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 qualifications 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 careers@marsdd.com 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 the Position

The Senior Associate owns the daily operating layer of Momentum at the Venture Growth team. As the reliable operational quarterback of the team, this person owns the coordination, data, and communications that keep a rolling portfolio of Canadian science and technology scale-ups moving.

This is a portfolio management role. You'll hold a working view of where each venture stands, where advisor time is going, and where the program's attention should be focused next, and you'll be trusted to act on it. The scheduling, logistics, procurement, invoices, and event execution that surround that work matter too: done well and done fast, they're the foundation the relationship and judgment work sits on.

It is also a judgment role. The person in this seat reads the portfolio critically, catches problems in the data before they reach a funder report, keeps the program's records honest, defensible, and reliable, and helps decide where the team's limited attention should go. You are close enough to the venture and advisory work to form a view and are trusted to flag what you see.
You will work directly with the Senior Client Engagement Manager, the advisor bench, and the Venture Growth Director, gaining real exposure to the scale-up advisory work at the core of Momentum's mission.

What you'll own

Venture engagement and relationship management. Take ownership of a slice of the venture portfolio's relationships, working alongside the Senior Client Engagement Manager rather than simply backing them up. Hold a current, accurate picture of venture contacts, Momentum activity, and engagement status, and use that picture to decide who needs attention now. Write venture communications that actually land, from a warm one-to-one note to a founder who's gone quiet to sharper outreach that re-engages them. Support venture prospecting with the same judgment, turning data collection into a real read on who's worth pursuing.
Advisor enablement and coordination. Keep an eye on how advisors are matched to ventures. When an assignment no longer fits a venture's current focus or an advisor's load, raise it and help propose a better fit. Give advisors the support that lets them do their best work: complex scheduling, meticulous notes, and clean communications and materials.
Event coordination. Serve as the coordination lead for peer-to-peer events, small and intentionally intimate, so they run consistently and well. Convene the substantive leads for planning, shape the experience alongside them, arrange logistics, troubleshoot barriers before they become problems, and turn post-event feedback into concrete changes for the next one.
Data integrity and reporting. Own the collection, storage, and presentation of key program data, including NPS and services delivered, and act as the resident Salesforce expert. Just as important: read our own records critically. Portfolio-level numbers reported to funders are only as good as the records behind them. You are the person who notices when a record is stale, missing, contradictory, or out of scope, and who fixes it before it reaches a report. When a venture drifts outside the program's eligibility range or a status no longer reflects reality, you flag it.
Program operations and coordination. Take full ownership of the operational backbone that keeps Momentum running, so the team, ventures, and advisors can move fast without friction. That means being the responsive coordinator for scheduling across the team, ventures, and stakeholders, and handling the logistics and administrative execution for assigned projects, including hospitality approvals and room bookings, without being chased.
Procurement, budgeting, and vendors. Learn MaRS procurement rules well enough to move through them cleanly, and flag hurdles early rather than late. Process invoices quickly and correctly. Give the Senior Engagement Manager timely, accurate financial information for budget planning. Build steady working relationships with external vendors so program elements land on time.

Qualifications

A minimum of a Bachelor's Degree is required for this role
At least 3 years of relevant professional experience. Candidates with start-up or client-facing experience will be strongly considered.
Strong with G-Suite and a corporate CRM. Salesforce preferred.
Excellent communication across all mediums: oral, written, and presentation.
Strong organizational, process, and project management skills.
Self-motivated, effective working independently and as part of a team.
Superior interpersonal skills for navigating stakeholder relationships.
Able to multi-task and thrive in a fast-paced environment.

Nice to Have

Graphic design and visual communication.
Strong knowledge of data analytics tools to enhance reporting.
A demonstrated commitment to continuous learning and growth.

What distinguishes a strong Senior Associate

Relationship builder.
You build real trust with founders and advisors over time, notice when a relationship needs attention before it goes quiet, and keep people engaged without it feeling transactional.
Skeptical reading of data. You treat a record as a claim to be checked, not a fact to be trusted. Prioritization under scarcity. You can look at a portfolio, decide where finite attention should go, and be deliberate about what you consciously deprioritize.
Sound escalation judgment. You know which calls are yours to make and which should go to your manager first, and you don't quietly act on shaky ground.
Calibrated communication. You shift register between a warm one-to-one note to a founder, a crisp summary to the Program Director, and clean promotional copy, and you get each one right.

Applications will close at 12pm EDT on Aug 10, 2026. However, we may close the posting earlier if we receive a high volume of qualified applications or if the position is filled before the deadline. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

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:$60,000 - $70,000, up to 10% discretionary incentive target, GRSP, extended healthcare benefits, wellness spending account, and paid time-off.

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Our Applicant Tracking System, BambooHR, does not use Artificial Intelligence (AI). From time to time MaRS may use AI in our screening, assessment, and selection processes.

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