Conference Project Manager

MCI Canada; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 70,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental benefits

Birthday day off

Flexible remote work environment

HSA & LSA

Job summary

MCI Canada Consulting & Community Solutions is seeking a Conference Project Manager to oversee complex national and international conferences, delivered in person, virtually, or hybrid. You will translate client strategy into disciplined execution, lead cross-functional teams, and ensure exceptional participant experiences while meeting financial targets.

Ideal candidates have 5+ years in conference/event roles, strong client service, and fluency in English; French is a plus.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of progressive experience in conference, event, PCO, association, hospitality, or related professional services roles.
• Fluent written and spoken English; French or another language is an asset.
• Ability to lead concurrent projects and manage priorities across cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary operational contact for assigned association clients, delivering clear project plans, priorities, and outcomes.
• Develop and manage project plans, critical paths, run-of-show materials, and post-event reports.
• Lead cross-functional teams across client services, marketing, digital, and operations to ensure high-quality experiences.
• Oversee budgets, contracts, vendors, and risk management while maintaining governance and client satisfaction.

Job description

We are an independent global marketing communications group with a human‑first approach. We connect strategy, creativity, technology and operations to help brands and organisations grow with purpose. Our global network supports more than 1,200 clients across 34 countries, backed by over 35 years of experience. Under the mci group umbrella, our agencies bring together world‑class talent in strategy, creative development, account leadership, technology, production and research to shape meaningful, lasting impact.

JOB OBJECTIVE

The Conference Project Manager is the operational lead for a portfolio of complex national and international conferences, congresses, and meetings, delivered in person, virtually, or through hybrid formats. The role translates client strategy into disciplined execution, oversees cross-functional teams and partners, and serves as a trusted day-to-day advisor to association clients and internal stakeholders. The Project Manager is accountable for delivering high-quality participant and stakeholder experiences, achieving project goals and financial targets, maintaining strong governance and risk controls, and continuously improving how work is delivered. This includes the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, automation, data insights, and emerging technologies to strengthen quality, efficiency, creativity, and client value while protecting privacy, confidentiality, accessibility, and human oversight. The MCI Canada Consulting & Community Solutions team supports Canadian and International Associations with:

• Executive and operational leadership
• Strategic consulting, business planning, and organizational growth
• Conference, congress, meeting, and event management
• Governance, board, committee, and volunteer support
• Membership, community, and stakeholder engagement
• Certification, accreditation, education, and program management
• Partnership, sponsorship, and business development
• Financial management, reporting, and risk oversight
• Marketing, communications, digital engagement, and website solutions
• Technology enablement, data-informed decision-making, and process improvement

Main Responsibilities

Client Leadership & Association Partnership

• Serve as the primary operational contact for assigned association clients, maintaining proactive, solutions-focused communication.
• Translate client strategy, governance, budgets, and scopes of work into clear project plans, priorities, and outcomes.
• Provide executive-ready updates, recommendations, and risk escalations to clients, senior leaders, committees, and internal teams.
• Support effective collaboration with boards, committees, volunteers, members, sponsors, speakers, suppliers, and stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to grow engagement, member value, revenue, digital reach, sustainability, and long-term impact.

Project, Conference & Experience Delivery

• Develop and manage project plans, critical paths, workback schedules, decision logs, and communication protocols.
• Manage scoped operational components, including meetings, venue, contracts, program, speakers, registration, housing, travel, F&B, AV, production, exhibition, sponsorship, accessibility, and onsite delivery.
• Coordinate digital and hybrid components, including registration, platforms, apps, websites, integrations, reporting, and participant communications.
• Prepare key project documents, including function sheets, briefings, itineraries, run-of-show materials, SOPs, manuals, and post-event reports.
• Lead onsite delivery in Canada and internationally, ensuring clear roles, service standards, escalation paths, and contingency plans.

Team & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Lead and coordinate cross-functional teams, including project, registration, marketing, creative, digital, finance, sales, contractor, and global colleagues.
• Assign responsibilities, monitor progress and capacity, remove barriers, and ensure accountability for deadlines and quality.
• Supervise, coach, and train staff and contractors, providing clear feedback and development support.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, knowledge-sharing culture aligned with MCI values and standards.
• Support resource planning, onboarding, templates, playbooks, and continuous improvement across CCS and MCI Canada.

