Job description:

Consultant – Event/ Logistics Planner

Contract – Temporary assignment

Application deadline: 2024-01-31

About the role

Food Processing Skills Canada is a non-profit labour, skills, and workforce development organization. Our job is to provide leadership in professionalizing the food and beverage manufacturing industry so that the most important resource - people - are the best in the world. We have developed a national skills strategy, a proven long-term approach successfully utilized by other Canadian professional sectors. This strategy builds collaborations with industry, government, academia, unions, associations, community organizations, and other stakeholders.

Food Processing Skills Canada is looking for a consultant – Event/ Logistics Planner to assist with events for FoodAbility — Connecting Food and Beverage Manufacturers across Canada with People with Disabilities project.

Position Summary

Performs a broad range of event logistics planning, including but not limited to coordinating with hotel, conference facilities, vendor, and audio-visual services personnel; supports event production; manages and troubleshoots on-site event logistics; assists in identifying facilities and developing ongoing business relationships; plans receptions; supports event attendees, speakers, facilities, and vendors; oversees staff related to meeting planning; and performs other duties as assigned.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the

essential functions.

Conference Logistics

• Plans and coordinates various logistics for assigned meetings and events; reviews meeting/event contracts; schedules and attends pre-conference meetings; reviews meeting/event documents requests housing audits and final housing pickup reports from facilities; reviews and assigns budget codes; oversees the processing of final invoices for meeting/event facilities; coordinates the completion of meeting/event history reports with other program personnel.

• Prepares and provides detailed, accurate, and timely meeting specifications and room lists to caterers, audio-visual vendors, and hotel, convention, and meeting facility personnel.

• Performs outreach tasks and manages hotel travel plans for staff, exhibitors, speakers, vendors, and others as requested for all assigned meetings.

• Reconciles and approves detailed budgets and billing for food and beverage services, audio-visual vendors, hotels, and convention and meeting facilities for submission to FPSC accounting.

• Negotiates fees and services with food and beverage services, audio-visual vendors, hotels, and convention and meeting facilities within FPSC budget specifications.

• Receives and organizes responses for venue and services selection for assigned events and conferences; supports the project manager with vendor contracts.

• Develops and maintains ongoing business relationships with hotel, convention, and meeting facilities personnel, as well as caterers, vendors, and audio-visual personnel.

• Coordinates audio-visual set-up needs and equipment orders for all assigned meetings.

• Scheduling events using the online event software (Zoom), providing live support to attendees and speakers, and coordinating event rehearsals.

• Creates and assembles meeting logistics information for the project, including schedules, locations, maps, budget estimates, and other items as requested.

• Conducts post-event evaluations

• Prepares routine correspondence and other written materials; provides oral and written information in response to general and specific inquiries.

• Inputs data into an assigned meeting/event management database; ensures accuracy of input data.

• Executes strong customer service practices daily.

• Works daily with other FPSC staff and the Project Manager.

• Performs other duties as required.

Job Qualifications

Knowledge/Skills:

• Principles and best practices of conference planning and logistics.

• Current hotel and convention trade practices.

• Budget preparation and billing practices.

• Excellent writing and communication in business, professional, and casual correspondence, documents, and reports, including electronic and other formats.

• Production scheduling and project management.

• Operation of a computer and assigned software and hardware used by FPSC.

• Internet and Internet research.

• Simultaneously plan, direct, and manage competing demands, projects, assignments, and responsibilities.

• Effectively draw upon strong interpersonal communication skills in daily internal and external situations.

• Cultivate and nurture long-term member and business relationships.

• Employs strategies and approaches to ensure and improve inclusion, diversity, and equity-based outcomes within the organization and across FPSC policies, programs, and services.

• Identify and organize priorities.

• Independently and as part of a team, coordinate and perform each step of the planning process from inception through conclusion and evaluation.

• Respond immediately to changes, demands, and workload in a positive and pleasant manner.

• Interpret and apply FPSC policies, procedures, guidelines, rules, and regulations.

• Effectively communicate clearly and concisely with diverse audiences, both verbally and in writing.

Experience and Training

Three (3) years of increasingly responsible experience in the areas of meeting and conference planning,

logistics, hotel or convention sales and negotiations, event coordination, production planning

and scheduling or related experience.

Two (2) years of hands-on experience and knowledge in meeting-related audio-visual technology within a professional business or non-profit setting.

Experience is working closely with a project management team with varied duties and flexible working hours, including nights and weekends when needed.

Experience working within the food and beverage industry and demonstrated knowledge of national and regional organizations, including, but not limited to, Associations, academia, not-for-profit organizations, and employers.

Physical Demands and Work Environment. The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here represent those an employee encounters while performing the job's essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to

perform essential functions. Regular and consistent in-person interaction and continuous talking,

hearing, and seeing are required to perform the job.