Senior Manager, Marketing & Creative

About Us

The Ontario Cannabis Store provides safe, responsible access to recreational cannabis for adults 19 and older. We operate the sole legal online store for recreational cannabis in Ontario and are the provincial wholesaler of cannabis for private retail stores. Working at the OCS is a unique opportunity to be part of an agile start‑up in a ground‑breaking new industry. We’re a diverse team passionate about delivering a great customer experience, working together with mutual respect and building value out of our differences. We’re an inclusive organization that understands that delivering great results comes out of ensuring every voice is heard. About The Role

We’re looking for a Senior Manager, Marketing & Creative to lead two core functions within the organization: the commercial execution of OCS’s marketing strategy and the delivery of enterprise‑wide creative services. Partnering closely with the VP, this role translates organizational priorities into insight‑driven B2B and B2C marketing plans that support customer education, retailer engagement, and commercial performance. In parallel, this role oversees the enterprise creative services function, ensuring accessible, high‑quality creative support across all business areas. The Senior Manager will drive a unified brand presence and consistent visual language across marketing, digital content, and corporate‑branded materials, while leading a multidisciplinary team responsible for creative direction, content, and design. A critical aspect of this role is ensuring operational excellence through strong planning, procurement, and vendor management, enabling both marketing execution and enterprise creative services to deliver efficiently, compliantly, and to a high standard of quality. This role collaborates extensively with cross‑functional partners to ensure all initiatives are strategically aligned, measurable, and optimized for enterprise impact. About Your Day

Lead the development of annual and quarterly B2C and B2B marketing strategies aligned to OCS business priorities, customer insights, and regulatory requirements, translating enterprise objectives into integrated plans that drive education, engagement, and commercial outcomes. Establish disciplined planning rhythms, workback models, forecasting, and intake processes to ensure marketing initiatives are properly scoped, resourced, sequenced, and delivered on time. Partner closely with Procurement to manage timelines, contracts, critical‑path milestones, and purchasing activities, ensuring marketing plans are executable and compliant within a public‑sector environment. Collaborate cross‑functionally with Communications, Customer Experience, Digital Experience, Legal, and Market & Customer Insight teams to ensure enterprise alignment, coordinated delivery, and consistent messaging. Define and oversee performance measurement frameworks, including KPIs and evaluation cycles, to monitor effectiveness, inform decision‑making, and support continuous optimization. Lead the execution of marketing initiatives through effective vendor and partner management, overseeing media, research, creative, digital, and production partners to ensure clarity of scope, strong performance, and cost‑effective delivery. Ensure all procurement, purchasing, and contract activities adhere to public‑sector regulations, OCS policies, and financial controls, while continuously assessing vendor performance and market options to mitigate risk and optimize value. Provide creative direction and oversight for all OCS marketing, digital, and corporate‑branded visual assets, ensuring a unified brand presence aligned with enterprise brand standards. Lead Enterprise Creative Services as a service‑oriented function by establishing clear engagement processes, managing intake and prioritization, and ensuring timely, high‑quality, compliant, and accessible creative delivery across the organization. Strengthen creative processes, tools, and templates, and provide clear, actionable feedback to in‑house designers, freelancers, and agencies to support consistency and execution excellence. Lead the development of a multi‑channel content strategy informed by SEO best practices, customer and retailer insights, and industry trends, supported by an integrated content calendar. Provide strategic direction on messaging, tone, and editorial standards to ensure content is accurate, compliant, accessible, and aligned with OCS’s responsible cannabis education mandate. Represent the Marketing & Creative function in cross‑functional planning forums and provide strategic guidance to enterprise initiatives requiring marketing, creative, or content expertise. Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary team, setting clear goals, providing regular feedback, supporting capability development, and fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high‑performance culture. About You

Post‑secondary degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience. 10+ years of progressive experience in marketing leadership, including strategy development, content, and creative oversight. Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and managing external agencies and vendors. Strong communication, planning, and analytical skills, with the ability to translate insights into actionable strategies. Experience operating within regulated or compliance‑driven environments. Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessible design. Advanced degree or professional designation in Marketing, Communications, or Leadership is preferred. Experience in public sector, Crown corporations, or other regulated industries is an asset. About The Job

Location: Toronto, ON near York Mills and Yonge Street Hours of Work: 36.25 a week Employment Type: Full‑Time, Permanent Required Travel: Rare, usually within the GTA Compensation

The target hiring range for this position is $120,000- $135,000. This is a pay grade 8 role, with a salary range of $94,694.96- $147,126.98. Placement in the salary range will be based on factors such as market conditions, internal equity, and candidate experience, skills, and qualifications relevant to the role. We are committed to providing an accessible, equitable and inclusive candidate and employee experience. We provide reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process and in employment. If you require an accommodation please let us know, we will work with you to meet your needs.

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