Meeting & Conference Planner

at  Manulife

Manulife has a bold ambition - to be the most digital, customer-centric global company in our industry. The Global Strategic Initiatives team is lined up to build colleague engagement, business knowledge and drive global connectivity by delivering impactful colleague experiences to help Manulife achieve our bold ambition.
As Manager, Global Events, you’ll be helping us run our global events calendar – managing and organizing high profile live, virtual and hybrid experiences to raise Manulife’s brand identity, increase engagement and drive business impact while ensuring that the company’s business goals are being met. You’ll draw on strong project management and event planning experience and have an exceptional standard of delivery, service and attention to detail across everything you work on.
The role will involve creative planning and delivery of a range of high-profile experiences that are aligned with Manulife’s strategic focus and business objectives. You’ll have a forward looking and hands-on approach to manage the end-to-end process of strategically planning an experience, ranging from event briefs, research, approvals, invitee & speaker management, venue set-up, creative design, onsite support, production management (audio-visual, virtual event technology), budget management and post-event analysis. Your strong familiarity and comfort with technology and on-site show-calling will position you for success in this role. And of course you’ll be well-versed in drawing up a plan for every contingency because you thrive in the wonderous world of live event production.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of seven years of relevant experience in with an incredibly strong portfolio of delivered work in positions of increasing responsibility
• Extensive experience in implementing global corporate events from either a corporate or agency perspective
• Demonstrated production competencies for live, virtual and hybrid events with fluency in the use of technology
• Demonstrated understanding of the role that events play to ensure that the right type of events are being planned at the right time
• Strong problem-solving, analytical and project management skills with the ability to confidently lead and manage events on an end-to-end basis
• Push boundaries and challenge expectations with unique creative solutions, and the ability to forecast outcomes in a changing environment
• Effective storytelling and the ability to influence partners by gaining trust and buy-in
• Comfortable working with C-level executives, and managing unforeseen circumstances and stressful situations
• Natural curiosity and propensity to learn; enthusiasm to build skills and responsibilities as a trusted expert and advisor
• High degree of emotional intelligence, be able to adapt quickly to change and a capacity to stay calm under pressure in fast-paced environment
• Deadline driven with strong sense of accuracy and detail

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• University education or equivalent experience

• Brainstorm, plan and deliver impactful global events by understanding and translating business objectives and priorities into moments for experiences
• Full operational and logistical management of content-driven events (live, virtual and hybrid)
• Leadership and management of internal teams, with strong emphasis on standard-setting and decision-making while collaborating with various teams
• Fluency in the use of technology to improve effectiveness of events and experiences
• Effectively manage external vendors and venues on all event-related matters
• Build excellent working relationships with key partners and colleagues
• Direct and manage the creative process, including design of look & feel, invitations, event production
• Be data driven to leverage metrics and data to influence future decision.
• Manage budgets to ensure an expected return on investment