Department: Operations
Reports to: Director of Operations Vancouver
Direct Reports: Event Coordinator
Position Status & Locations: Vancouver, Onsite
About Invictus Games 2025:
The Invictus Games is a biennial international adaptive sporting competition for wounded, injured, and sick service personnel and veterans from around the world. Through the power of sport, the Games inspire recovery, support rehabilitation, and generate a wider understanding and respect for those who have served their country.
The Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 will take place from February 8 to 16, 2025, on the traditional territories of the Lil̓wat7úl (Líl̓wat), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Over 500 wounded, injured and sick service personnel and Veterans from more than 20 nations are set to compete in a wide range of adaptive sports, including adaptive winter sports, for the first time in Invictus Games history.
The Vancouver Whistler Games Corporation (VWGC) is a Canadian not-for-profit organization established to organize and host the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025.
The Role:
The Venue Manager works on the Operations Team and will be the operational planning and delivery lead of two venues. Those venues will be Hillcrest Curling Venue and UBC Aquatics Venue. Currently the Curling and Aquatics events are on opposite ends of the Sport Schedule. The Venue Manager will plan both Venues, and operate both at Games time by transitioning to the second Venue upon completion of the first.
At Games time the position will be the Invictus Games 2025 representative at both venues, overseeing the operations at the direction of the Director Vancouver Operations and work closely with Events & Experience, Commercial and Marketing as well as the venue owner to ensure a seamless event operations and an exceptional experience for participants, family and friends and VIPs.
Key Areas of Responsibility:
- The role requires proven leadership, strong communication skills, and sound knowledge of event operations. The role will liaise closely with the venue owners/operators, stakeholders and suppliers and be required to communicate well with the broader IG25 team.
- Manage, lead and participate in the integrated planning, development and execution of the Venue, assuring the correct design, planning and alignment with all client groups and Functional Areas
- Act as Invictus Games 2025 primary liaison with the Venue Owners and relevant Venue specific stakeholders
- Provide leadership and management with the highest level of professionalism and effectiveness to accomplish the visions, goals and objectives of Invictus Games 2025
- Ensure that venues are designed in a manner to be able to safely deliver the planned sporting competitions, family and friends’ activations, catering, media and sponsorship activities
- Create and manage venue delivery timelines, identifying long and short term goals / actions during the planning phase and work with Functional Areas to deliver these timelines
- Ensure clear communication and timely information sharing with the games delivery team, to Senior management and to venue owners
- Proactively identify emerging issues and lead the issue resolution process across Functional Areas and external stakeholders
- Ensure that all documentation, policies, procedures and contingency plans required for the planning, readiness and operational phases are produced on time, tested and implemented successfully
- Champion cost saving strategies throughout the design and delivery of the venue operational plan
- Share innovations, efficiencies and ideas across the operational teams
- Commit to ensuring the sense of community is established with the games delivery team focusing the team first
- Champion operational health and safety
Qualifications & Skills:
- Venue management or operational management experience, preferably in a large-scale public facility.
- Successful track record in leading & managing large multi-disciplinary teams from inception through to delivery.
- Proven project management capability and ability to develop goals and plans and allocate resources accordingly to prioritize work to meet deadlines;experience with PM tools such as Smartsheet is an asset.
- Experience in crowd management and venue safety.
- Ability to identify cost saving strategies through innovative design.
- Familiarity with sports, entertainment, and hospitality industry operational concepts.
- An ability to adapt to the developing needs and changing demands of a high pressure and high-profile project.
- Proven ability to make difficult decisions and solve problems under pressure.
- Ability to operate in a dynamic working environment, handling multiple tasks and deadlines continually.
- Excellent communicator at all levels with a proven ability to influence key decision makers.
- Demonstrated ability to develop strong relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders.
- Ability to develop, implement and understand strategic and operational issues.
- Familiarity with the Invictus Games Movement.
The Process:
- We do our best to contact all applicants on the status of their application.
- Successful applicants can expect to receive an invitation to a 15-minute phone call within 8 business days of their application.
- Please note that applicants must already be eligible to work in Canada until February 28, 2025.
-
The Invictus Games 2025 is an equal opportunity employer. The diversity of our team is at the core of our success. Our organizations goals include to directly improve Veteran employment, to respond to TRC's Calls to Action with focus on 90, 91, 92, and to build on wider movements such as #WeThe15. We actively seek to promote a workplace culture that fosters mutual respect, collaboration, and open communication among all employees.
