Food Photography jobs in Greater Toronto Area, ON

Marketing & Business Development Manager

Encore Catering | Toronto, ON
Full-Time

About Encore

Encore Catering creates high-quality food and event experiences across the GTA.

We don’t just cater events — we create experiences that bring people together.

Our work spans:

• Corporate catering
• Luxury weddings
• Large-scale events
• Ongoing workplace food service programs
• Venue and hospitality partnerships

We are a fast-moving, high-performance team that cares deeply about great food, hospitality, creativity, execution, growth, and the details that shape exceptional experiences.

We’re looking for someone strategic, creative, commercially minded, and genuinely excited by food, hospitality, events, branding, and business growth.

The Role

This is not a traditional marketing role.

The Marketing & Business Development Manager will lead Encore's marketing function and help shape how the company looks, communicates, grows, and competes.

You will be responsible for developing marketing and growth strategy while ensuring ideas move from concept to execution.

Working closely with leadership, sales, operations, and our Content & Social Media Coordinator, you will oversee Encore's brand, digital presence, marketing campaigns, website, SEO and AI optimization, lead-generation initiatives, partnerships, and marketing performance.

This role sits at the intersection of:

• Marketing
• Brand
• Digital strategy
• Business development
• Sales
• Operations
• Leadership

We’re looking for someone who can see the bigger picture while still caring deeply about execution.

Someone equally comfortable:

• Developing an annual marketing strategy
• Building and managing a multi-channel campaign
• Reviewing analytics and identifying opportunities
• Improving a landing page or customer journey
• Directing a content campaign
• Identifying a new market, partnership, or revenue opportunity
• Using emerging AI and search technologies to strengthen how customers discover Encore
• Turning an ambitious idea into an executable plan

Key Responsibilities

Marketing Strategy & Growth

• Develop and manage Encore's overall marketing strategy and annual marketing plan
• Establish priorities, campaigns, goals, timelines, and measurable KPIs
• Develop marketing strategies that support revenue growth across Encore's corporate, wedding, event, venue, and ongoing food service business
• Identify new audiences, markets, channels, and growth opportunities
• Develop lead-generation and customer acquisition initiatives in collaboration with sales and leadership
• Manage larger seasonal, brand, promotional, and business-development campaigns from strategy through execution
• Track campaign performance and continually improve marketing activity based on results
• Manage marketing priorities and resources to ensure projects are executed effectively and on time

Brand Strategy & Identity

• Lead the continued development and refresh of Encore's brand identity
• Establish and maintain clear brand standards across visual identity, messaging, tone, photography, content, and customer touchpoints
• Ensure consistency across digital, print, social, sales materials, proposals, events, and other brand applications
• Identify opportunities to strengthen Encore's positioning within the catering, hospitality, corporate dining, wedding, and events markets
• Translate business strategy into clear and compelling brand messaging
• Provide creative direction for major campaigns, photoshoots, content initiatives, and marketing materials

Website, SEO & Digital Presence

• Own the strategy, performance, and ongoing improvement of Encore's WordPress website
• Manage website content, structure, landing pages, user experience, and conversion opportunities
• Develop and execute SEO strategy to improve organic visibility and qualified website traffic
• Monitor search performance, rankings, website traffic, conversions, and customer behaviour
• Identify opportunities to improve the customer journey from discovery through inquiry
• Coordinate website improvements with internal resources and external developers or specialists where required

AI & Search Optimization

• Stay current on how AI-powered search and discovery are changing customer behaviour
• Develop strategies to improve Encore's visibility across traditional search engines and emerging AI-driven discovery platforms
• Explore opportunities for AI optimization, structured content, digital authority, and other evolving search practices
• Use AI tools to improve research, marketing workflows, analysis, content development, and team efficiency
• Identify practical opportunities to introduce AI and automation into Encore's marketing systems
• Evaluate new marketing technologies and tools based on their potential business value

Content & Social Strategy

• Develop the overarching content and social media strategy for Encore
• Establish content pillars, campaign priorities, audience strategies, and channel objectives
• Provide direction and oversight to the Content & Social Media Coordinator
• Develop campaign briefs and creative direction for social, photo, video, and written content
• Ensure content supports broader brand, sales, SEO, and business-development objectives
• Review performance and use insights to continuously refine content strategy
• Identify stories across Encore's food, people, events, clients, venues, and partnerships that strengthen the brand

The Content & Social Media Coordinator will be primarily responsible for day-to-day content capture, editing, scheduling, publishing, and social channel execution.

Business Development & Partnerships

• Work with leadership and sales to identify strategic growth opportunities
• Research prospective markets, corporate opportunities, venue relationships, and partnerships
• Help develop strategies and campaigns for priority business-development targets
• Identify and evaluate partnership, sponsorship, collaboration, and cross-promotional opportunities
• Develop marketing initiatives that support Encore's sales pipeline and long-term client relationships
• Support the development of presentations, pitch materials, proposals, and other strategic sales collateral
• Help turn market insights and customer feedback into actionable growth initiatives

This is a strategic business-development function rather than a traditional commission-based sales role.

