Event Planning Specialist

Company Description

For more than three decades, Techo-Bloc has been redefining outdoor living. What began as one family's question, "why should creativity be limited to a handful of paver styles?", has grown into a family-owned North American leader in hardscape design and manufacturing, with 36+ patents to its name.

Today, our 850+ employees, 9 production plants, 800+ dealers and 14,000 certified Techo-Pros shape homes and public spaces across the continent. We are proud to be recognized as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies. If you're ambitious, love a challenge and don't quite fit the mold, you'll fit right in.

Job Description

The Opportunity: You build the groundwork that makes Techo-Bloc events possible. While our execution team runs events on the ground, you work a full season ahead: mapping the calendar, finding the right venues and lining up the contracts and vendors that set the team up for success. Our program includes two tours across about 40 cities, with a different venue in each, plus loyalty events and trade shows across Canada and the US. You do the planning, sourcing and negotiating, and the Events Manager signs off. By the time an event is ready to execute, your work is done and the team never has to scramble.

What You'll Do

Most of this job is venues: Finding them, negotiating them and keeping those relationships strong.

• Map the route 9 to 12 months out for approved markets and find the right venue for every stop, sourcing, comparing and recommending options for brand fit, logistics, capacity and cost
• Run RFPs and negotiate rates and terms with venues and key vendors (pricing, F&B minimums, attrition, BEOs, payment schedules, cancellation policies), with sign-off from the Events Manager
• Build long-term relationships with venue partners and vendors so we have options when plans change, flexibility on dates and terms, and better pricing through early booking and multi-event agreements

You'll also:

• Build and track event budgets from first estimate through reconciliation, including purchase orders, invoices, payment schedules and post-event financial reports
• Maintain the master event calendar and track milestones in our project management tool so timelines, dependencies and resource needs are clear to everyone
• Keep Marketing in sync: brief campaign managers, social, marketing automation and architects early so their work is built into the event, not added last minute
• Spot risks early (venue availability, supplier constraints, budget pressure), bring solutions to the Events Manager and hand each event to the execution team with contracts, BEOs, logistics and supplier agreements finalized
• Contribute to post-event reviews on venue performance, vendor quality and budget accuracy

A Day in the Life

• Touring a venue to see if it fits next year's roadshow format
• Negotiating terms with a hotel for an event eight months away
• Comparing budget actuals to forecast and flagging a variance early
• Briefing the content team six months out so campaign assets are planned alongside the event
• Building a supplier comparison for a sourcing decision
• Briefing the execution team on a venue's specific requirements

You'll Thrive Here If You

• Like working months ahead
• Enjoy negotiating and building good relationships with venues and vendors
• Stay organized across many events and timelines at once
• Catch problems before they reach the team
• Like building checklists and templates that make next season easier

Qualifications

• 3 to 5 years in event planning or coordination, ideally in hotel sales or banquets, an event agency or trade shows
• Hands-on experience negotiating with hotels or venues
• Experience with BEOs, supplier agreements, quotes and payment terms
• Experience tracking event budgets, purchase orders and invoices
• Comfortable briefing creative, digital and marketing teams
• Project management tools (Teamwork, Asana, Monday or similar) and Microsoft Office
• Excellent French and English, written and spoken
• Valid driver's license and passport. Occasional travel for venue scouting and site visits, mostly outside peak season.

Additional Information

What we offer

• Competitive compensation and a bonus plan
• Group insurance, RRSP with employer contribution, and 24/7 telemedicine and EAP
• Weekly one-on-ones, leadership development and ongoing training
• Discounts on Techo-Bloc products
• Team events and an employee referral program

Growth: Our events program is growing. This role has a clear path toward team leadership within the events function as the planning mandate expands.

Why Techo-Bloc? You'll build the groundwork the whole events team relies on: the venues, the contracts, the relationships and the calendar. If you like thinking long term and negotiating a good deal, we'd like to meet you.