Festival + Executive Coordinator

About us

The Gathering is a 13-year-old festival that brings 2,500 brand leaders to Banff every October. CULT Collective is the client services agency that sits alongside it. Together we run a multi-stream operation across festival tickets, partnerships, executive retreats, event production, agency services, and CULT Studios.
There is a lot moving at once. That is the job.

The role

We're looking for a curious, organized coordinator who's excited to support two senior leaders and be a part of the team putting together North America’s top business and brand festival. 

You'll work closely with our President and CRO to keep their calendars, inboxes, and travel running smoothly. You'll also lead our volunteer program from recruitment through closeout, with full support from the operations and production teams.

This role is for someone who loves the details, takes pride in keeping things organized, and is ready to learn alongside an experienced team. If you notice when something could run better and want to be part of improving it, you'll fit right in.

What you'll do

Executive Support

You'll be the operational right hand to the President & Chief Revenue Officer, keeping their day-to-day moving so they can focus on the work only they can do.

• Calendar management across multiple time zones
• Inbox triage: read, prioritize, and surface what needs them
• Pre-meeting briefings and post-meeting follow-ups with clear owners and dates
• Travel coordination for Mandy and Brad: flights, hotels, ground, itineraries, restaurants, anything that comes up
• Expense reporting on a weekly cadence
• Draft emails, partner outreach, and team updates in our voice
• Maintain a shared stakeholder file: contacts, history, last touch, open follow-ups

Team + Stakeholder Support

You'll often be the first point of contact for partners, speakers, and VIPs. We'll set you up with templates, talking points, and the context you need to feel confident.

• Respond to inbound partner, speaker, and sponsor requests promptly
• Coordinate across the team so leaders aren't bottlenecks on their own relationships
• Close loops before they turn into bigger issues
• Be a hub for context across functions, helping team members find what they need to move work forward

Festival Coordination

The festival, retreats, and podcast are the engines of what we do, and the volunteer program is one of the most visible parts of festival culture. You'll be hands-on across all of them.

• Festival: support Operations and Production on cross-functional deadlines and workback schedules
• Podcast: guest scheduling and communication
• Volunteer program: lead recruitment, screening, onboarding, communication, scheduling, and day-of deployment for the Banff festival, with full support from Operations and Production
• Travel and accommodations: book and coordinate travel and lodging for speakers,and other festival, retreat guests

Operations, Systems & AI

We use AI and good systems to make a small team feel bigger. You don't need to be an expert today. You do need to be curious and willing to learn.

• Use Claude as a daily teammate for drafts, summaries, briefs, and research
• Help keep Notion clean and organized
• Build and maintain the volunteer handbook, role-specific SOP cards, and training materials
• Spot manual processes and suggest better ways to do them
• Help maintain shared prompt libraries and context docs

What we're looking for

You might be a great fit if you're:

• Two steps ahead. The brief is drafted before anyone asks for it.
• A systems thinker. You see a manual process and immediately want to replace it.
• AI-fluent in practice, not in theory. Claude and Notion are part of how you actually work today.
• Calm with multiple plates spinning. That is your normal, not a crisis.
• A strong writer. You can send a senior-level email on the first pass.
• Warm and discreet. Stakeholders feel handled. Sensitive information stays sensitive.
• Hungry for what's next. You teach the team things you found, not the other way around.

Helpful experience

• 4+ year supporting senior leaders, or related coordination experience (event, hospitality, agency, or operations)
• Familiarity with Notion, Slack, and Google Workspace
• Comfort with HubSpot or a similar CRM
• Event, festival, podcast, or hospitality background is a real plus
• Experience with volunteer programs or community coordination is a plus
• Calgary-based. In-office 4 days a week.

About the schedule

We work hard during festival season (August through October). Things settle into a steadier pace the rest of the year. If you're energized by big moments and don't mind the surge weeks, you'll do well here.

Confidentiality

You'll see compensation, leadership conversations, partner negotiations, and other sensitive information. We trust the people on our team, and we ask that trust be returned.

What success looks like at 90 days

Executive support. Calendars, inboxes, travel, and expenses run smoothly with your support.

Stakeholders. Inbound requests are handled warmly and quickly.

Systems and AI. You're using Claude daily and have started spotting opportunities to streamline work.

Coordination. You're plugged into festival, retreat, podcast, and travel logistics with clear ownership.

Volunteers. Recruitment + application review is steady. The handbook & comms plan is locked. You're ready to lead the team into festival week.

Trust. The team trusts you. The leaders trust you. You feel like part of the team.

Compensation

Competitive base salary based on experience.

How to apply

We don't want a resume and a cover letter. We want to see how you think.

Send three things:

1. Your resume.
2. A short Loom (under 5 minutes) walking us through one workflow or project you've organized or improved. What was the situation, what did you do, what changed? Show your screen if you can.
3. A 1-page first-30-days plan. Imagine you start Monday. What would you do in your first four weeks to get useful fast? We're not looking for a perfect plan. We're looking at how you prioritize.

Send to:
cali@thegatheringfestival.com
Subject line: Festival + Executive Coordinator, [Your Name]

If the Loom and the plan show us how you think, we'll get back to you.

We build with the boldest.

If that sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you.

The Gathering Festival × CULT Collective Ltd. | Calgary, Alberta