Financial, Commercial & Risk Management

• Develop, monitor, forecast, and reconcile budgets, cash flow, revenues, expenses, and profitability with finance and client stakeholders.
• Maintain financial documentation and support invoicing, approvals, purchase orders, accruals, and final accounting.
• Lead or support RFPs, procurement, vendor selection, contract negotiation, and supplier management.
• Manage scope, change requests, risks, dependencies, and contingencies; elevate material concerns promptly.
• Apply relevant client policies, MCI processes, industry codes, accessibility, data protection, and contractual requirements.

AI, Technology & Innovation

• Use approved AI and digital tools for research, planning, drafting, analysis, reporting, quality assurance, and workflow efficiency.
• Identify opportunities for automation and emerging technology to improve experiences, productivity, decision-making, accessibility, and client outcomes.
• Apply human oversight to AI-assisted work, validating accuracy, context, tone, bias, confidentiality, IP, and suitability.
• Use approved systems and follow privacy, data protection, security, records management, and responsible technology requirements.
• Support adoption by documenting use cases, sharing lessons, creating repeatable workflows, and helping colleagues build confidence.
• Stay current on event technology, association platforms, digital engagement, analytics, and AI; recommend fit-for-purpose solutions.

Description Of The Relationships

• Reports to the Manager, Conference Operations, with direction from the Director, Consulting & Community Solutions as required.
• Works closely with CCS and MCI Canada teams, including finance, marketing, creative, digital, registration, sales, and event services.
• Collaborates with MCI global colleagues to access expertise, share best practices, and support international projects.
• Engages externally with association leaders, boards, committees, members, partners, sponsors, speakers, venues, vendors, and suppliers.
• Maintains professional, transparent, and service-oriented stakeholder relationships.

Job Requirements

• Minimum five years of progressive experience in conference, event, PCO, association, hospitality, or related professional services roles; association or medical/scientific society experience is preferred.
• Degree or diploma in event management, hospitality, business, communications, association management, or equivalent experience.
• Proven ability to lead concurrent projects from planning through delivery, reconciliation, and reporting.
• Strong client service, relationship-building, facilitation, and expectation-management skills.
• Experience managing budgets, forecasts, procurement, contracts, vendors, and reconciliations.
• Ability to work effectively across cultures, time zones, stakeholder groups, and varying levels of technical confidence.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
• Able to work independently, manage priorities, meet deadlines, and contribute positively to cross-functional teams.
• Fluent written and spoken English required; French or another language is an asset.

Specific Technical Skills

• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Teams, SharePoint, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Confident, responsible use of AI-enabled tools, including prompting, validation, confidentiality, and privacy considerations.
• Ability to organize, analyze, visualize, and present project, participant, financial, and client data accurately.
• Experience with event, association, registration, abstract, CRM, marketing, collaboration, app, or virtual-event platforms is an asset.
• Comfort with system selection, implementation, testing, training, troubleshooting, and process improvement.
• Working knowledge of privacy, cybersecurity, accessibility, and records-management principles is an asset.

Additional Skills / Local Requirements

• Able to manage multiple clients, projects, deadlines, and shifting priorities.
• Available for occasional evening, weekend, and extended onsite hours.
• Able to travel within Canada and internationally, potentially for up to one week at a time.
• Comfortable with walking, standing, and moderate lifting during onsite delivery.
• Works in accordance with MCI and client policies, including confidentiality, data protection, security, health and safety, accessibility, and responsible technology use.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Client partnership and service excellence
• Strategic thinking and operational discipline
• Inclusive leadership and collaboration
• Financial accountability and commercial awareness
• Adaptability, curiosity, and growth mindset
• Responsible innovation and digital confidence
• Influence, negotiation, and problem-solving
• Quality, resilience, continuous improvement, and results delivery

Benefits

• Salary ranging between $70,000 - 75,000 CAD, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
• Health and dental benefits
• HSA & LSA
• Birthday day off
• Flexible remote work environment
• Friendly and collaborative work environment

mci group is where you can bring your true self to work and be pround of what you do. Join us and make a difference!