Director, Business Development & Investments

Position Summary

Reporting to the Assistant Vice-President, Business Development with a dotted line to the Assistant Vice President of Strategic Programs, the primary responsibility for the Director, Business Development & Investments is to deliver the OCI operating plan and represent OCI provincially to support industry partners, academic institutions, other government and not-for-profit partner organizations. The Director also manages their own programs or projects and is responsible for their outcomes (deliverables).

Key Responsibilities- Business Development

The Director is expected to assume investment, leadership and program delivery responsibilities, including, but not limited to:

Investments

• Responsible for actively managing a pipeline of investment opportunities and playing an active role in sourcing deal flow for OCI.
• Overseeing the identification of appropriate opportunities, assess their viability and manage/conduct all stages of due diligence, including market research, competitive analysis, and product technology analysis as required, presenting investment proposals to the decision-making panels.
• Strengthen and manage the process for reviewing the investment term sheets and supporting investment materials and providing recommendations to the Investment Committee on the viability and risks of a potential investment.
• Ensure adequate coaching and guidance is provided to the Business Development team.
• Direct and oversee the management of the portfolio of OCI start-up companies including tracking the progress of each company; identifying risks and opportunities tied to each company; ranking companies in terms of future potential based on projected outcomes; and making company specific recommendations to leadership team.
• Develop strategic relationships with and Work with emerging companies to identify best outcome driven investment opportunities to develop and support solid funding proposals including co-funding partners.
• Engage with investment communities and the broader innovation network in Ontario with the view of developing sources of deal flow and opportunities for follow-on investment.
• Act as OCI's representative in working with portfolio companies to provide on-going analysis and to monitor performance to support the growth and scalability of viable opportunities.
• Engage with developing networks and facilitate the formation of effective partnerships between industry, research, the investment community and government.
• Provide thought leadership within the ecosystem and gain credibility within the network.
• Provide leadership, advice, coaching and training to Business Development staff with regards to investments and the Commercialization/Market Readiness program, augmenting market ready opportunities for success.
• Contribute to and maintain a network of technology and domain experts that can be called upon to help evaluate opportunities and assist with due diligence.
• Attend a wide range of events and other networking opportunities and actively participate in relevant business associations, committees and professional organizations to promote and grow OCI's network.
• Accountable for keeping abreast of services, programs and capabilities of the private and not-for-profit sectors, tracking developments and keeping up to date on the latest in the investment community and business developments in commercialization. Establish a presence within the commercialization community, technology transfer offices, investment organizations and research offices within industry.
• Leverages OCI's network to identify trends and opportunities.

Leadership

• Supervision and coaching of staff members, providing input into performance objectives. Mentoring of less experienced or more junior staff and taking an active role in recruitment of new staff as required,
• Actively participating in relevant business associations, technical committees and professional organizations to promote and grow OCI's network
• Leading key program activities (e.g. committees of volunteer groups (e.g. advisory or review committees) or serving on corporate committees (e.g. Research, Commercialization, and /or Talent Committees), making proposal presentations to investment and other committees, conducting project technical and business-case reviews, etc.)
• Tracking developments and keeping up-to-date on the latest technological and business developments within the province; including current knowledge of sector specific industry news, regulations and contacts
• Providing advice and support to other OCI support groups, e.g. Marketing / Communication and Finance groups on key initiatives.

Program Delivery

• Engaging and developing an understanding of the needs and wants of the business, investment, public sector and research communities.
• Building and maintaining the OCI network, including the identification and development of strategic partnerships to advance OCI business.
• Managing a client portfolio consisting of a number of projects that have a common aspect (e.g. geographic, technical, sectoral domain, etc.) or a more complex program. Dealing with the day-to-day aspects of working with stakeholders to develop appropriate proposals for clients; facilitating stakeholder interaction in respect to plans/activities; providing advice and guidance on appropriate budgets and leverage.
• Planning, developing and delivering in consultation with Marketing and Communications, knowledge and technology transfer events (e.g. workshops, seminars, regional network meetings) with an emphasis on business development.
• Accountable for the identification and development of information for OCI success stories in conjunction with the Marketing and Communications group.
• Identifying and developing potential opportunities where OCI can engage with the stakeholder community to create significant outcomes, including partnerships with a goal of developing additional sources of program funding.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Competencies

• Formal, specialized post-graduate education in Business, Science and Technology
• A minimum of 6-8 years of related experience.
• 3-5 years of people management experience.
• Minimum +5 years of direct experience gained working within the investment community and commercialization environment in any of the following: as a direct investor for a venture capital fund; or as an entrepreneur or business leader in early stage, high growth venture backed technology oriented companies.
• Entrepreneurial experience in a tech start-up, experience gained as a financial analyst, management consultant, or in a strategic role at a company is a must.
• Strong knowledge of the Angel Investor Network in Ontario.
• Experience in investment capital and portfolio management.
• Account management experience with ability to broker and close deals.
• Superior project management skills with the ability to balance multiple stakeholders' needs and priorities.
• Demonstrated experience in a multi-party, collaborative project environment such as in product management, product development and/or systems sales.
• Highly developed interpretive and analytical skills.
• Ability to analyze a wide variety of businesses in multiple sectors, such as technology, software, cleantech, life sciences etc.
• Distinctive problem solving and analytical skills and impeccable business judgement.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Impeccable work ethic, highly motivated and passionate, and clearly driven by success.
• Team player who can consistently accomplish critical organizational objectives on time.
• Strong ability to form and maintain good working relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Unquestionable personal and professional integrity and ability to keep the best interests of OCI in mind at all times and represent the organization in all circumstances.
• Knowledge of the Ontario innovation economy including networks and programs, companies and associations.

Internal Contacts/External Contacts

• OCI staff at all levels
• Investment Community
• Industry (from the CEO to the shop floor)
• Academic researchers, students, university research administrative staff
• University/college/hospital/government administration
• Government (at all levels, federal, provincial and municipal)

Working Conditions

• Frequent travel (30 - 70%) across Ontario.
• Participation required in non-office hour events such as networking meetings and workshops

OCI is committed to creating a diverse and equitable environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. OCI welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.