Paid Media & Campaign Management

• Develop and oversee paid digital campaigns across platforms such as Google and Meta
• Establish campaign objectives, audiences, budgets, creative requirements, and measurement
• Monitor performance and optimize campaigns based on results
• Coordinate external agencies, freelancers, or specialists where appropriate
• Ensure paid campaigns connect effectively with landing pages, messaging, sales activity, and broader marketing initiatives

Analytics & Performance

• Establish meaningful marketing KPIs across channels
• Track website traffic, inquiries, conversions, campaign performance, lead sources, engagement, and other relevant metrics
• Build clear reporting using Excel, Google Sheets, analytics platforms, and other tools
• Translate data into recommendations rather than simply reporting numbers
• Work with leadership to understand which marketing activities are contributing to meaningful business growth
• Continuously test, measure, learn, and improve

Team & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Manage and provide direction to the Content & Social Media Coordinator
• Work closely with leadership, sales, kitchen, operations, and event teams
• Build processes that make it easier for the organization to identify and capture marketing opportunities
• Manage external marketing partners, freelancers, photographers, developers, or agencies where required
• Balance multiple priorities and ensure marketing initiatives move forward consistently
• Bring structure, accountability, and follow-through to the marketing function

What We're Looking For

You are:

• Strategic but highly execution-oriented
• Commercially minded
• Creative but practical
• Organized and detail-oriented
• Curious and proactive
• Comfortable making decisions
• Strong at managing multiple priorities
• Able to move quickly without losing sight of quality
• Excited by emerging technology and changing customer behaviour

You probably:

• Love food, restaurants, hospitality, events, or experiences
• Notice branding and customer experience everywhere
• Think about why customers choose one brand over another
• Naturally look for opportunities to improve things
• Enjoy building systems and turning ideas into action
• Are comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment where priorities can evolve quickly

Great ideas only matter if they are executed well.

Attention to detail, follow-through, organization, and execution are a major part of how we evaluate candidates.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years of experience in marketing, brand, digital growth, business development, or related roles
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing marketing strategies and campaigns
• Strong understanding of brand strategy and positioning
• Strong working knowledge of SEO and digital marketing
• Experience managing or working with WordPress websites
• Experience with Google Ads, Meta Ads, or other paid digital platforms
• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with marketing data
• Strong Excel and/or Google Sheets skills
• Experience using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, or similar platforms in a professional environment
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong project-management and organizational skills
• Adobe Creative Suite experience
• Ability to independently manage multiple initiatives from strategy through execution
• Experience providing direction to junior team members, freelancers, agencies, or creative partners

Bonus Points

• Hospitality, catering, restaurant, wedding, or event industry experience
• Experience leading a brand refresh or repositioning project
• Understanding of UX/UI and conversion optimization
• Basic HTML/CSS knowledge
• E-commerce experience
• CRM, marketing automation, or email marketing experience
• Experience developing B2B lead-generation strategies
• Familiarity with emerging AI search, generative engine optimization, or AI-driven customer discovery

Work Environment

This role is:

• Fast-paced
• Collaborative
• Hands-on
• Primarily office-based with event exposure
• Cross-functional
• Highly connected to leadership

No two weeks are the same.

You'll have significant ownership, but you'll also be expected to collaborate closely with the teams responsible for delivering the experiences you're marketing.

Compensation & Growth

• Competitive salary based on experience
• Opportunity to lead and develop a growing marketing function
• Direct exposure to leadership and business strategy
• Opportunity to influence Encore's brand direction and growth
• Exposure to a wide range of business functions, markets, and revenue streams
• Opportunity to build the marketing systems, processes, and team required for Encore's next stage of growth

How to Apply

Details matter at Encore.

Please submit:

• Resume
• Portfolio, case studies, or relevant examples of work
• Short cover letter explaining:
• Why this role interests you
• Why you'd be a strong fit
• What excites you about hospitality, food, events, branding, or business growth

In your cover letter, also tell us your favourite restaurant or food experience in Toronto and why it stood out to you.

We're interested in how you think about hospitality, experience, food, branding, atmosphere, and execution — not just marketing.

Plus — Complete ONE

Option A: Quick Audit

Provide a short audit of Encore's current digital presence.

Tell us:

• One thing you think we're doing well
• One thing you would prioritize improving
• 2–3 opportunities you see for the brand or business

Option B: Growth Opportunity

Identify one growth opportunity you believe would be worth exploring for Encore.

Briefly explain:

• The opportunity
• Why you think it matters
• How marketing could help turn it into business

We're not looking for a perfect answer or a free marketing strategy. We want to understand how you think, prioritize, and connect marketing decisions to business outcomes.

Final Detail Check

At the very bottom of your application, include the phrase:

“Details create experiences.”

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $60,000.00-$80,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person