Director, Membership

Director, Membership

Communitech helps tech companies start, grow, and succeed in Waterloo Region.

We’re building a tech ecosystem that’s proudly local, globally ambitious and powered by community.

Since 1997, Communitech has brought community and tech together to build Canada’s most vibrant innovation ecosystem. We connect local startups and scale-ups to the support they need to grow, compete and lead.

Today, that means helping trusted AI solutions reach the market, turning bold ideas into valuable IP, expanding peer and advisory networks for founders, and uniting voices through the Waterloo Tech Coalition to take on the issues that matter most.

Our goal is to keep Waterloo Region the most connected, collaborative, and resilient tech hub in the country.

We’re looking to grow our team with passionate people – people who believe in our mission and who are willing to do what it takes to help our founders succeed. If you like to work collaboratively, get s#!t done and be a champion for Canadian tech, we want to hear from you. Wonder what it’s like to work at Communitech? Learn more at.

Role Overview

The Director, Membership is responsible for driving membership growth, member engagement and retention. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role leads the strategy and execution of Communitech's membership model, ensuring companies receive meaningful value while supporting organizational growth and sustainability.

This is a highly external, relationship-driven leadership role for someone who enjoys building new relationships, identifying opportunities and converting prospects into active members. The successful candidate is a network builder. They are energized by meeting founders, executives and ecosystem leaders, uncovering opportunities, opening doors and growing Communitech's membership base. While they are committed to delivering exceptional value to existing members, they are equally focused on attracting new companies into the community and achieving ambitious targets.

The Director, Membership oversees Membership and Community Operations team members, and works closely with the COO to ensure Communitech remains deeply connected to the evolving needs of startups, scale-ups and technology companies across Waterloo Region.

Key Responsibilities

Drive Membership Growth and Development:

• Own membership growth and development

• Build and manage a robust pipeline of prospective member companies.

• Proactively identify, engage and convert startups, scale-ups and technology companies that would benefit from Communitech membership.

• Develop outreach strategies, referral channels and partnership opportunities that generate new membership leads.

• Spend significant time externally building relationships with founders, executives, investors and ecosystem partners.

• Represent Communitech at industry events, networking opportunities and community gatherings to identify growth opportunities and expand awareness of the organization.

• Lead membership sales conversations from initial outreach through onboarding.

• Maintain strong pipeline discipline, forecasting and reporting practices.

• Continuously evaluate market opportunities and ecosystem trends to identify new avenues for member value.

• Partner closely with Marketing, Business Development and the COO to align membership growth efforts with organizational priorities.

Lead Member Engagement and Success:

• Ensure members experience Communitech as practical, relevant, responsive and deeply connected to their needs.

• Build strong relationships with member companies and serve as a trusted partner to founders, executives and operators.

• Develop strategies that increase member engagement, participation, retention and advocacy.

• Create and continuously improve member journeys that help companies access the right services, programs, events and connections at the right time.

• Identify members at risk of disengagement and proactively develop retention plans.

• Ensure Communitech's membership experience evolves alongside the changing needs of technology companies.

Own Membership Operations:

• Oversee membership onboarding, account management, renewals, upgrades and relationship management.

• Establish service standards, operating procedures and performance metrics that create a consistent and high-quality member experience.

• Monitor membership performance through engagement data, feedback, retention metrics and revenue indicators.

• Develop membership reporting and forecasting to support strategic decision-making.

• Ensure operational excellence across all aspects of the membership lifecycle.

Lead Community Operations:

• Provide leadership and oversight to the Community Operations team.

• Ensure community operations and member services are delivered efficiently, professionally and consistently.

• Build systems and processes that enhance the member experience while improving operational effectiveness.

• Foster strong collaboration between Community Operations, Events, Marketing and other member-facing teams.

• Continuously identify opportunities to improve service delivery and member satisfaction.

Drive Member Insights and Continuous Improvement:

• Gather feedback from members through formal and informal channels.

• Identify trends, challenges and emerging opportunities across the membership base.

• Translate member insights into actionable recommendations that improve Communitech's services, programs and offerings.

• Act as the voice of the member within the organization, ensuring member needs help shape strategic priorities and decisions.

• Partner with the COO to continuously refine Communitech's membership model and value proposition.

Lead and Develop People and Teams:

• Lead, coach and develop high-performing Membership and Community Operations teams.

• Establish clear goals, priorities and accountability measures.

• Foster a culture of responsiveness, ownership, collaboration and continuous improvement.

What Success Looks Like

The Director, Membership will help Communitech become more valuable, relevant and indispensable to the companies it serves.

Success in this role will include:

• Membership growth targets are consistently achieved or exceeded.

• A healthy pipeline of prospective members is maintained at all times.

• New member acquisition contributes meaningfully to organizational growth and sustainability.

• Members clearly understand and actively engage with the value Communitech provides.

• Member engagement, satisfaction and retention improve year over year.

• Founders and executives view Communitech as a trusted partner in their growth journey.

• Community Operations delivers a consistently exceptional member experience.

• Membership insights meaningfully influence organizational priorities and decision-making.

• Membership and Community Operations teams operate with strong accountability, focus and execution discipline.

Qualifications

Business Development and Revenue Growth

• Experience in business development, sales, membership growth, account management, partnership development or revenue-generating roles.

• Demonstrated success achieving ambitious growth, acquisition or revenue targets.

• Proven ability to build and manage sales, membership or partnership pipelines.

• Strong prospecting skills and a track record of generating opportunities through proactive outreach and relationship building.

• Comfortable initiating conversations, opening doors and building relationships with senior leaders and decision-makers.

• Experience using CRM systems, pipeline management tools and growth metrics to drive performance.

Membership, Customer Success or Community Leadership

• Experience leading membership, customer success, client services, account management or community-focused teams.

• Strong understanding of how to build long-term relationships while delivering measurable business results.

• Experience developing and executing engagement, retention and account growth strategies.

• Ability to balance member needs with organizational priorities and revenue objectives.

Leadership and Operational Excellence

• Proven ability to lead, coach and develop high-performing teams.

• Experience building systems, processes and metrics that improve service delivery and operational effectiveness.

• Strong project management, organizational and execution skills.

• Ability to manage competing priorities and drive results in a fast-moving environment.

• Comfortable using data, insights and performance indicators to guide decision-making.

Relationship Building and Communication

• Exceptional relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability to establish credibility and trust with founders, executives, investors and ecosystem partners.

• Strong communication, negotiation and influencing skills.

• High emotional intelligence and strong professional judgment.

• Ability to challenge, coach and support teams while maintaining high standards for performance and accountability.

Startup and Ecosystem Mindset

• Genuine passion for technology, startups, founders and innovation.

• Strong understanding of the startup and scale-up journey and the challenges faced by growing companies.

• Experience working within technology, innovation, venture capital, startup ecosystems or founder-focused organizations is considered a strong asset.

• Curiosity about emerging technologies, including AI, and how they are changing how companies are built and scaled.

Location

This role is based in Kitchener, Ontario and requires full-time presence in the Region. We work five days a week in the office, with flexibility in hours and schedule.

A significant portion of this role is spent externally meeting with prospective and existing members, attending ecosystem events and building relationships that contribute to membership growth. The ideal candidate is already connected to the Waterloo Region technology ecosystem, or ready to become deeply embedded within it.

Compensation

The annual base salary range is $115,000-125,000. The actual compensation will be based on various factors, including the candidate’s level of skills, experience and education as well as the needs of the role, budget and market.