Job descriptionExecutive Director, Hospitality and Conferences
The Executive Director, Hospitality & Conferences provides strategic and operational leadership for all hospitality, accommodations, food & beverage, Sally Borden Recreation Facilities and conference services across the organization. This role ensures exceptional guest experiences, strong financial performance, and seamless service delivery for a wide range of clients, delegates, and visitors. The Executive Director leads high-performing teams responsible for hotel operations, culinary and dining services, event planning, conference management and a recreation facility ensuring alignment with organizational culture, brand standards, and revenue objectives. Roles and Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Business Development
Develop and execute a comprehensive hospitality and conference strategy that enhances guest satisfaction, strengthens the organization’s brand, and supports revenue growth. Lead long-term planning for hospitality, culinary, and conference operations, including service innovation, market positioning, and competitive benchmarking. Identify new business opportunities, partnerships, and service enhancements to attract clients and expand market reach. Advise senior leadership on industry trends, guest expectations, and opportunities to elevate the organization’s hospitality profile. Hospitality & Accommodation Operations
Provide oversight of lodging operations, ensuring alignment with organizational standards and accountability for service excellence, cleanliness, and efficiency. Establish and maintain high standards for guest experience, safety, accessibility, and cultural sensitivity. Provide executive oversight of guest operations, setting standards and accountability to ensure a consistently high-quality guest experience. Implement service excellence frameworks and continuous improvement processes to enhance guest satisfaction scores. Food and Beverage Leadership
Guide the strategic direction of culinary and dining operations, including restaurants, conference catering, lounges, and special events. Ensure food quality, service standards, and guest experience align with organizational values and brand expectations. Set the strategic direction for food and beverage operations, ensuring alignment with financial goals, brand standards, and sustainability commitments. Support the recruitment and development of culinary and front-of-house teams, fostering a culture of hospitality and professionalism. Conference & Event Management
Set the strategic direction for conferences and events, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, client expectations, and brand standards. Provide strategic leadership to event planning through senior leaders, ensuring accountability for client experience, service quality, and execution excellence. Work closely with operational departments to align resources, staffing, and service standards for all events. Establish best practices for event forecasting, space utilization, client management, and post-event evaluation. Financial & Operational Management
Develop and manage operating and capital budgets for hospitality, food & beverage, and conference portfolios. Ensure financial sustainability through revenue management strategies, cost controls, and operational efficiencies. Monitor performance metrics, guest feedback, and market data to inform decision-making and support continuous improvement. Oversee contracts, vendor relationships, and procurement processes for hospitality and conference services. Team Leadership & Culture
Lead, mentor, and support a diverse team of directors, managers, supervisors, culinary staff, hospitality workers, and event professionals. Foster a culture of service excellence, accountability, and teamwork grounded in respect and organizational values. Support workforce development, training, talent management, and succession planning across all hospitality functions. Ensure compliance with workplace standards, labour agreements, health and safety requirements, and service policies. Stakeholder Engagement
Serve as a senior ambassador for hospitality and conference services, maintaining strong relationships with internal partners, external clients, vendors, and community stakeholders. Collaborate across departments to support organizational programs, residencies, events, and guest services. Represent the organization on industry committees, networks, and partnerships where relevant. Team Empowerment and Oversight
Provide strong, values based leadership to a diverse team of technical, professional, and management staff. Foster a culture of safety, accountability, continuous improvement, and service excellence. Support workforce development, succession planning, and ongoing training to maintain high professional standards. Build collaborative relationships across departments to ensure seamless coordination of facilities activities. Recruit, lead, motivate, and mentor a diverse staff and set clear performance accountability measures. Influence and inspire others to act in an energetic, committed fashion in pursuit of a positive organizational culture. Ensure that the necessary policies, systems, safety responsibilities, and procedures are in place and regularly reviewed for effectiveness. Establish and guide revenue and expense budgets, providing analysis, oversight, and administrative rigor to all areas of the division. Guide a regular process of staff review and evaluation that ensures the highest ethical standards in all division activities. Collaborate with Vice President, Talent, and Culture and the President & CEO to ensure the necessary organizational structure are in place and regularly reviewed for effectiveness and to recruit and develop succession planning for key positions as needed. Embrace other team empowerment and oversight responsibilities as needed. Implement strategies for attracting, retaining, and developing top talent within the organization, ensuring a capable, diverse, motivated, and productive work environment. Committed to leading a healthy work and learning environment free of harassment. Cross-Functional Collaboration
Foster collaboration between different departments to ensure smooth communication and efficient workflows, ultimately leading to improved overall performance. Identify opportunities for improving Hospitality and Conference processes, enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing productivity across the organization. Risk Management
Identify potential brand and reputational risks and develop strategies to mitigate them, ensuring compliance with regulations and industry standards. Change Management
Lead organizational changes, restructures, process reengineering efforts, ensuring seamless transitions, and maintaining operational continuity for the Hospitality and Conferences team. Resource Management
Oversee resource allocation, including budgeting, staffing, and allocation of assets, to achieve optimal utilization and meet strategic goals. Budget Management: Development budgets and forecasts as per established deadlines while meeting targets, managing the budget for marketing and communication activities, ensuring resources are allocated effectively to achieve desired outcomes. Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access
Support the development and implementation of strategies to promote inclusion, diversity, equity, and access across Banff Centre Support team members participating in training session to educate on unconscious bias, cultural competency, and other diversity-related development processes. Conduct and support assessments of workplace accessibility for employees, participants and guests with disabilities and determine and implement improvements as required. Ensure work environment is welcoming and progressive for members of diverse and Indigenous Communities. Design, implement and monitor Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Actions where appropriate. Other
Other related duties as may be assigned. Qualifications and Educational Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Event Management, or related field; master’s degree is an asset. 10+ years of progressive leadership in hospitality, hotel operations, food & beverage management, or conference services in a complex environment. Demonstrated success leading large teams, managing multi-unit operations, and delivering outstanding guest experiences. Strong financial acumen with experience managing budgets, forecasting, and revenue strategies. Exceptional leadership, communication, stakeholder engagement, and problem-solving skills. Proven ability to innovate and maintain high operational standards under dynamic conditions. Express Your Enthusiasm
Banff Centre offers a comprehensive compensation package with a competitive and equitable salary, professional development opportunities, and subsidized fitness membership, among other benefits. The Banff Centre offers extended health and dental insurance, life insurance, vacation time, and participation in an employer-matched pension plan. The quality of life in Banff and surrounding communities is simply extraordinary. Commitment to Diversity
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is committed to creating an equitable, diverse, and inclusive campus for students, faculty, staff and visitors. Guided by our values, Banff Centre is rooted in Alberta with provincial, national and global impact. Our strength arises from inclusion; the diversity of people, ideas, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds in our work and team. We encourage women; First Nations, Métis and Inuit persons; members of visible minority groups; persons with disabilities; persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity and expression to apply.
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