Reporting to the Director, the Project Coordinator / Research Assistant will work closely with members of the project team, as well as with external partners and stakeholders. This position is a 6-month contract to start (potentially renewable for up to four years), available immediately, and located in Ottawa.

Characteristics
We are seeking a bright, energetic individual who will represent the Centre for the North and the Conference Board in a professional manner. A significant portion of this role involves liaising with key external stakeholders and their contacts. This will require travel to Northern/remote regions of Canada. To be successful in this role you must have solid organization, research, and customer relationship building skills. A strong customer service orientation, mature judgment, positive attitude and strong work ethic are essential.

This is a unique and exceptional opportunity for someone comfortable working in a fast-paced, professional environment, who can produce high quality work, has well developed interpersonal skills, is culturally sensitive, who is well organized and can meet tight deadlines.

Principal Duties
• Act as the primary contact/coordinator for the Centre’s outreach program. This includes: relationship building with key stakeholders (and their contacts), collecting and coordinating advice and information from contacts/partners; communicating and updating contacts/partners on the work of the Centre; creating and updating profiles for all contacts/partners; writing reports/summaries; updating the Centre’s website; and coordinating other activities and initiatives as the program evolves.
• Provide research support to the Director and other research staff as required ( e.g. conducting literature reviews; assisting with briefing papers, bibliographies and other research related activities; assisting with the design/development of surveys and the collection of data).
• Create and maintain a master database of contacts/partners.
• Fully contribute and provide project support to the Centre in various capacities as required.
• Communicate effectively with the project team, project partners and other internal and external stakeholders.
• Deliver high quality work and customer service.

Skills and Qualifications
• Association with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis issues, and experience working in Northern and Aboriginal communities, is required.
• A minimum of a BA or BSc., preferably in social sciences or Northern issues, or 2-3 years of experience providing research support in a professional or academic research environment.
• Knowledge of, and some exposure to, quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
• Knowledge of, and experience with, Northern sustainable prosperity issues would be advantageous.
• Advanced communication and interpersonal skills
• Cultural sensitivity.
• The ability to write clearly, concisely and quickly.
• Demonstrated ability to multi-task, perform high-quality work, meet tight deadlines, and keep yourself and others organized.
• Proficiency in the use of computers in an MS Office environment.
• Experience with spreadsheets and databases (e.g. Excel, Access) is an asset.
• Ability to travel to Northern/remote regions of Canada.
• Ability to speak Inuktitut or another Aboriginal language would be a definite asset.

For more information, and to apply, please visit :
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hr/ResearchAssistantTheCentrefortheNorth.aspx.