This posting is for an existing vacancy.
Summary:
Reporting to the CEO, The Director, CITM and Strategic Programs is a critical leadership role responsible for the long-term vision, strategic planning, and operational excellence of Innovation Factory’s transportation and mobility initiative (CITM) portfolio and other strategic programs (including priorities like artificial intelligence and intellectual property).
This professional will plan, direct, and have oversight of all activities related to Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (CITM) at Innovation Factory. This includes program and service delivery, business development to unlock value-added resources and services and achievement of contractual KPIs. In addition to CITM, this leadership role will identify new strategic program opportunities by convening stakeholders and identifying and driving new pursuits within the regional and national innovation ecosystem. The Director is responsible for ensuring the ongoing operational effectiveness of the CITM & Strategic Programs team and managing high-level strategic relationships with sector partners, government stakeholders, and academic partners. team. This position is responsible for fostering cross-functional alignment across Marketing, Finance, and Operations to support the execution of high-impact programs.
Core Responsibilities:
Strategic Planning and Leadership
- Ownership of a comprehensive strategic operating plan for the CITM & Strategic Partners team, aligning all activities with the organization’s overall mission and long-term growth objectives.
- As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, this role provides executive-level input on overall organizational strategy, resource allocation, and cross-departmental alignment.
- Ownership and comprehensive budget oversight for CITM & Strategic Programs department, ensuring fiscal responsibility and maximizing the return on investment for all programs.
- Identify new market opportunities, emerging industry trends, and strategic programmatic gaps to drive the expansion and scaling of the accelerator model.
- Lead proposal development and negotiations with funding agencies to secure multi-year operational funding for the CITM & Strategic Programs department.
Team Leadership and Operational Oversight (Supervisory)
- Recruit, onboard, manage, and grow the CITM & Strategic Programs team staff.
- Provide executive-level mentorship to the CITM & Strategic Programs team, fostering a culture of high performance and continuous development.
- Oversee and elevate the structure and utilization of strategic CITM partners and client satisfaction.
- Establish and enforce organizational-wide standards for client assessment, engagement, risk management, and outcome reporting.
- Leads performance management for direct reports, delivering constructive and timely evaluations aligned with organizational practices.
Investment and Ecosystem Leadership
- Lead the identification and development of strategic, high-value relationships with key stakeholders and partners.
- Act as an external thought leader and ambassador for Innovation Factory, actively promoting and liaising with members of the Hamilton-Halton innovation ecosystem and others in the Regional Technology Development Sites and OVIN network.
- Be a spokesperson for the organization and the events in the community as required.
- Actively monitors mobility program offerings more broadly, including competitive assessment of other regional and national programs
Data Governance and Executive Reporting
- Define, design, and take executive ownership of the metrics, client success, and other Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the entire CITM portfolio.
- Prepare regular, executive-level reports for senior leadership and the Board of Directors, highlighting progress, fiscal health, challenges, and opportunities for strategic optimization.
- Oversee data structures for the CRM system, ensuring client information accuracy and that reporting requirements for all stakeholders are met on time.
Qualifications:
- A minimum of 10+ years of progressive industry-related experience in transportation and mobility and/or , business development, or accelerator leadership roles is required.
- 3-5 years of experience in senior management, including team leadership and oversight of significant program budgets, is required.
- Undergraduate degree or diploma in business, engineering or technology or related discipline.
- Demonstrated operational excellence in previous work experience, with a track record of scaling programs or business lines.
- Exceptional skills in executive relationship-building, high-stakes negotiation, and long-term strategic planning.
- Strong supervisory and leadership skills, with proven success developing multi-layered teams.
- Extensive knowledge of the principles, procedures, and best practices in the business acceleration, startup funding, and technology sectors.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present to board-level audiences.
- A well-defined sense of diplomacy, including solid negotiation, conflict resolution and people management skills.
- Other duties as assigned by your Supervisor.
Assets
- Graduate degree in business, engineering or technology.
- Previous experience with an entrepreneurial exit, preferably as a founder.
- French language proficiency.
Working Conditions
- 5 days per week; 37.5 hours per week, regular daytime business hours are between 9 am EST to 5 pm EST.
- On event days, working hours will adjust as necessary for the timing of the event i.e. requiring an early or later workday.
- Some localized travel and access to a vehicle are required.
Location
Innovation Factory
- B21-175 Longwood Rd S, Hamilton ON
- 5151 New St., Burlington, ON
Please note that AI-assisted tools may be used to support the preliminary screening of applications. All applicant assessments and hiring decisions involve human oversight.
About Innovation Factory
Innovation Factory (iF) is a not-for-profit business accelerator, providing entrepreneurs with business services, training, mentorship and strategic connections to help bring disruptive technologies to market, increase revenues, attract investment and create jobs.
Our mission is to be the primary catalyst for technology innovation in the greater Hamilton and Halton areas with a vision to make the region Canada’s fastest-growing innovation community and the first port of call for innovators. We will do this via direct 1-1 support for companies; creating partnerships, and building community. We will create an environment and culture that draws people into the region as a place to invest, live, learn, work and start businesses.
The Innovation Factory is committed to a fair and inclusive work environment. We are an equal opportunity employer that hires and attracts talent regardless of age, race, creed, colour, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, nationality, sex, status as a protected veteran or any other legally protected grounds and will not discriminate on these bases. Accommodation will be provided throughout the hiring process, as required. Applicants must make their needs known in advance.
For more information, please visit www.innovationfactory.ca
