Start Date: preferably by April 1, 2023
ABOUT US:
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (“OSC”) is an innovative and imaginative organization with national scope that is ensuring we as Canadians, achieve sustainable economic growth in our ocean-based industries while preserving the health and protection of one of our greatest natural resources.
The OSC collaborates with investors and partners from across ocean industries to develop and commercialize innovative solutions and create growth opportunities within Canada’s ocean economy, delivering cross-sectoral solutions, building a strong global ocean brand, and increasing Canada’s ocean workforce. Our organizational values diversity, creativity, ambition, collaboration, and inclusion. The OSC has a team of over 25 employees across seven provinces and growing.
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster creates new business opportunities for large-scale companies (anchor firms) as well as small to medium size entities (SMEs). It promotes and facilitates new partnerships between businesses, research institutions, and academia, helping them to undertake new business initiatives, develop and market innovative products, and become part of new and existing supply chains. OSC supports organizations to be globally competitive, expand into new markets and to significantly grow the ocean economy.
ABOUT THE ROLE:
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), the Chief Growth and Investment Officer (“CGIO”) will work closely with the CEO on the organization’s strategic growth plan along with an investment strategy and portfolio. The CGIO will lead the OSC’s focus on driving company growth and will partner with the Chief Engagement and Communications Officer (“CECO”) and Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) on building the innovation ecosystem through talent, community and brand.
The CGIO will actively look for opportunities to partner to work on investments and involvement in projects that have the potential to significantly grow the ocean economy. The overarching Technology Leadership Program is intended to strengthen the partnerships between SMEs, large firms, academic and research institutions.
The CGIO and team will be accountable to actively engage with partners and experts on a global basis to develop innovative solutions to lower the costs of ocean data acquisition, increase the quality and quantity of data. The CGIO will lead the ongoing enhancement of networking, investment, technology, and partnering systems to drive greater efficiency and improved analytics and metrics to track program performance, priorities, return on investments, as well as to promote OSC and the oceans economy sector outcomes more broadly.
Key Accountabilities:
Growth Strategy & Plan
- Lead the Growth Strategy and plans with clear deliverables and KPIs
- Facilitate growth through collaboration and exploring sector trends, opportunities, and solutions
- Identify net new prospects through cross-industry collaboration on next generation innovation and growth
- Create strategies to improve industry/sector capacity to bring concepts, products, and/or services to market
- Take action to accelerate development and commercialization of made-in-Canada innovation that are driving technological solutions, digitized data collection, and enhanced working environments
Relationship Management
- Manage key relationships with partners/stakeholders through trust, engagement, and involvement
- Cultivate strong partnerships internally and externally to enhance productivity and processes to deliver on OSC priorities
Technology Leadership Program
- Lead project idea development, project selection, funding, and on-going monitoring of projects
- Report on the progress of the technology leadership program objectives, gaps, outcomes and KPIs
- Build connections across projects to share ideas, innovations, learnings, best practices, and outcomes
Investment Plan:
- Build strategic investment opportunities for international collaboration and enhancing commercial supply chain access for Canadian ocean technology providers.
- Identify and engage with potential domestic and global investors through proposal preparations and investor presentations
- Establish investment policies, standards, systems, related processes, portfolio management structures, and decision-making frameworks
- Ensure prudent investment portfolio management including allocation of assets, governance protocols for compliance reporting, process for recommendations and decision making
IP/Data Strategy & IP/Data Registry:
- Oversee Intellectual Property creation and IP portfolio management
- Establish process for members to secure appropriate IP rights aligned with their strategic positions, commercial interests, investment level and best practice
- Oversee governance framework to foster data sharing with clear and transparent rules on data access, IP protection, and registry management
IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE
The CGIO will bring the professional values, collegial leadership style, ambition and runway to grow the oceans industry and sector, as well as OSC. The CGIO will be an enthusiastic, tech savvy, accomplished, confident, low-ego executive who is passionate about leading from a strong foundation of values based on teamwork. The CGIO will bring strong relationship skills to enhance sector engagement, drive innovative solutions and excellence; and motivate self and team to consistently deliver on targets and goals. The CGIO will be required to travel more than 30% of the time and is able to work in a remote/hybrid model with a flexible schedule.
Experience:
- Minimum of 10 years’ senior leadership experience in one or more roles focused on growth, innovation, technology, strategy and or investor relations
- Minimum of 10 years of middle management leadership experience in dynamic, complex, project-based environments with multiple diverse stakeholders
- MBA designation would be an asset
- Experience in the Oceans sector would be an asset
Strategic and Innovative Thinking:
- Agile, innovative, strategic thinker with ability to contribute to and execute on continuous improvement
- Brings a global perspective able to contribute to the overall 5-year strategy
- Strong business and financial acumen with understanding of investor relations and investment portfolios
- Effective decision-making; considerate of multiple factors in a dynamic, complex, nuanced environment
Results Focused:
- Proven track record of working in a high-paced environment focused on delivering KPIs to achieve results
- Strong decision-making capabilities achieved through consultation and supported by evidence and best practice
- Highly motivated with strong change resiliency
- Strong planning and organization skills with ability to delegate
- Strives for continuous improvement towards world leading processes, practices, programs, and investments
Relationship Leadership:
- Strong networking, marketing, and engagement capabilities to increase awareness, build contacts, create opportunities, and gain insights and gain early inclusion in strategic investment discussions
- Strong leader who can build and manage a diverse, high performing, and outcomes focused team
- Trusted and respected relationship builder who can work with diverse stakeholders with unique needs and expectations (internally and externally) to find solutions to challenging issues/problems
- Open to diverse opinions and approaches and seeks out different perspectives on challenging and or emerging trends and opportunities
- Champion for equity, diversity and inclusion and demonstrates commitment through actions
- Excellent interpersonal skills to communicate verbally, in writing, and in presentations
- Ability to move internal and external stakeholders forward
We are excited to continue building our team with experienced, diverse professionals who are passionate about realizing Canada’s opportunity and growing the ocean economy in a digital, sustainable, and inclusive way.
Apply Now: Submit your cover letter and CV in confidence to www.royerthompson.com