Economic Development Officer

Economic Development Officer (2 Year Contract)

Join to apply for the Economic Development Officer (2 Year Contract) role at Town of Saugeen Shores

This range is provided by Town of Saugeen Shores. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

CA $86,101.00/yr - CA $97,842.00/yr

Requisition Number: 2025-71

Posted: December 9, 2025

Position Type: Temporary, full-time

Location: Port Elgin, ON

Number of Vacancies: 1 (This is a preexisting contract position in the Planning & Economic Development Division)

Saugeen Shores:
Both city and town, wrapped in a village. Choosing to work and live in Saugeen Shores gives you an unparalleled choice of easy‑going lifestyles, economic opportunities and nature at every turn. You can truly create your own village in this growing, diverse community of neighbourhoods and amenities. You can replace long commutes with easy lakeshore rides. You can choose to be as active or relaxed as you want to be.

You can make all these great choices without sacrificing family life, schools, and even access to the wide world. Nestled on the shores of Lake Huron with forests and farms all around, Saugeen Shores is the promise of both cities and towns, wrapped in a village.

We take our team‑first culture so seriously; we wrote a Team Saugeen Charter to celebrate and protect it. Our shared role is to keep Saugeen Shores safe, well‑serviced, growing and vibrant in ways that respect the public and reflect our team. We develop careers from the inside first. We engage each other personally and professionally. We welcome change. we embrace new ideas.

We do more than live with work processes; we seek to continuously improve them. And we have each other's backs — because that is what great teams do.

We are seeking a highly motivated and collaborative individual to join our team. As the Economic Development Officer
, reporting to the Manager, Planning & Development, you are responsible for implementing the Economic Development Strategic Plan which includes business attraction, retention, and expansion efforts; providing support to the local business community; working closely with business organizations (BIAs, Chamber of Commerce), Town staff and building relationships with prospective business owners and developers.

• Participate in frequent touchpoints and collaboration with business organizations such as the Southampton BIA, The Port Elgin BIA, the Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce, Regional Organization 7 (RTO7), County of Bruce, and Saugeen First Nation Economic Development.
• Assist local businesses with re‑location within the community.
• Work with local developers to develop build‑to‑suit spaces where required.
• Use the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) as a tool to attract new investment.
• Set up and arrange tours of available lands and buildings.
• Develop communication materials for initiatives such as the annual Community Profile document, Nuclear Supplier map, and Innovation Park.
• Send monthly Economic Development e‑news updates to Economic Development Subscribers and the Mayor's Task Force on Economic Recovery.
• Identify and submit grant opportunities for funding in economic development.
• Prepare speaking/briefing notes and key messaging for the Mayor, Members of Council, and staff relating to local business news and growth in Saugeen Shores (opening, closures, expansions, etc.). Work with the Communication Specialist to ensure the messages are distributed through the appropriate resources and tools.
• Participate in conversations around the labour market, attainable housing, and transportation and how it affects the local business community.
• Match developers with businesses looking to build or expand in the community.

• Education: Post‑secondary degree in business, marketing, communications, public relations, or a related discipline. Certificate in Economic Development is an asset.
• Experience: Three years of experience in business, communications, and/or public relations.
• Public Sector Knowledge: Understanding of the business of…