop communication tools and materials for host landowners, perimeter landowners, community, etc. to support community decision making

Help to mitigate barriers or concerns relating to renewable project siting/permitting by meeting with stakeholders routinely

Work with local economic development arms to garner project support and to assist with identifying transportation routes, local service and supply

Understand and communicate project impacts and technical study results to stakeholders such as sound, shadow flicker, and other perceptions and annoyances based on location either through community events or one-on-one as issues arise

Provide stakeholder and socio-economic impact summaries as required by regulators/others, including internally

Assess application
eed for any Community Benefit Agreements that could help the project to achieve seamless permitting and foster ongoing positive neighbour relations during construction and operations

Inform/assist with external corporate communications on project development including website, annual reports, etc.

Provide communications on project development status, construction start notifications, etc.

Prepare Stakeholder Consultation Reports, or similar, to accompany regulatory filings

Required Skills

Previous experience in community or stakeholder engagement roles with renewable development knowledge is required

Strong attention to detail, record keeping, and organization skills with the ability to prioritize, perform and track, multiple tasks and projects simultaneously

Strong problem-solving skills and self-motivation

Critical thinking and ability to identify creative solutions to emerging issues in a timely manner

Ability to develop strong working relationships with people at all organizational levels

Strong team member working on cross functional teams with an ability to work independently and produce results within agreed upon deadlines

Excellent communication skills, with an ability to process information quickly and communicate in a clear and concise manner

Ability to handle multiple projects at various stages, prioritize assignments with the assistance of the Director and to effectively deliver on multiple competing projects with tight timelines

Comfortable working in the field as and when required in support of projects

Demonstrated skills in Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Knowledge of GIS, SharePoint, SAP is an asset

Demonstrated experience in leading key project components related to community/stakeholder engagement programs

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