We're Hiring! - Marketing & Public Relations Lead

Marketing & Public Relations Lead (1-year contract, with pathway to permanent full-time)

Salary: $57,000 plus benefits

Contract:  July 2026 to July 2027

Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Location: Hybrid; weekly on-site collaborative work in person at Arts Court every Wednesday

Deadline for application: Friday, July 10^th, 2026 at 1:00 pm EST

Interview availability: Wednesday, July 15 and Thursday, July 16, day or evening.

About Arts Ottawa

Arts Ottawa is Ottawa's primary arts service organization, bringing together artists, cultural workers, and arts groups to build the shared systems and infrastructure that a thriving creative city requires.

Established in January 2025 through the merger of Arts Network Ottawa and Ottawa Arts Council, Arts Ottawa carries forward more than 40 years of sector history while operating with a renewed, sector-facing mandate: coordinating partners, reducing duplication, amplifying collective advocacy, and developing tools that strengthen the full arts ecosystem.

The organization is guided by community co-created principles including equity, shared governance, transparency, and accountability, and delivers all programming and communications in both official languages.

About the position

Arts Ottawa is looking for a strategic, collaborative marketing and PR professional to lead how our work shows up in the community, across the city, the province, and on national platforms where it matters.

This is a one-year contract with a clear pathway to a permanent full-time position based on fit, performance, and funding. Salary is $57,000, paid bi-weekly through an online payroll system.

This role is for someone who thinks before they post, plans before they pitch, and knows the difference between marketing and communications well enough to explain it clearly to a board, a funder, or a journalist. You'll work alongside our Digital Engagement & Design Lead, and our Content and Impact Documentation Coordinator, bringing strategic thinking, steady judgment, and clear planning to a team that already does excellent work.

What you'll own

• Developing and stewarding short- and long-term marketing plans in partnership with our communications and programming teams, to amplify strategies and work intentionally and not reactively.

• Building and maintaining relationships with local, provincial, and federal media, and knowing when and how to use them.

• Writing and placing media releases, facilitating op-eds, and feature pitches that reflect the depth of Arts Ottawa's work and the sector we serve.

• Leading the marketing strategy for the upcoming municipal election cycle, with a clear plan for how Arts Ottawa contributes to a more informed public conversation about the arts.

• Identifying and securing podcast opportunities that feature Arts Ottawa staff and sector leadership as guests, placing our team's expertise in front of the right audiences, on the right shows, with messaging that's prepared and on point.

• Partnering with our Co-Leadership, Strategy, and Community Mobilization teams to source, edit, and distribute guest storytelling content from community leaders in relation to programming and policy recommendations, bringing their voices to wider audiences and ensuring their stories are told with care, accuracy, and reach.

• Launching and editorially shaping an Arts Ottawa Substack: setting the publication strategy, cadence, and voice; commissioning or writing pieces, including community-led storytelling, that build our audience and position Arts Ottawa as an essential read on the local arts sector.

• Bringing structure and rhythm to marketing and PR work across the team, with the judgment to know when to accelerate a project and when to slow it down.

  
  

What we're looking for

• Solid experience in marketing and public relations, ideally with time spent in or near the arts and culture sector.

• A track record of earned media placements and durable relationships with journalists and editors.

• Strong writing and editing: clean, clear, and tonally aware, with the judgment to shape someone else's voice without overwriting it.

• Experience developing marketing campaigns with measurable outcomes.

• A genuine understanding of the current needs of the arts sector, not just trends.

• Experience pitching spokespeople to podcasts or building and editing a newsletter or publication with a real audience.

• Comfort and care in working with community voices, particularly those of equity-deserving leaders, and a clear ethic around consent, attribution, and respectful amplification.

• A collaborative working style. You thrive on a team that values thoughtfulness, consistency, and quality. You bring out the best in colleagues by being prepared, generous, and clear, and you take ownership of your own work while supporting the work of others.

• Abiltiy to communicate in French would be considered a strong asset.

  
  

Why work with us

• A four-day work week. Arts Ottawa operates Tuesday through Friday, with Mondays off as a paid non-working day. 

• Flexible scheduling within the four-day week: early start, late start, or a split day, so the schedule works with your life.

• Hybrid work, with at least one in-person day per week (Wednesdays) at the Arts Ottawa head office at Arts Court in downtown Ottawa.

• Fully remote for summer months (July and August)

• Eight paid personal days per year

• Eight paid vacation days per year

• Eligible for 4% RRSP matching contribution (after 4 months)

• Health Benefit Plan – employer pays 50% effective upon hiring and enrollment

• Employee Assistance Program offering free confidential counselling support for employee and immediate family members

• Professional development support: Arts Ottawa contributes to courses, certifications, and conferences that are relevant to your role and growth.

• Reimbursement for work-related travel, including transit, rideshare where appropriate, mileage, parking, and per diem meals when travelling out of town.

• A values-driven workplace, committed to equity, accessibility, and amplifying Indigenous voices on the unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.

How to apply

Please submit:

• A cover letter (no more than two pages) telling us how you think about the work, not just what you've done, to the attention of Nicole Milne, Co-Leadership, Operations and Revenue Generation (nicole@artsottawa.ca), with the subject line: Application: Marketing & PR Lead at Arts Ottawa

• A current résumé

• Two to three examples of media placements, campaigns, or published pieces you led or significantly shaped

The Interview Process

Interviews are held in person at Arts Ottawa's office in Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa. The conversation runs one hour and involves two members of our team: Nicole Milne, Co-Lead, Operations and Revenue Generation, and Brooklyn Marok, Digital Engagement and Design Lead.

We send interview questions to all candidates in advance. We believe everyone deserves the same opportunity to prepare, and we're more interested in your thinking than your ability to perform under pressure.

If you require any accommodations to participate fully, whether for the application process or the interview itself, please reach out to Nicole Milne directly at nicole@artsottawa.ca. All requests are handled with care and confidentiality.

Arts Ottawa is an equal opportunity employer. We particularly welcome applications from women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities. Accommodations are available at every stage of the hiring process; please let us know what you need.