We are Koru.

Koru is a first of its kind venture studio funded by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. We partner with OTPP portfolio companies to build and invest in businesses with a clear right to win.

Founded in 2019, our mission is to drive value creation aimed at growing the overall value of OTPP’s portfolio companies by partnering with them to identify, validate, build and oversee new disruptive businesses. We go from 0-1, building ventures that address customer frictions head-on — and we leverage our corporate partnerships to gain unfair advantages in the market.

We offer a unique balance of risk and reward where startup talent can build with the backing of a $250B pension plan and the ability to impact portfolio companies all around the world, explore disruptive new opportunities and share in the upside of every business we put into the market. We promote a truly entrepreneurial mindset and a culture of fearless reinvention.

You will have a unique opportunity to be exposed to a wide array of industries, and be a vital voice when it comes to your particular domain, but also various areas of the businesses you’ll launch. Since 2019, we’ve launched 9 ventures across a broad array of industries and problem spaces. Take a look at our portfolio of ventures to see for yourself.

If you get excited by building, testing, validating and implementing sales and marketing strategies for innovative products/services that allow new entrants to disrupt existing industries, enjoy working in a collaborative and dynamic startup environment, have an entrepreneurial spirit, and have strong ‘full stack’ marketing chops, then your place may be with us!

As Senior GTM Manager at Koru you will:

• Be actively involved in different stages of a venture including the early research stages where you will focus on understanding pain points, unmet needs, etc. and ideating business ideas along with the broader team
• Work cross-functionally across research, design, product, business operations and engineering team members to develop and deploy growth experiments in market that allow us to build confidence and mitigate risks when exploring a venture idea
• Define, execute, analyze, and optimize on various tests to validate key assumptions and plans at different stages of a venture, such as desirability testing, willingness to pay, product-market fit, value proposition testing, etc.
• Develop and deploy multi-channel demand testing strategies based on unique venture needs through digital marketing, field marketing, sales channels, strategic partnerships
• Be an expert in selecting and setting up the marketing tech stack (including data reporting and analytics) and operating models for startups
• Be obsessed with customer centricity and addressing unmet customer needs through developing and executing growth (testing) methodologies
• Based on insights and learnings, develop recommendations on end to end customer acquisition processes for new ventures
• Analyze and synthesize the qualitative and quantitative results of experiments and present insights and suggest next steps specific to the venture stage

You should have:

• A minimum of 5-7 years of experience in fast-paced work environments, including start-ups and/or agencies/consultancies, where you built and ran B2B and/or B2C marketing campaigns for brand new products and services.
• Previous early-stage demand generation and marketing experience for B2B or B2C (digital) products and services
• Experience in designing and executing campaigns/programs to validate demand assumptions in the market for new products or services
• Exceptional demand generation, user acquisition, and testing skills to be able to quickly build a perspective on desirability for a product/solution in a given market, identify ICPs, and recommend positioning suggestions
• The ability to plan, execute, test, measure and iterate on digital marketing campaigns and understand channel effectiveness and how to create a channel mix (and channel costs)
• Hands on experience with digital marketing tools and channels including but not limited to Google Ads (search and display), FB/IG Ads Manager, affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, direct mail, email marketing, push notifications, field/traditional marketing, programmatic display, etc
• Hands on experience designing and creating micro-sites and landing pages using tools like Wix, Squarespace, Unbounce, Hubspot, etc
• Hands on experience implementing and using analytics, behavioural, attribution and visualization tools like Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, Mix Panel, etc
• The ability to manage and optimize a marketing budget effectively
• The ability to think strategically and creatively: analyze, synthesize, recommend and take actions
• Expert communication, presentation, and material preparation skills required
• Strong copywriting skills
• A passion for early stage growth marketing and driving customer adoption
• A passion for bringing to market, and scaling digital products and services
• An entrepreneurial spirit to help us shape our growth initiatives
• A proven track record of personal success and ambitious undertakings
• A willingness to travel if required
• Bonus: Light design and branding skills

What happens next?

Once we review your application, if we’d like to move you forward in the process, here’s what you can expect:

Step 1: Functional 1 - Interview with the Hiring Lead (Virtual, 30-45 minutes)

Step 2: Functional 2 - Interview with a Team Member (Virtual, 30-45 minutes)

Step 3: Practical Challenge

• Presentation Prep
• Presentation Delivery: 60 minutes total (Virtual or In-Person, 30 minutes presentation & 30 minutes Q&A).
• 2:1 Team Interviews: 2-3 2:1 interviews with the panel involved in the presentation (Virtual or In-Person, 45 minutes each).

Step 4: Candidate Debrief

Step 5: Offer

Total Rewards at Koru.

Our total rewards package is balanced, flexible, inclusive, and fair which makes it a key part of our employer value proposition. We regularly review and update our total rewards, taking into account best practices, industry trends, and feedback from our team. Currently, our total rewards package is inclusive of:

• Cash compensation made up of 1) competitive base salary 2) annual bonus 3) company-matched RRSP and 4) participation in our equity program
• Comprehensive health benefits, including:
• • Group insurance
  • A flexible healthcare spending account
  • Fitness benefit
  • Mindfulness benefit
• Generous paid time off including vacation, sick, and a parental leave top-up.
• Other benefits include:
• • Mobile phone reimbursement
  • Education benefit

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Diversity of perspectives and experience is at the core of how we approach disruption and innovation. We believe in fostering an environment where team members of all backgrounds can feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work every day. We aim to ensure all of our employees work in an environment that makes them feel valued, heard and supported while they strive towards career pursuits and their personal and professional growth.

We are committed to providing accommodations for all candidates that require them and in all aspects of the recruitment, selection, and/or assessment process. If you are selected to participate in any part of the selection and/or assessment process, please inform us of any accommodation(s) that you may require.

Our location.

Koru’s offices are located in downtown Toronto. We humbly acknowledge that Koru HQ is located on land that is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, Chippewa (Anishinaabeg), Haudenosaunee, and Wendat. This territory is covered by the ‘Toronto Purchase: Treaty 13’ which was the surrender of the lands from the Mississaugas of the Credit to the British Crown initially in 1787.

Koru staff and/or board members are made up of settlers, immigrants, descendants of immigrants, or a combination thereof. Our roots lie in continents across the world and we are grateful for the opportunity to share this land where we work and live.

Please note that this role is hybrid and requires the selected candidate to travel to Koru HQ in Toronto, Ontario as and when required by the company. On average, our team works in-person at the office 1-2 days / week. Additionally, all individuals considered for this role are required to be legally eligible to work in Canada.

We’re flattered that you’d like to join our team, but only applicants selected to proceed in the hiring process will be contacted.