Senior Manager, Events Strategy

Job description

**Join a Challenger**At EQ, we're remaking banking so every Canadian gets ahead, every day. Serving nearly 4 million Canadians from coast to coast, we offer a wide variety of financial services from banking and lending, to trust and credit union solutions. We've been at this since 1970, challenging the conventions of traditional banking with smarter, faster, and more connected financial experiences. **What's kept us moving?** The people behind it all: challengers who ask better questions, push back on old assumptions, and look for a better way forward. If you're driven to help reshape how banking works for Canadians and the businesses that power our economy, this could be your next big opportunity. We can’t wait to get to know you! ***The Work*** The Senior Manager, Events Strategy is responsible for leading the strategic direction, planning, execution, measurement and optimization of EQ Bank's event and sponsorship portfolio across Single Family Lending, Commercial Lending, Deposit Services, EQ Bank and Corporate programs. This role is accountable for establishing events as a business growth channel by developing strategies that strengthen broker relationships, support customer engagement, grow brand awareness, deepen education and drive measurable business outcomes. The Senior Manager, Events Strategy will oversee the national events ecosystem, including conferences, sponsorships, broker education programs, customer-facing events, corporate initiatives and partner engagements. The role will establish event success frameworks, measure return on investment, evaluate channel effectiveness and make recommendations that improve event portfolio performance over time. This role demands strategic thinking, data-driven decision making, strong stakeholder management and leadership capabilities while ensuring exceptional execution and budget stewardship across all programming. ### Core Responsibilities The incumbent will develop and lead a comprehensive event strategy that aligns with business objectives and supports organizational priorities across all applicable business units. With up to 300 events delivered annually, responsibilities include: **Event Strategy & Business Impact** - Develop and maintain an enterprise event strategy that aligns business goals, audience needs and marketing priorities. - Define the role of events within the broader marketing and sales ecosystem, ensuring integration with relationship management, education, content and lead generation initiatives. - Create annual event and sponsorship roadmaps aligned to business objectives. - Evaluate opportunities and investments based on strategic fit, expected business value and measurable outcomes. - Establish event-specific objectives and KPIs for all major programs and sponsorships. - Identify opportunities to strengthen broker relationships, improve customer engagement and support business growth through event programming. **Event Portfolio Management** - Develop fully integrated event programs by region, business line and audience segment. - Prioritize investments across conferences, sponsorships, broker events, educational programs and customer initiatives. - Oversee the national events calendar ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and resource availability. - Recommend adjustments to event investments based on performance, changing business requirements and emerging opportunities. **Measurement, Analytics & Continuous Improvement** - Develop event ROI measurement frameworks and reporting methodologies. - Establish dashboards and scorecards to evaluate event performance. - Analyze attendance, engagement, broker sentiment, lead generation, sponsorship value, pipeline influence and other performance indicators. - Conduct post-event reviews and analyze outcomes to identify trends, opportunities and areas for optimization. - Leverage data analysis and critical thinking to inform recommendations and future investment decisions. - Translate findings into actionable insights for senior leadership. **Budget & Financial Management** - Accountable for annual event budgets exceeding several million dollars across multiple business units. - Manage planning, forecasting and budget allocation activities. - Evaluate investment effectiveness and optimize spending based on business impact. - Monitor budget performance and implement cost efficiencies while maintaining program quality. - Ensure vendors and partners deliver maximum value to the organization. **Vendor & Sponsorship Management** - Lead negotiations with venues, suppliers, agencies, caterers, production partners and other vendors. - Develop preferred supplier relationships where appropriate. - Evaluate sponsorship opportunities and recommend investments based on strategic alignment and expected business return. - Manage sponsor and partner relationships to maximize value. **Leadership & Team Development** - Lead and develop event team resources including direct reports and project-based support resources.</