VC Manager @ MARS in Toronto, Canada

MaRS Discovery District (@MaRSDD) in Toronto is one of the world’s largest urban innovation hubs.

MaRS supports promising high-growth companies to scale their businesses globally, while tackling key societal challenges in areas such as Health, Cleantech, Finance, Transportation, AI, and others. In addition to helping start‑ups launch, grow and scale, the MaRS community is dedicated to cross‑disciplinary collaboration, commercialization of discoveries, and driving ideas to impact.

About Ventures & Ecosystems

This role resides within the V&E group at MaRS. V&E works with over 1400 innovation-driven science and technology startups. V&E helps entrepreneurs commercialize innovations with high business growth potential in Canada and globally by facilitating access to the customer, talent, funding, marketing and stakeholder connections required to successfully scale their business.

About the Position

As a member of the Climate team, the Manager, Climate Programs will provide oversight and direction to our Mission from MaRS programming. This will include Mission oversight, program management and alignment of activities across all aspects of the Mission. This role will act as a point person for both internal teams and external relationships/partnerships relating to the strategy and execution of the Mission.

This is a 1-year contract.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Management, Delivery & Execution (75%)
  • Oversee the strategic planning and theory of change for the Mission and its anchor components, including a coalition of industry leaders designed to tackle system‑level barriers to innovation adoption.
  • Senior leader of venture cohort activities including workshops, demo days, showcases, etc.
  • Troubleshoot and problem solve when required to find resolutions.
  • Manage the objectives and lead all industry coalition meetings (quarterly).
  • Identification and recruitment of senior‑level coalition members.
  • Manage and direct support activities of Associate (including delivery, reporting, tracking program metrics, etc.).
• Program administration (10%)
  • Manage surveying and KPI tracking for impact reports.
  • Manage the contracting and engagement with Legal.
  • Oversee budget.
• Account Management (5%)
  • Manage the relationship with key stakeholders including direct client.
  • Review and approve funder report‑backs.
  • Manage scheduled check‑ins with funders.
• Thought Leadership (5%)
  • Partner with MarComm team on thought leadership strategy.
  • Be the subject matter expert for MaRS (including MaRS quotes or references in stories, on conference panels, etc.).
• Business Development (5%)
  • Meet monthly with the MaRS Business Development team to explore paid partnership opportunities.
  • Meet bi‑weekly with MaRS Philanthropic Office team to explore philanthropic grant opportunities, side projects, etc.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate/Bachelor’s degree or relevant experience.
• Graduate‑level university degree with areas of focus that include agriculture, business, finance, science, technology and/or environmental asset.
• 5+ years in a business and/or technology related field with some experience supporting organizations in the food and agriculture sector.
• Strong critical and strategic thinker, planner and organizer.
• Brings a strong understanding of the food and agriculture sector in Canada through an innovation lens.
• Evidence of relationships with strategic community partners including corporates, investors, innovators, foundations and NFPs in the cleantech/agriculture sector.

Salary and Benefits

Salary Range: $75,000 – $93,000, extended healthcare benefits, lifestyle spending account, and paid time‑off.

Applications will close at 5pm EDT on April 22, 2025.

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada and reside in Ontario.

We want you to be comfortable being your most authentic self throughout our recruitment process. Please reach out to careers@marsdd.com if there’s anything we can do to make your experience more accessible and inclusive, including accommodations. Include ‘Accessibility Request’ in your subject line.

We actively encourage all candidates, including equity‑deserving communities, including those who identify as BIPOC, racialized, women, people with disabilities, and people with diverse gender identities, expressions and sexual orientations.

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