Programming and Events Specialist

Ivey Business School; London; On-site; CAD 58,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

Ivey Business School in London, ON is seeking a Programming and Events Specialist to lead the design, coordination, and execution of a growing portfolio of programming in collaboration with cross-functional teams. You will drive stakeholder engagement, elevate the Centre’s public profile, and deliver high-impact experiences for senior leaders from industry, government, and academia.

The role encompasses end-to-end event management, operations support, and student/contract coordination, with a

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree or college diploma in business, communications, public administration, political science, hospitality and event management, product coordination or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience in event coordination, program administration, office administration, project coordination or a related support role.
• Experience in a university, non-profit, public policy, research, advancement, events or professional services environment is an asset.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent events or projects from planning through execution, including logistics, vendor coordination, and on-site delivery.
• Familiarity with budget tracking, invoice processing, and standard procurement or financial administration processes.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders (e.g., executives, government officials, faculty, or board level audiences).
• Experience supporting communications activities such as newsletters, social media, website content, or event promotion, is an asset.
• This position requires travel.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end coordination and execution of the LNC’s programming portfolio, including roundtables, conferences, speaker series, executive dialogues, workshops, and signature events such as those tied to the Centre’s 25 th anniversary in 2027.
• Manage event logistics from concept through delivery, including venue selection, vendor management, catering, audio-visual and hybrid/virtual platform setup, run-of-show development, and on-site execution.
• Develop and maintain event project plans, timelines, and budgets, proactively identifying risks and recommending solutions to ensure events are delivered on time, on budget, and to a high standard.
• Coordinate invitation management, registration, RSVP tracking, and guest communications for senior audiences including executives, policymakers, faculty, and academic partners.
• Support speaker and participant engagement, including outreach, briefing materials, travel and accommodation coordination, and day-of hospitality.
• Capture post-event analytics, feedback, and lessons learned to inform continuous improvement of the LNC’s programming.
• Provide operational support to the LNC team, including coordination, meeting scheduling, agenda preparation, and follow-up on action items for internal and external meetings.
• Process invoices, expense reports, purchase orders, and reimbursements in accordance with Ivey and Western financial policies, and support budget tracking across programming and operational lines.
• Maintain organized digital records, shared drives, contact databases, and mailing lists to support institutional knowledge and continuity.
• Coordinate procurement, office logistics, and vendor onboarding as required for Centre operations.
• Contributed to the drafting and refinement of internal processes, templates, and standard operating procedures to improve team efficiency.
• Coordinate the recruitment, onboarding, scheduling and day-to-day supervision of student research assistants, event volunteers, and work-study students supporting LNC activities.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for student Research Assistants (RA), providing guidance, prioritizing assignments, and ensuring quality and timely completion of deliverables.
• Support the administration of contracts for external contributors, policy fellows, and vendors, including tracking deliverables, timelines, and payments in coordination with the Centre Manager and Ivey’s finance and procurement teams.
• Maintain records of student and contractor engagements to support reporting renewals and audit requirements.
• Coordinate the production and distribution of LNC communications, including newsletters, event promotions, website updates, and social media content, working closely with the LNC’s Policy and Communications Specialist.
• Draft communications materials such as event invitations, speaker bios, program agendas, briefing notes, and post-event summaries, ensuring alignment with the LNC’s voice and Ivey’s brand standards.
• Support the packaging and dissemination of LNC research outputs, policy reports, and thought leadership pieces to key stakeholder audiences.
• Provide support to the LNC and Lab websites, LinkedIn and external facing communication channels.
• Serve as a professional and responsive point of contact for LNC stakeholders, including senior industry, government and academic partners, faculty, students, and cross-functional Ivey and Western colleagues.
• Support collaboration with the LNC, Lab and other Ivey research centres on joint programming and initiatives where mandates overlap.
• Contribute to team meetings, planning sessions, and strategic discussions, offering insights drawn from programming, stakeholder, and operational activities.

Skills

Event coordination

Stakeholder engagement

Budget management

Vendor management

Communications support

Project coordination

Education

Undergraduate degree or college diploma in business or related field

Job description

Salary Range: $57,594.00 To $72,018.00 Annually

Position:Programming and Events Specialist

Location:London, ON

Position Type:Full-time, 3 year renewable contract.

Status:This posting is for an existing vacancy.

Hiring Range:57,594 - $72,018

About Ivey Business School:

We acknowledge that Ivey Business School is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee and the Lūnaapéewak, on lands connected with the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum between the Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee and the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796.
With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit)endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.

Ivey Business School (www.ivey.ca) at Western University (www.uwo.ca) is Canada’s leading provider of real-world, case-based business education. Drawing on extensive research and business experience, Ivey’s faculty provides the best classroom experience, equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and capabilities they need to confidently take on today’s leadership challenges and opportunities through Case-Method Learning. Ivey offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, as well as Executive Education at campuses in London, Toronto, and Hong Kong.

Ivey’s Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management (LNC) bridges the gap between academia, business, and government to advocate for sound policy. The Centre’s work focuses on policy issues within the pillars of digital, trade, and supporting social infrastructure to unlock Canadian competitive advantage and generate sustained, inclusive growth. The LNC advances this mission through rigorous, evidence-based research, the publication of thought leadership and policy reports, and the convening of senior leaders from industry, government, and academia through roundtables, conferences, and executive dialogues that translate ideas into actionable policy recommendations. The Centre also engages Ivey students and faculty in applied policy work, fostering the next generation of leaders equipped to navigate complex economic and social challenges. In 2027, the LNC will celebrate its 25 th anniversary, marking a quarter-century of shaping Canada’s policy landscape.

