Program assistant Jobs in Chestermere, AB

About the Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede is a not-for-profit community organization that preserves and promotes our western heritage, cultures and community spirit with a vision to create a world-class, year-round gathering place for the community. Exemplifying the theme We’re Greatest Together, the Stampede is one of the most respected volunteer-based organizations in the world governed by a Board of Directors with over 2,500 passionate volunteers and 1,200 year-round employees.

As an organization that exists for the benefit of the community, inclusion and equity are woven into our core values of western hospitality, pride of place, integrity and commitment to the community. The world-class, year-round gathering place we have built for the community also welcomes visitors from around the world and those who are new to the local community. We know that blending diverse cultures with our long-standing traditions makes community spirit thrive.

Position Summary

The Manager, Retail Food & Beverage Operations, is a key leadership role within the Calgary Stampede’s commercial food and beverage program, overseeing concessions, retail food stands, bars, and Perk Café. This position is responsible for the strategic direction, financial performance, food quality, and team culture of a high‑volume, high‑visibility operation that supports year‑round programming and major events such as the Calgary Stampede. The successful candidate will guide this business unit with a product‑owner mindset, setting strategy, defining KPIs, shaping the guest experience, responding to evolving trends, and continuously elevating the retail food program. This role is not about maintaining the status quo; it’s about driving evolution and raising the bar.

Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the role include, but are not limited to:

Operational Governance & Business Unit Execution

• Direct day-to-day operations across all concessions, retail food outlets, bars and perk Café, ensuring consistent execution, services standards, and guest experience at all times
• Design and govern operational playbooks for different event types and attendance levels, building systems that allow the team to execute consistently without reinventing the approach every time
• Lead workforce planning and deployment across peak operational periods including the Stampede, large conventions, trade and consumer shows, attractions and sold-out events, balancing capacity and demand, service quality, and labour cost targets
• Establish and uphold quality standards across all locations, ensuring rigorous food and beverage service and safety, consistent product execution, and efficient speed-of-service performance with creative offerings
• Conduct thorough post-event performance reviews, using sales data, labour efficiency metrics, and guest feedback to drive continuous improvement across the business unit
• Oversee Perk Café as a distinct retail hospitality concept within the portfolio, maintaining brand standards and day-to-day operational quality while identifying opportunities to grow its contribution and guest relevance

Financial Ownership & Commercial Performance

• Own the full retail food and beverage P&L, with accountability for revenue performance, contribution margin, labour and food cost control, and all controllable expenses across every location and operating period
• Build labour budgets and event-specific staffing models that balance cost efficiency with exceptional guest experience, treating labour as a strategic investment rather than a cost to minimize
• Track performance against budget targets in real time, understanding variances at the root cause level and implementing corrective actions with speed and precision
• Identify and act on revenue growth opportunities through product mix strategy, merchandising, upselling, and new concept development, with a clear understanding of guest behaviour and contribution margin
• Lead inventory control, waste reduction, and procurement alignment as core levers of margin performance and not as administrative functions

Food Program Strategy & Hospitality Innovation

• Partner with culinary leadership to shape a retail food program that is genuinely food-forward, responding to contemporary guest expectations through seasonal menus, activation-specific offerings, and programming that reflects the demographic and cultural diversity of the BMO Centre’s audiences
• Use guest feedback, sales data, and market intelligence as active inputs to program decisions, moving from reactive adjustment to proactive strategy
• Design experiential activations and elevated retail hospitality moments that shift the guest relationship with food from transactional to genuinely engaging, positioning the BMO Centre’s retail food program as a destination in its own right
• Assess the commercial and operational feasibility of new concepts, lead structured pilot execution, and use performance data to make clear go or no-go decisions before broader rollout

People Leadership & Organizational Capability

• Build and lead a team of Operation Managers & Supervisors and frontline staff who understand they are delivering a hospitality business, with clear performance expectations, structured development, and genuine accountability for outcomes
• Invest in operational capability through structured training, real-time coaching, and performance conversations that connect individual behaviour to business outcomes
• Build a culture of commercial awareness, guest-first thinking, and ownership mentality across the retail team, where people take pride in the product they deliver and understand their role in the financial health of the business unit
• Direct end-to-end workforce planning, ensuring effective seasonal hiring, robust onboarding and clear succession pathways across the retail team

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will be proactive, optimistic and have worked in a dynamic environment where they have experience delivering on multiple priorities and will hold the following qualifications:

• Minimum of 7 years progressive leadership in F&B concessions, stadiums, festivals, or high-volume retail food and beverage environments, with demonstrated experience operating as a business unit owner
• Proven financial ownership including full P&L accountability, labour productivity management, contribution margin analysis, and the ability to translate performance data into decisive action
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-volume throughput environments while maintaining genuine hospitality standards, with measurable outcomes in both guest satisfaction and commercial performance
• People leadership experience that goes beyond supervision, including building team culture, developing Supervisors, and creating organizations that hold themselves accountable without constant direction
• Experience managing large-scale festival operations is considered an asset
• Familiarity with POS systems, cash handling reconciliation, and inventory platforms
• Experience with menu development, food concept implementation, or specialty coffee / café operations

Benefits

The Calgary Stampede offers a unique and exciting work environment, an excellent total compensation package and the opportunity for advancement and employee training.

To Apply

To apply, please submit your resume. All applicants are thanked in advance and advised that only those selected for interviews will be contacted.