Council of Canadian Innovators

    Partnerships Manager

    Location of Work: Toronto, Ontario (Remote)

    Work hours: Full Time

    THE COUNCIL OF CANADIAN INNOVATORS (CCI):

    The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is a national business association representing over 150 of Canada’s fastest-growing technology-intensive companies. Companies within CCI’s portfolio are market leaders in their verticals and commercialize their technologies in over 190 countries, generating between $10M - $750M in annual recurring revenue. CCI’s member companies are all headquartered in Canada and collectively employ over 52,000 Canadians from coast to coast.

    CCI was created in 2015 by the leaders of Canada’s most innovative companies to reorient Canada’s economic strategies towards supporting domestic scale-up companies to aid in their pursuit of becoming engines of Canada’s future economic prosperity. CCI works closely with our members and leaders within federal and provincial governments to develop economic strategies that increase access to talent, capital, and customers for homegrown firms, all while updating Canada’s economic playbook for the 21st century economy. Since 2015, CCI’s advocacy has led to the government improving the way businesses access international talent, patent their inventions, and navigate the global data-driven economy.

    CCI is a peer network of Canadian business leaders and innovators who look to CCI’s leadership and membership for strategic advice and foresight, expert navigation of federal and provincial governments, and for connections to other innovators and institutions that can assist them in scaling their businesses worldwide.

    Today, CCI is headquartered in Toronto and has staff located in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Montreal. CCI is established as a not-for-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors, with Jim Balsillie, retired chairman and co-CEO of BlackBerry, serving as Chair, and John Ruffolo, founder of OMERS Ventures and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, serving as Vice-Chair. Both are also co-founders of CCI.

    ABOUT THIS ROLE:

    The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is the country’s leading business council for scale-up tech CEOs. As our Partnerships Manager, you’ll play a pivotal role in building the strategic alliances that help Canada’s fastest-growing companies scale globally. If you’re a sharp relationship-builder who thrives on momentum, this is your moment.

    We’re looking for a strategic builder who’s ready to take ownership of our partnership strategy—bringing new partners into our ecosystem, strengthening long-term relationships, and helping architect a high-performing revenue and impact engine that powers CCI’s mission.

    Reporting to the Director of Member Success & Partnerships, you will be responsible for managing CCI’s national partnership portfolio and ensuring strong, strategic relationships that advance our mission. You will coordinate, manage, and, over time, help shape CCI’s sponsorship and partnership priorities. As the primary point of contact for all CCI partnerships—including with major financial institutions, law firms, service providers, and community organizations—you will ensure partners are well supported and meaningfully integrated into CCI’s work.

    In close collaboration with the Director of Member Success & Partnerships, you will contribute to the development and execution of partnership strategies that align with CCI’s broader organizational goals. You will provide key insights and recommendations on partner engagement, ensuring alignment with CCI’s mission while driving value for stakeholders. Together, you will work to enhance partner satisfaction, explore new opportunities, and refine processes that optimize the impact of CCI’s sponsorship and partnership initiatives.

    In this role, you will play a key part in fostering partnerships that support and elevate CCI’s high-impact initiatives and marquee events. These include the Innovation Governance Program (iGP), The Canadian SHIELD Institute, and Mooseworks, as well as our signature gatherings such as Canada’s CEO Summit, Canada’s Capital & Growth Summit, and regional activations held across the country. You will work cross-functionally with the communications, events, and policy teams to deliver a best-in-class partner experience—from onboarding and branding to engagement and reporting

    ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

    In this role you’ll be wearing many hats, so we’ve tried to prioritize as clearly as possible. Here’s a breakdown of your role, but of course you’ll evolve this over time based on your strengths and the changing priorities of our team!

    • Develop & Manage Partnerships: Identify, evaluate, and onboard strategic partners to enhance business growth.
    • Relationship Building: Maintain strong relationships with existing partners, ensuring long-term collaboration and mutual success.
    • Negotiation & Agreement Execution: Support the Director contract negotiations and establish partnership terms that align with company goals.
    • Performance Monitoring: Track partnership success, analyze key metrics, and optimize strategies based on data insights.
    • Market & Competitor Research: Stay updated on industry trends and competitive landscape to identify new opportunities.
    • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with various departments to ensure seamless integration and execution of partnerships including communications, events and policy teams.

    WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE IN YOUR ROLE

    • CRM Pipeline Management: Our CRM pipeline remains current and accurate, ensuring no relationships with sponsors or partners fall through the cracks. The team has clear visibility into partnership statuses and next steps to nurture these relationships effectively.
    • Growth in Event Sponsorships: Through your proactive prospecting, outreach, and onboarding efforts, we see an increase in event sponsorships, bringing in new partners who align with our goals.
    • Partnership Retention & Value: Our existing partnerships are renewing, and partners are finding ongoing value in our collaboration, leading to long-term relationships and increased engagement. CCI is viewed by partners not only as a convener of innovators, but as a force multiplier—thanks to your work, partners are proud to be aligned with our mission and feel the impact of their support in tangible ways.

    DESIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES:

    • A natural connector with a track record of closing high-impact partnerships, ideally in a tech, non-profit, government relations, or social enterprise organization
    • A systems-thinker who loves improving pipelines, pitches, and partner journeys
    • Motivated by mission, but energized by metrics and outcomes
    • Entrepreneurial and agile—you thrive in ambiguity and build as you go
    • An interest in supporting Canada’s homegrown innovation sector and working closely with partners that can help Canadian companies scale-up globally.
    • Collaboration: The ability to work independently and telework collaboratively with a small team and thrive in a fast-paced environment;
    • The ability to work at the pace of the private sector, responding to the needs of the innovation community and tech sector while meeting government deadlines;
    • Consistently maintain a high level of professionalism with CCI’s partners, members, the Board of Directors, government officials and other key stakeholders;
    • Attention to detail and with superior organizational skills;
    • Initiative: A self-starter with the ability to work independently and ask for help when needed
    • Ownership & deliver: The ability to think outside the box, be resourceful and solutions orientated;
    • Be part of a highly driven, dynamic, inclusive team with energetic personalities.

    SALARY AND BENEFITS:

    • Salary range $75,000 CAD to $95,000 CAD

    • Education/training spend $2,500 per year

    • Generous benefits including dental & medical coverage

    • Parental leave benefits

    • CCI provides employees 3 weeks’ vacation each year, in addition to a summer closure in July of one week, and a winter closure of two weeks, totalling six weeks off during the year

    Our bands are based on paying above market rates in our industry and paying comparatively to market rates for parallel roles in the tech sector to acknowledge the diverse skill set we need for our work.

    We believe in equal pay for equal value of work. For this reason, although we hire all over Canada, we don’t adjust our pay based on where you live. We’ve used a rate that is competitive across the various locations where we hire

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