Operations Manager | Corporate Events & Experiences

The Idea Hunter is an award-winning corporate event agency based in Toronto with 23 years of experience producing unforgettable live, hybrid, and virtual experiences. Known for our trendsetting, entertainment-led approach, we produce 300+ programs a year for a client roster that spans Fortune 500 giants to high-growth startups, including the Toronto Blue Jays, MLSE, and Sun Life. We do not fill orders. We are strategic partners who elevate every experience.

This is the role that runs our delivery engine. Reporting directly to the President, you will lead the Operations team that turns signed contracts into flawlessly executed events, currently a group of Operations Coordinators and an Operations Associate, and growing. You own the system: capacity, quality, vendor performance, and margin discipline across every program we deliver. You are also a player-coach.

You will personally own our flagship accounts, the multi-day galas and six-figure productions where the President is currently the last line of quality control. Your job is to become that line.

You will need to have a flexible schedule as this role requires onsite event management on evenings and weekends, GTA travel, and occasional overnight stays at retreat and event venues (roughly 20 to 25 nights per year).

Our Culture

We live our mission through three core values:

· Elevate Experiences Through Strategic Creativity. We are partners, not order-takers. Every event starts with intent and ends with emotion.

· Exceed Expectations, Every Detail, Every Time. We anticipate challenges, own solutions, and hold ourselves and our partners to top-tier standards.

· Evolve Through Continuous Growth. Curiosity, feedback, and learning power our personal and company growth.

What You Will Own

Team Leadership and Development

· Lead, coach, and develop the Operations team. Set standards, run one-on-ones, manage performance, and build a bench that grows with the company.

· Assign programs across the team based on complexity, value, and capacity. Make sure no file is under-resourced and no person is over-loaded.

Operational Delivery and Quality

· Own on-time, on-budget, on-brand delivery across all programs. You are the quality gate.

· Set and enforce the operational playbook: run-of-show, BEOs, cue sheets, onboarding handoffs from sales, and post-event wrap.

· Step in as the senior escalation point the moment a program is at risk, on any file, day or night during show windows.

Margin and Vendor Discipline

· Manage our vendor partner network: performance, reliability, and the onboarding of new partners into our roster. Own vendor relationships at the strategic level.

· Partner with the administration team on the vendor quoting process so pricing is accurate and proposals turn around on time.

Flagship Account Ownership

· Personally lead our highest-value and most complex programs end to end, from handoff through onsite execution and wrap.

· Serve as the senior onsite lead and show captain at flagship events, directing load-in, rehearsals, cueing, and strike, and acting as primary point of contact for the client.

Systems, Process, and Continuous Improvement

· Own and improve the operational tooling: Capsule CRM hygiene, project tracking, inventory and shipping, and our quoting system.

· Champion AI-driven workflows (ChatGPT, Claude) across the team to automate the repeatable and free people for the high-value work.

· Build the dashboards and KPIs that tell us, in real time, whether we are delivering: delivery rate, margin performance, client satisfaction, and Google review volume and quality.

Cross-Functional Partnership

· Work hand in hand with the Sales and Account Management teams to make the sales-to-operations handoff seamless and to keep clients proactively informed.

· Feed execution insight back into sales and pricing so we quote smarter on the next program.

What Makes You a Fit

Must-Have

· 5+ years in operations at a corporate event agency, experiential agency, production house, or DMC. This is a mandatory requirement. We need someone who has run many clients and many programs at once in a margin-driven, multi-vendor agency environment.

· 2+ years directly leading and developing a team.

· Proven track record owning delivery across a high-volume calendar (100+ programs a year or equivalent), managing vendors across entertainment, AV, decor, F&B, and venues on budgets up to $500K+.

· Demonstrated margin and budget discipline. You have protected agency profitability through execution, not just delivered on time.

· Strong people leader: hiring, coaching, performance management, and capacity planning.

· Systems-fluent: CRM (Capsule or similar), advanced Excel/Google Sheets, project management tools, and hands-on use of AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) for automation.

· Confident senior onsite presence as show captain at scale.

· Valid driver's licence and passport, with comfort working evenings, weekends, and occasional overnights.

Nice to Have

· CMP, PMP, or CSEP designation (held or in progress).

Working Conditions and Perks

· Competitive salary plus performance-based bonus.

· Remote, with regular in-person working days and onsite presence at flagship events.

· Weeknight, weekend, and some overnight travel for events.

· Health and dental, cell-phone allowance, and an annual professional development allowance.

How to Apply

We read every application that follows these three steps. Applications that skip them will not be considered.

1. Submit your resume.
2. In place of a standard cover letter, answer this scenario in 200 to 300 words: A flagship event is three weeks out. Your AV partner just told you they double-booked and cannot deliver the main-stage LED wall. The client does not know yet. Walk us through your first five moves, and how you protect both the event and the client relationship.
3. To confirm you read this posting in full, begin your response with the word Showtime.

We are hiring for judgment, not word count. A sharp, specific answer beats a polished generic one. If you have managed event operations at an agency or DMC, this will take you fifteen minutes.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Equal Employment Opportunity at The Idea Hunter (TIH): TIH is committed to an inclusive, diverse and equitable workplace, and provides equal employment opportunities regardless of any protected characteristic. Hiring decisions are based on TIH's operating needs and applicant merit, including qualifications, experience, ability, availability, cooperation, and job performance.