Business Development Officer - Prairies

Talent Innovation Canada (TICAN) is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to addressing strategic R&D challenges by connecting industry with research talent to strengthen Canada’s innovation ecosystem. Through industry-driven graduate research partnerships, TICAN helps companies accelerate advanced technology development, commercialize intellectual property, and build long-term R&D capacity. At the same time, it develops a pipeline of highly skilled talent that strengthens Canada’s global competitiveness.

Position Summary

Join a team committed to strengthening Canada’s position as a leader in technology development and innovation. This role is not a traditional business development position. Instead, it focuses on articulating a compelling value proposition to fast‑growing companies and enabling them to access Canada’s top graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and technical talent.

The successful candidate will identify high‑growth firms in the Canadian Prairies seeking advanced expertise, match them with the right researchist, and design partnership structures that create meaningful value for both industry and talent.

As part of TICAN’s business development team, this role offers an opportunity to help redefine how industrial and academic research can enhance Canada’s competitiveness across key sectors. The target sector for this position will be one of the following two:

• Clean Growth (Natural Resources, Energy, Infrastructure): Sustainable energy generation and storage is making rapid advances. Key opportunities include building energy infrastructure (generation, extraction, storage, transport, and carbon storage/sequestration), the built environment (infrastructure, transportation systems), digital infrastructure (such as low carbon data centres), sustainable food systems (agriculture, food processing, lowering food waste), and resource extraction (mining, forestry, etc.).
• Mobility technology (Automotive, Aerospace, Maritime): The EV revolution and more generally the automotive sector presents a unique opportunity to develop advanced technologies for a global market. These include novel battery design, charging infrastructure, critical minerals, specialized chips, autonomous vehicles, robotics, novel materials, and advanced manufacturing. More broadly, the same challenges arise in aerospace and maritime mobility. Addressing these challenges in the context of Canada’s renewed commitment for substantial investments in building a state‑of-the-art military presents a once in a lifetime opportunity.

This position will work directly with leading researchers in their fields alongside innovative Canadian companies developing breakthrough technologies. Successful completion of a placement facilitated by this role will create a clear pathway to full‑time employment, ensuring that Canada retains top talent and continues to strengthen its innovation capacity.

Key Responsibilities:

• The “Pitch”: Move from selling “partnerships” to selling a high-impact talent pipeline. You’ll be pitching to VPs of Engineering and R&D Heads at tech-forward companies.
• Program Design: Work with companies to understand their most pressing R&D challenges and define what a “successful” TICAN placement looks like (e.g., specific outcomes vs. extra hands‑on deck).
• Conversion Strategy: Help companies see the placement as a “long‑term interview,” building a bridge for these researchers to become full‑time hires pot‑completion of their academic journey.
• Market Mapping: Identify “clusters” of high‑growth companies and understand their R&D talent needs to map larger sectoral opportunities for industry engagement.

Other Activities Include:

• Driving collaboration with decision makers at partnering universities and top research labs to ensure the consistent supply of exceptional R&D talent
• Matching researchers equipped with specialized skills with industry partners who can benefit
• Working with partner universities to establish & nurture long‑term relationships with leading research labs & top‑tier academic programs and promote these programs to potential Canadian industry partners
• Establishing long‑term partnerships with innovative Canadian companies developing breakthrough technologies in the one of the target sectors listed above
• Implement strategies to maximize the conversion of industry partnerships that result in technology development and commercialization
• Interpreting highly complex and technical data, ensuring results meet appropriate research and innovation standards
• Develop project schedules including milestones, critical path, timelines, deliverables and detailed reporting

Qualifications

• A graduate degree in a field relevant to one of the two target sectors listed above
• Minimum of eight (8) years of recent experience in industrial and/or academic research settings in one of the target sectors or a related discipline
• Experience formulating, coordinating, and implementing industry‑based research projects and commercialization plans
• Experience engaging with graduate programs and academic research labs
• Extensive experience in senior business development positions, with proven experience cultivating, developing, and sustaining long‑term, multi‑layered relationships
• Experience drafting agreements and generating public‑facing partnership materials (such as MOUs, contracts, grant and investment proposals, commercialization plans) and compiling statistical reports

Assets

• Strong knowledge of the Prairies’ industry ecosystem
• Strong interpersonal skills to build consensus, employ multiple approaches and have demonstrated ability to manage conflicting expectations of stakeholders
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team setting
• Proficiency in both French and English

Location

Applications from Prairie provinces (particularly from Saskatchewan and Manitoba) will be given priority. Periodic travel to Toronto will be required.

TICAN offers competitive salary and benefits, commensurate with experience.