Head of Events - Ottawa - Black & White Zebra

Description

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This range is provided by Black & White Zebra. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

CA$200,000.00/yr - CA$250,000.00/yr

About the Role:

BWZ operates 15+ professional development publications attracting 500k+ unique monthly visitors. We've perfected the playbook for launching, scaling, and monetizing digital publications — and now we're building a world-class events business to match.

We're hiring a founding Head of Events to create, launch, and scale a new events division from scratch. You'll define the vision, design the event portfolio, execute the first marquee events, and build the systems and team that scale it.

Events will span in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats. You will determine the right mix of formats across C-suite summits, executive roundtables, interviews, meetups, and content-driven virtual experiences — all designed to drive audience growth, editorial output, and commercial performance.

This is not a scrappy, underfunded startup role. You'll have the capital, resources, and cross‑functional support of a profitable media company — including brand, editorial, marketing, sales, and production teams — while owning the freedom and responsibility to build a business line from zero.

Critically, this is not a standalone function. Events must be deeply integrated with BWZ's publications — generating high‑value content, growing our audience, strengthening editorial authority, and fueling sponsorship opportunities. You'll build an events engine that powers and is powered by our media brands.

If you've built events from scratch, brought them to profitability, and want the rare opportunity to build an events business with real backing — this is the role.

What You'll Be Doing (Responsibilities):

Build the business

• Define the event strategy, portfolio, calendar, and revenue model
• Define the role of in‑person, virtual, and hybrid formats within the event strategy and portfolio
• Own P&L, pricing, budgeting, forecasting, and revenue targets
• Develop concepts aligned with editorial and brand priorities
• Identify high‑ROI opportunities across formats, verticals, and geographies
• Ensure events amplify publications and strengthen brand authority
• Build the long‑term vision for a scalable, profitable event business

Run The Show

• Lead end‑to‑end execution of marquee and secondary events
• Build repeatable workflows and technical infrastructure that support in‑person, virtual, and hybrid formats at scale
• Shape programming that delivers insight, authority, and must‑attend value
• Oversee logistics: run‑of‑show, AV, production, venues, vendors, staffing
• Deliver commercial outcomes: ticket sales, sponsorship revenue, audience growth
• Implement QA processes and elevate execution with finishing touches
• Drive attendee advocacy, referrals, repeat attendance, and organic buzz
• Ensure events generate high‑value content assets
• Manage cross‑functional alignment: Marketing → demand; Sales → sponsorship; Editorial → content

Scale the system

• Hire, build, and lead a high‑performing events team
• Build SOPs, frameworks, templates, and planning rhythms
• Implement tools for coordination, PM, communication, accuracy, and reporting
• Improve throughput without sacrificing quality or profitability
• Build a culture of performance, experimentation, ownership, and improvement
• Ensure events become a predictable, scalable engine for content, audience, and revenue

Who You Are:

• A hybrid GM + operator with extensive experience leading event strategy, operations, programming, and commercialization — ideally in media, SaaS, B2B information, or professional communities
• Ability to turn events into content engines that produce interviews, insights, editorial assets, and video
• Proven experience building and scaling year one events and expanding them into an events business
• Experience owning P&L, designing revenue models and improving margins
• A portfolio spanning conferences, summits, retreats, leadership dinners, meetups — ideally tradeshows or festivals
• Experience designing for both small (<50) and large‑scale (>1,000) audiences
• Strong programming instincts for senior executive audiences, including experience securing high‑calibre speakers
• Experience hiring, coaching, and scaling high‑performing teams with strong standards
• Skilled collaborator across marketing, sales, editorial, brand, and production
• Commercially sharp, brand‑driven, deeply organized — obsessed with delivering must‑attend, high‑NPS experiences

Nice to Haves:

• Media or B2B publishing experience
• Strong speaker / sponsor network
• Global event operations
• Membership community experience

Salary Statement:

This full‑time position is available as either a remote or hybrid position (depending on location), with an annual salary in the range of $200,000 to $250,000 CAD. The range is a guide for the expected skills, knowledge and experience for new hires based in Canada only. Seniority level and salary ranges are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, equity with other team members, and alignment with market data. This means ranges will vary for candidates based outside of Canada and/or at different seniority levels. In addition to annual salary, full‑time employees are eligible for a discretionary bonus and a comprehensive benefits package.

About Us:

We're a rapidly growing, independent media tech company headquartered in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Since 2012, our portfolio of influential digital publications has been helping millions of people succeed at work.

Our brands cover thought leadership for executives in project management, people management, product management, tech, marketing and many others - with the goal of connecting people with knowledge, skills and tools they need to succeed professionally in the age of AI.

We got our start in 2011 as The Digital Project Manager blog, founded by our CEO Ben Aston. Since then, we've grown into an international team of 70+ creators, strategists, and innovators with a portfolio of more than 15 online publications. We enjoy an impact‑driven environment that combines the agility of a startup with the creativity of an agency and the diversity of a global company.

We've previously ranked #30 in The Globe and Mail's Fastest Growing Company list as well as Deloitte's Fast 50 program, received a CMI award for Best Digital Publication for The Digital Project Manager—and we're listed in both Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers, and Best Employers in BC

All of this growth is driven by our commitment to our mission: In a world of evolving skills, practices, and technology, we're creating a playbook for the future of work and empowering communities to create it with us.

Want to learn more? Watch this video to learn why the team love working at BWZ

Diversity Equity and Inclusion:

Black and White Zebra is an equal opportunity employer and considers all candidates for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, marital status, military or veteran's status (including protected veterans, as may be required by federal law), sexual orientation or any other category protected by law. We celebrate all backgrounds and attributes that continue to help make our team impactful, iterative, adaptable, and fun

Seniority level

• Not Applicable

Employment type

• Full‑time

Job function

• Management and Manufacturing

Industries

• Technology, Information and Media

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