Manager of Gathering - St. John's, NL AC M

Job Description – Manager of Gathering & Storytelling · Position: Manager of Gathering & Storytelling · Team: Pathways & Processes · Reporting to: Director of Pathways & Processes · Direct Reports: Story & Connection Coordinator, Production Lead, People & Operations Specialis ...

Job description

Job Description – Manager of Gathering & Storytelling

Position: Manager of Gathering & Storytelling

Team: Pathways & Processes

Reporting to: Director of Pathways & Processes

Direct Reports: Story & Connection Coordinator, Production Lead, People & Operations Specialist, Events & Experience Lead (Position TBD)

Location: St. John's, NL

Summary

The Pathways & Processes team strengthens First Light's internal operations through relational leadership, cultural grounding, and intentional design. Within this work, the Gathering & Storytelling stream ensures that every gathering - from community events to internal staff moments - feels intentional, welcoming, and rooted in care.

The Manager of Gathering & Storytelling provides strategic leadership across events, storytelling, production, and the relational experience of how people encounter First Light. Reporting to the Director of Pathways & Processes, this role leads a braided team responsible for shaping gatherings, coordinating production, stewarding narrative presence, and holding the cultural tone of internal and external moments.

In the current phase of organizational growth, this role also holds temporary leadership responsibility for HR administration, learning, and staff empowerment work, including management oversight for an external HR/staff empowerment consultant and interim supervision of the People & Operations Specialist. This reflects First Light's commitment to designing people systems that are grounded in lived experience, relational accountability, and collective care.

This role holds both the practical and the poetic - balancing logistics, timelines, and coordination with storytelling, meaning-making, and human connection.

Who You Are

You're a connector, storyteller, and organizer who understands that logistics are an act of care. You're comfortable holding complexity, listening deeply, and translating experience into structure. You bring steadiness, curiosity, and relational clarity to your leadership, and you know how to guide both people and projects through periods of learning and change.

You Bring:

• Experience leading event, storytelling, communications, or experience-based teams, or coordinating complex gatherings and community-facing work
• Confidence managing multiple timelines, requests, and relationships without losing the human thread
• Strong organizational and communication skills grounded in a relational, values-based approach
• Comfort holding both structure and flexibility - you can plan clearly while adapting in real time
• Experience collaborating with leadership teams to align storytelling, messaging, or engagement work with organizational priorities
• A steady, reflective leadership style that prioritizes clarity, care, and shared purpose
• An understanding that logistics, storytelling, and people systems are all forms of care - and that how we do the work matters as much as what we do

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Coordination

• Supervise a braided team across events, storytelling, production, and experience-based roles
• Provide day-to-day leadership grounded in trust, clarity, and relational accountability
• Offer coaching, feedback, and performance development through reflective and values-based supervision
• Collaborate closely with the Director of Pathways & Processes on priorities, sequencing, and capacity management
• Work in partnership with other Managers to ensure alignment across gatherings, systems, and organizational rhythms

Gathering & Event Stewardship

• Oversee all aspects of event and gathering planning, from concept to completion
• Develop and maintain consistent systems for event intake, timelines, task tracking, and post-event reflection
• Ensure gatherings are culturally grounded, accessible, and community-centered
• Create and maintain templates and planning tools that support cross-team clarity and consistency
• Coordinate with vendors, suppliers, and community partners
• Provide on-site or day-of leadership and presence for key organizational gatherings

Venue Rentals & Community Spaces

• Oversee staff responsible for internal and external venue bookings at the Centre for Performance & Creativity
• Ensure rental processes are transparent, equitable, and aligned with organizational values and community priorities
• Support the development and refinement of rental policies, rate structures, and usage guidelines
• Coordinate communication between internal teams and external renters
• Track usage patterns and support sustainable access and revenue planning

Storytelling & Narrative Presence

• Work with the Story & Connection Coordinator to shape stories around gatherings and community moments
• Ensure storytelling is accurate, respectful, and culturally grounded
• Support event documentation, photography, and narrative archiving
• Promote consistency in how First Light's identity and values are reflected across spaces and platforms
• Collaborate with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure the organizational voice is reflected clearly and responsibly in the stories we share
• Help align storytelling with organizational priorities, strategic needs, and emerging focus areas, while honouring lived experience and community truth
• Support shared decision-making around organizational storytelling, ensuring stories are guided by community voice, staff experience, and Senior Leadership priorities

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $70,000.00-$80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company events
• Dental care
• On-site childcare
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• RRSP match
• Vision care
• Wellness program
• Work from home

Work Location: In person