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Job Title


Senior Vice President, Community Engagement, Grocery and Food Service


Company : GS1 Canada


Location : Toronto, Toronto


Created : 2026-01-08


Job Type : Full Time


Job Description

Senior Vice President, Community Engagement, Grocery and Food Service Department: IR - Grocery Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time Location: Toronto, ON Reporting To: Francois Bouchard Description Reporting to the Co-President, this position is accountable for leading community engagement in the Grocery and Foodservice sectors, as well as managing the associated governance board relationships at a national level. In this primarily external-facing role, the SVP, Community Engagement leverages deep industry expertise to broaden and deepen strategic relationships with external stakeholders, positioning GS1 Canada as a true partner to Canadian industry. The incumbent is responsible for driving sector strategies, facilitating governance boards and community management to identify opportunities for collaborative solutions, and building communities that support the adoption of protocols and implementation agreements. By enhancing sector and subscriber value, this role is accountable for the growth and retention of subscribers, increased standards and service adoption, identification of new business development opportunities, and achievement of cost recovery goals. The SVP drives the mass adoption of GS1 global standards and advancing community-established Industry Managed Solutions, leading bilingual teams and initiatives that enable the delivery of trusted data to all Canadians and ensure GS1 Canada''s continued relevance, impact, and growth. The role also provides direct and indirect leadership to teams responsible for managing existing and new accounts and relationships across the country. Key Responsibilities EXTENDED LEADERSHIP TEAM Leads respective sector board effectiveness and community workgroups as the primary external representative and thought leader with data providers, data recipients, solution providers and industry associations. Represents the voice of subscribers, ensuring a subscriber-centric focus while building relationships, driving participation, and supporting adoption compliance, protocol adoption, and strategic planning of Industry Managed Solutions. Facilitates priority planning and ensures all efforts are community driven and represented in respective OGSMs and Heat Maps. Oversees the community engagement and adoption of the GS1 system of standards Develops and executes sector strategies aligned with GS1 Canada''s enterprise strategy, driving community adoption of standards-based services and collaborating with the Extended Leadership Team to ensure long-term organizational health and success. Builds trusted internal, external, and global industry partnerships to deliver subscriber value, share best practices, drive opportunities, and optimize strategic outcomes. Lead industry liaison, influencing associations, and other stakeholders to identify long-term business needs and advance GS1 Canada''s mission. Establishes GS1 standards and IMS adoption roadmaps with specific goals and timelines, by understanding the respective sectors desired future state, current state, and identifying the gaps to fill to move from current state to future desired state. Accountable for respective community workgroup and task groups and leverages deep industry knowledge and insights to inform service requirements and/or enhancements, identify new opportunities, and ensure seamless adoption of GS1 services by Data Providers, Data Recipients and relative solution providers. Collaborates across functions, including Industry Managed Solutions and implementation teams, to integrate sector insights enhance user experience, and support business development and cost recovery initiatives. Talent champion who role models organizational culture, builds capability, and leads a high-performing matrix organization, integrating enterprise-wide vision into actionable talent objectives. Drives engagement, coaching, development, performance management, and succession planning to strengthen the leadership bench and ensure long-term organizational success. GS1 CANADA GROWTH STRATEGIES As part of the Extended Leadership Team, responsible to build and execute GS1 Canada''s vision and longer-term strategy. Support the achievement of GS1 Canada vision by identifying and developing strategies and budgets targeting specific areas for retention and growth of GS1 Canada subscribers, GS1 Standards users, and IMS users. Acts as a key advisor to the Co-Presidents on critical changes in the competitive landscape, global environment, external and internal business environment. Assist the Extended Leadership team to develop and oversee GS1 Canada''s long-term strategies including achievement and maintenance of GS1 Canada''s position as a trusted partner in value delivery to industry. Collaborate with Product Leadership and support in defining GS1 Canada''s product and innovation strategies ensuring industry needs are communicated and represented in design and implementation across industry. Assist the Extended Leadership team and Finance Lead to develop an annual operating plan that realizes the long-term strategy. Ensures all strategies, solutions and their implementation reflect the needs of the community represented. Cultivate and manage healthy relationships with strategic partners and vendors including Global Office, Member Organizations, Solution Providers, Industry Leaders, Associations and Strategic Partners and subject matter experts. Collaborates with Public Affairs to identify and advance government engagement as a regulator, supporter and/or user. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY Achieves cost recovery goals in alignment with community commitment to achieve critical mass adoption, along with sector penetration strategies, and provide leadership to teams to generate and execute operational plans. Establish a cadence of reporting with Finance to ensure accountability on budgeting, forecasting, and P&L. Identify opportunities for capital and operational improvements that enhance cost recovery, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase value to industry. Skills, Knowledge and Expertise Brings years of executive experience in relevant industries (i.e. Grocery, Foodservice etc.). Respected industry leader and GS1 advocate with expertise in business process improvement. Undergraduate degree in business; MBA preferred. Proven ability to build C-level relationships and influence sector boards, industry leaders, through strategic insights and market-driven perspectives. Advanced/specialized knowledge in GS1 products, services and solutions and mandate, gained through internal knowledge or from a stakeholder sector. Skilled at prioritizing critical initiatives and leading through complexity and ambiguity with clear, decisive direction. Entrepreneurial, adaptable, and results-driven in fast-paced multi-project environments. Drives high-performing bilingual teams by fostering a culture of continuous feedback, coaching, and development. Bilingualism in English and French would be an asset to engage with subscribers in both official languages from across the country. Skilled in communications and presentation taking complex information and simplifying if for various stakeholder groups