Established in April 2016, the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab studies and understands the implications of digital disruption for banking and financial services, and to prepare students to operate in an environment of changing technology and innovation. The Lab produces applied research, case studies, and industry insights on emerging topics such as fintech, artificial intelligence, open banking, cyber security, and the evolving regulatory landscape while also hosting events that bring together key stakeholders, policymakers and students. Where areas of focus overlap, the Lab works in close collaboration with the LNC to deliver joint research, programming, and convening activities that amplify the impact of both units.

Position Overview:

As the Programming and Events Specialist, you will be at the forefront of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management, contributing to our mission of bridging academia, business and government to advance sound public policy and unlock Canadian competitiveness. In this pivotal role, you will: lead the design, coordination, and execution of a growing portfolio of programming, including roundtables, conferences, speaker series, executive dialogues, and signature events while working collaboratively with the LNC team, the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab, Ivey Faculty, students, and cross-functional departments across the School to drive stakeholder engagement, elevate the Centre’s public profile, and deliver seamless, high-impact experiences for senior leaders from industry, government, and academia. The Programming and Events Specialist role requires a detail-oriented, resourceful, and collaborative professional ready to make a meaningful impact on the LNC’s continued growth, including its expanded programming slate and the milestone activities planned to mark the Centre’s 25 th anniversary in 2027.

Qualifications:

1. Programming, Events and Engagement Coordination

• Lead the end-to-end coordination and execution of the LNC’s programming portfolio, including roundtables, conferences, speaker series, executive dialogues, workshops, and signature events such as those tied to the Centre’s 25 th anniversary in 2027.
• Manage event logistics from concept through delivery, including venue selection, vendor management, catering, audio-visual and hybrid/virtual platform setup, run-of-show development, and on-site execution.
• Develop and maintain event project plans, timelines, and budgets, proactively identifying risks and recommending solutions to ensure events are delivered on time, on budget, and to a high standard.
• Coordinate invitation management, registration, RSVP tracking, and guest communications for senior audiences including executives, policymakers, faculty, and academic partners.
• Support speaker and participant engagement, including outreach, briefing materials, travel and accommodation coordination, and day-of hospitality.
• Capture post-event analytics, feedback, and lessons learned to inform continuous improvement of the LNC’s programming.

2. Operations and Administrative Support

• Provide operational support to the LNC team, including coordination, meeting scheduling, agenda preparation, and follow-up on action items for internal and external meetings.
• Process invoices, expense reports, purchase orders, and reimbursements in accordance with Ivey and Western financial policies, and support budget tracking across programming and operational lines.
• Maintain organized digital records, shared drives, contact databases, and mailing lists to support institutional knowledge and continuity.
• Coordinate procurement, office logistics, and vendor onboarding as required for Centre operations.
• Contributed to the drafting and refinement of internal processes, templates, and standard operating procedures to improve team efficiency.

3. Student and Contract Support

• Coordinate the recruitment, onboarding, scheduling and day-to-day supervision of student research assistants, event volunteers, and work-study students supporting LNC activities.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for student Research Assistants (RA), providing guidance, prioritizing assignments, and ensuring quality and timely completion of deliverables.
• Support the administration of contracts for external contributors, policy fellows, and vendors, including tracking deliverables, timelines, and payments in coordination with the Centre Manager and Ivey’s finance and procurement teams.
• Maintain records of student and contractor engagements to support reporting renewals and audit requirements.

4. Communications and Content Coordination Support

• Coordinate the production and distribution of LNC communications, including newsletters, event promotions, website updates, and social media content, working closely with the LNC’s Policy and Communications Specialist.
• Draft communications materials such as event invitations, speaker bios, program agendas, briefing notes, and post-event summaries, ensuring alignment with the LNC’s voice and Ivey’s brand standards.
• Support the packaging and dissemination of LNC research outputs, policy reports, and thought leadership pieces to key stakeholder audiences.
• Provide support to the LNC and Lab websites, LinkedIn and external facing communication channels.

5. Stakeholder and Team Coordination

• Serve as a professional and responsive point of contact for LNC stakeholders, including senior industry, government, and academic partners, faculty, students, and cross-functional Ivey and Western colleagues.
• Support collaboration with the LNC, Lab and other Ivey research centres on joint programming and initiatives where mandates overlap.
• Contribute to team meetings, planning sessions, and strategic discussions, offering insights drawn from programming, stakeholder, and operational activities.

Education & Experience

• Undergraduate degree or college diploma in a relevant discipline such as business, communications, public administration, political science, hospitality and event management, product coordination or a related filed.
• 2+ years of experience in event coordination, program administration, office administration, project coordination or a related support role.
• Experience in a university, non-profit, public policy, research, advancement, events or professional services environment is an asset.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent events or projects from planning through execution, including logistics, vendor coordination, and on-site delivery.
• Familiarity with budget tracking, invoice processing, and standard procurement or financial administration processes.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders (e.g., executives, government officials, faculty, or board level audiences).
• Experience supporting communications activities such as newsletters, social media, website content, or event promotion, is an asset.
• This position requires travel which depends on the number