Program Manager

**Why WestJet**:
Every WestJet journey has the potential to enrich lives; a career with us is no exception.

WestJet arrived on the Canadian airline scene in 1996 and changed the industry for the better. We made air travel more affordable for Canadians and now we're going global.

**Join us, and see how your career story takes off.**

**Overview of the role**:
As Program Manager, Partnership Marketing, you’ll be responsible for the development and delivery of WestJet’s partnership marketing strategy driving brand integration and mutually beneficial results with our strategic partners. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Brand Strategy & Activation, you’ll lead building shared value propositions, annual marketing plans and the activation playbooks, that play a central role in the our strategic partnership framework.

This individual will work across the organization while leading customized programming with iconic partner brands including TELUS, Skip and others in a growing roster. You’ll have a strong understanding of brand marketing and activation, agency management (creative and media), project management and the intersection of brand with loyalty/product marketing.

This individual will represent the Marketing team independently and in a senior capacity both internally and externally, finding new ways to leverage our partnerships to build brand loyalty, affinity and mutual value.

**A little about you**:

- You are an experienced brand marketer, connecting dots and thinking outside the box to find new opportunities.
- You are proactive in seeing new opportunities to deepen a relationship, you exhibit a high standard of excellence, enjoy a challenge, and are results driven.
- You have excellent relationship management skills.
- You are a great communicator, able to develop and share fully integrated plans to senior leaders.
- You have comprehensive experience taking programs from brief to execution.
- You are a leader able to bring work with teams across the organization towards a shared vision.
- You’re creative and curious leading the briefing of our agency teams with data and insights.
- You are thoughtful and a well-respected team player with high standard of initiative and strong work ethic.

**What you’ll do**:

- You’ll create and execute marketing strategies for high-profile partnerships, bringing them to Canadians and WestJet guests in innovative ways.
- While this position does not have any direct reports, you’re a leader in your space building relationships across the organization to deliver on a shared vision.
- You’ll work closely with Strategic Partnerships, Loyalty, Experience Management, Communications and the entirety of the Marketing team to bring fully integrated plans to life.
- You’ll lead the Marketing team in delivering marketing commitments for these partnerships, coordinating efforts across internal and external stakeholders.
- You’ll work closely with the Strategic Partnership team to assess new opportunities for brand alignment.
- You’ll lead the annual marketing activation plans for our partnerships, aligning messaging and tactics, with WestJet’s greater brand, marketing and commercial goals helping to drive mutual value, and further the WestJet brand story.
- You’ll deliver on contractual obligations, and being proactive and creative, you’ll also seek new opportunities to bolster the partnership and our brand.
- You’ll lead the development of shared value propositions, key visuals, toolkits and best practices that can be shared internally to bring a cohesive approach and narrative to market.
- You’ll allocate an activation budget and work cross-functionally to bring programming to market with a keen eye on costs and return.
- You’ll lead the development of integrated briefs with creative and media agencies, delivering on contractual needs, while connecting dots to new opportunities.
- You’ll set benchmarks that allow us to measure, and report on experiential results and KPIs tied to overall brand health metrics consistently.
- You’ll collaborate across the organization with a strong ability to influence internal teams.
- You’ll build and foster positive relationships with key partners and stakeholders, representing WestJet well.

**Experience & Qualifications**:

- Degree in marketing, communications, or commerce.
- 12+ years experience and a proven track record in brand building and management, and working within complex environments.
- Highly motivated, organized, and self-directed, with strong attention to detail.
- Superior communication, relationship, and partner liaison skills with the ability to influence internal teams driving collaboration.
- Comfortable in a role that requires both strategic thinking and executional implementation.
- Ability to plan projects from conception to implementation.
- Strong negotiating and partner management skillset required.
- Intermediate to advanced MS Office skills, particularly with Word, PowerP