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.

About the opportunity 

MaRS is seeking an advisor who has recently held direct responsibility for growing revenue at a startup or scaleup selling a physical, science based or hardware enabled product. You have turned early customer interest into repeatable commercial revenue while navigating the realities of long development cycles, manufacturing and deployment, capital intensity and complex buyers.

You will work with founders and leadership teams to identify the few commercial decisions that matter most, build a credible path to growth and connect sales promises to the company’s ability to deliver. The right candidate has built and led the work, not only advised on it.

Advisors are engaged as independent contractors and are not employees of MaRS.

Scope of Work

Through individual advisory and group programming, you will work with MaRS founders and management teams on areas including:

• Help ventures choose priority customer segments, use cases and buying pathways; sharpen positioning and quantify the technical, operational and financial value for each buyer.
• Build practical go to market plans across direct sales, strategic accounts, channel partners, distributors, OEMs and system integrators, selecting routes that fit the product and market.
• Guide teams through technical validation, pilots, demonstrations and first deployments; define success criteria and a clear path from pilot to paid contract, repeat order or wider rollout.
• Advise on complex enterprise and public sector sales cycles, including multiple decision makers, procurement, security and compliance requirements, and the business case needed for adoption.
• Support pricing, contracting and deal structure using a clear view of unit economics, gross margin, installation, service, warranties, working capital and cash conversion.
• Help founders forecast demand and build a repeatable commercial process, with useful pipeline stages, conversion measures, account plans and realistic revenue forecasts.
• Connect commercial growth to product readiness, certification, manufacturing capacity, supply chain reliability and after sales support; help teams make commitments they can fulfill.
• Advise on when and how to enter new geographies, including local buyer needs, regulatory and certification pathways, distribution, service coverage and partner economics.

Working With MaRS

You will work with the MaRS team to support the delivery of high-quality advisory services and programming by:

• Assessing company needs and determining where your experience can have the greatest impact.
• Providing input into company assessments, growth plans and program strategy.
• Making relevant connections to executives, customers, partners, talent and other experts within your network.
• Sharing current benchmarks, operating practices and market intelligence relevant to hardware/ hard-tech companies.
• Contributing to small-group advisory sessions, peer groups, workshops and other 1:many programming.
• Providing insights for MaRS content, thought leadership and corporate initiatives where relevant.
• Documenting venture interactions and outcomes in the MaRS CRM and following program processes that enable effective client and program management.

What You Bring

We are specifically looking for recent first-hand operating experience, not solely consulting, investing or advisory experience.

You have:

• Recent, first hand operating experience leading revenue growth at a startup or scaleup with a hard-tech, hardware, industrial, device or other physical technology solution. 
• Ownership for commercial results, with evidence of moving beyond early pilots to repeatable purchases and deep experience across the full revenue cycle.
• Experience selling into complex organizations and translating technical performance into an economic case for buyers, users and procurement teams.
• Practical command of hardware commercialization economics and constraints, including cost of goods, margins, delivery lead times, deployment and post sale obligations.
• Experience building a sales process or team and working closely with product, engineering, operations and manufacturing leaders across the full revenue cycle, including post-sale success. 
• The judgment to challenge assumptions, adapt advice to a venture’s stage and help founders act on a small number of priorities.

Valuable Experience

We will give particular consideration to candidates who have scaled revenue across multiple markets; secured major enterprise, OEM or government customers; built channel or distribution partnerships; converted pilots into recurring or repeat purchases; or sold products requiring certification, integration or substantial buyer workflow change. Experience advising or mentoring founders is an asset.

How You Work

You are a practical operator who can move easily between strategy and execution.

You are able to quickly understand a company's business, identify the few issues most likely to constrain its next stage of growth, and help the leadership team make better decisions.

You ask difficult questions, bring pattern recognition from direct experience, and help founders understand the second- and third-order implications of their choices.

You are comfortable advising CEOs and Revenue leaders while also engaging deeply with product, engineering, sales and operating teams.

Most importantly, you respect founders’ ownership of decisions and collaborate well with other advisors and MaRS staff.

Engagement Structure

• Advisors are engaged as independent contractors, not employees of MaRS.
• Work is assigned based on venture and program needs, with no minimum or guaranteed number of hours.
• Advisors are expected to operate independently while collaborating closely with the MaRS team.
• Specific activities and deliverables will be mutually agreed upon in advance.

Advisors are independent contractors (not MaRS employees) and are not eligible for employee benefits, vacation, or statutory entitlements.

Advisors are responsible for their own taxes, insurance, and business expenses.

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.

#LI-MDD