Senior Associate, Corporate Innovation

About MaRS

MaRS Discovery District (@MaRSDD) is a charitable organization and North America’s largest urban innovation hub, dedicated to helping high-growth technology companies succeed. With a focus on climate, health sciences and other emerging technologies, MaRS supports startups tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues. Through its world-class facilities, strategic programs and partnerships, MaRS accelerates the adoption of groundbreaking Canadian technology and bolsters a globally competitive innovation ecosystem. MaRS is the place where you can play a meaningful role in the innovation economy.

We understand requirements on a job posting can be daunting. If you're passionate about the role and believe you can make a meaningful impact, we want to hear from you, even if you don't meet every listed qualification. We’re always looking for great talent to join our team on planet MaRS. 

We actively encourage all candidates to apply, 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. 

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

About Corporation Innovation

The Corporate Innovation (CI) team at MaRS brings MaRS’ unique expertise to deliver corporate innovation programs that drive adoption of new technologies across the Canadian private sector. 

About the Position

This is a 2 year fixed-term contract. The core objective of the Sr. Associate, Corporate Innovation role is to support the coordination and delivery of such programs. A significant bulk of the work will involve working with our corporate cohort programs, which are theme-based, time-bound programs that provide accelerated support for 5-12 partners in a community format, specifically focused on the adoption of innovative solutions through assessment, planning, and implementation phases. Other aspects of the role may focus on the delivery of paid corporate partner engagements such as workshops or roundtables and providing 1:1 account management to select companies. While the initial focus of the role will be in deploying clean technologies in the food and agriculture sector, the industry scope is likely to expand in the future. 

Key Responsibilities

Program Delivery (60%)

Support the delivery of paid corporate partner engagements that facilitate customer adoption of venture technologies and emerging business models with medium-large enterprises. Specifically, provide research, data analysis, content (reports, briefing notes, decks, and articles) and logistics support to enable high quality delivery of MaRS Corporate Innovation offerings to a range of corporate partners.

Support the delivery of corporate cohort programs, which may entail activities such as:

Primary and secondary research and synthesis and presentation of findings

Recruitment and onboarding of cohort participants

Design and distribution of program promotional deliverables (decks, brochures, guides and external program communications such as webinars)

Success metric identification and reporting

Co-delivery of workshops, roundtables, and venture showcases

Program Management (30%)

Work collaboratively across the Corporate Innovation team to manage timelines and the execution of all programs and deliverables.

Support the development and management of governance processes related to project finance grants, including identifying recipient requirements, managing contracting, coordinating applicant review and selection, and leading on-going data collection

Provide administrative and logistical support for the cohort and for other programs under purview and coordinate effective delivery with other teams across MaRS (e.g., communications, real estate, venture engagement team, etc.).

Ensure the organization, quality, and standards are maintained for client-facing deliverables by capturing continuous improvements and utilizing project management and communication tools.

Monitor and document various program metrics (e.g., delivery and impact) using data tracking tools, ensuring sufficient and timely data for various reporting requirements.

Account Management (10%)

Support corporate partner onboarding, ongoing management, renewals, and related activities to ensure that corporate partners are receiving high quality, high value service within their Corporate Innovation partnership. This includes, attending and supporting partner engagement in meetings and engagements, developing decks, supporting renewal proposal development, among other tasks. 

Requirements

Undergraduate degree in or equivalent work experience

2-3 years of relevant business experience in client-facing roles

Experience synthesizing insights and developing recommendations and deliverables for senior-level audiences, internal and external

Project management experience

Data analysis experience

Excellent capabilities in Excel, MS Word, and PowerPoint

Experience working with multiple stakeholders, clients, colleagues in a face-paced business environment

Confidence and capability in research, content development, and program delivery

Strong idea synthesis skills, capable of integrating multiple information sources to develop a cohesive integrated thesis

Ability to problem-solve and identify engagement pathways that satisfy organization and partner objectives

Superior organizational skills with an ability to self-start

Personal accountability and commitment to achieving and exceeding goals and objectives

Strong analytical skills

Strong collaborator and convener

Superior interpersonal and communication skills

Nice to Haves

Advanced degree with a focus in business, environmental science, or climate

Experience delivering workshops and/or consulting engagements, particularly in the private sector

Experience working on topics related to innovation, climate, cleantech, food & agriculture

Marketing and/or business development experience

Good understanding of the food and agriculture sector in Canada

Previous experience working in Asana and Salesforce

Applications will close at 12pm EDT on February 9, 2026. This posting is for an existing vacancy.

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada, reside in Ontario and be willing to work out of our Toronto office (101 College Street) a minimum of 3 days per week.

Salary Range: $61,000 to $73,000, extended healthcare benefits, lifestyle spending account, and paid time-off.

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