GOVERNMENT AND INTEREST HOLDER REALTIONS LEAD

Victoria

The Opportunity

At BC Ferries, we connect communities and provide essential transportation services across British Columbia’s stunning coastlines. We are committed to fostering strong relationships with governments and interest holder organizations to ensure our operations reflect community needs and priorities.

We are seeking a dynamic Government and Interest Holder Relations Lead to develop and drive our engagement strategy with government bodies and key interest holder organizations. As the Government and Interest Holder Relations Lead, you will be responsible for developing and driving BC Ferries' engagement strategy with governments and interest holder organizations. This includes strategic advocacy planning, relationship management, facilitation, policy analysis, and cross-functional collaboration. Your role ensures that BC Ferries' voice is well-represented in government conversations and that feedback from interest holders can inform corporate decision-making. This position also creates strategies and materials to support outreach and project-specific efforts, and facilitates dialogue with internal and external contacts to develop shared understanding of issues, challenges, and solutions.  

The Role

Reporting to the Director, Community Relations, the Government and Interest Holder Relations Lead contributes value through key areas of oversight such as:

• Collaborating with teams across the organization (e.g., Customer Relations, Engineering, Strategy and Planning) to ensure alignment and consistency of materials and a no surprises approach;
• Monitoring legislative, political, and funding developments; providing timely analysis and advice to senior leadership;
• Drafting and preparing materials including meeting notes, briefings, letters, reports, and executive summaries;
• Planning and facilitating government and interest holder engagement events (e.g., roundtables, launch events, public project updates);
• Representing BC Ferries in interest holder coalitions and multi-party working groups;
• Supervising, supporting, and developing junior staff and contract support, as needed;
• Responding to emerging or urgent issues that involve coordination with government and interest holders;
• Facilitating response to feedback through executive briefings, participation in cross-departmental meetings and working groups, web content, newsletters and making required changes and improvements to existing strategies and processes;

What you bring to the team

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, Political Science, Communications, Public Affairs, or a closely related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Degrees in Public Administration, Public Affairs, or Policy are preferred.
• 7–9 years of experience in government relations, interest holder engagement, or public affairs, ideally in a transportation, infrastructure, or marine context.
• Training with the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) or other recognized institution.
• Membership in Public Affairs Association of Canada or Government Relations Institute of Canada.
• Experience with public engagement and working to influence and deliver change in established business practices.

Join us!

If this sounds like your next great career move, please submit your cover letter and resume by September 28, 2025.

Additional information

The target salary range: $105,200 - $131,500 per annum. The starting salary is determined based on the successful candidate’s knowledge, experience and internal equity.

"We connect communities and customers to people and places important in their lives”

At BC Ferries, our employees are our most important assets in delivering our commitment to customer safety, service and satisfaction. We support employment equity and diversity in the workplace and we encourage applications from all qualified individuals including women, visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (LGBTQ2S+), and others who reflect our ever-changing workplace.

We appreciate the interest of all applicants; however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.