Sustainability Lead, Funding & Partnerships in Toronto

The Sustainability Funding & Partnerships Lead is responsible for building and leading external funding, financing, and co-investment partnerships that advance North America Agriculture and Resource Efficient Operations (REO) priorities. This role connects McCain’s regenerative agriculture, resource-efficiency, and resilience agenda with external capital sources, public funding programs, financial institutions, customers, and strategic partners, transforming opportunities into executable programs and measurable business outcomes.

As an externally focused role, the Sustainability Funding & Partnerships Lead will manage the North American funding and financing pipeline, cultivate strategic relationships, lead complex funding proposals, oversee funded initiatives, and support customer partnership opportunities through high-profile agricultural engagements and farm visits.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Funding, Financing & Capital Strategy: Maintain a current view of the North American funding and financing landscape across agriculture, regenerative agriculture, research, infrastructure, resource efficiency and decarbonization. Build and prioritize a portfolio of public funding, incentives, rebates, tax credits, financing and blended-capital opportunities against NA Agriculture and REO priorities. Work with internal technical and business owners to translate priority projects into fundable and investable opportunities with clear scope, economics, outcomes, timing and external value. Provide concise portfolio visibility to leadership: active awards, funding flow, pipeline value, probability, risks, decisions and next actions.
• Strategic Partnerships & Stakeholder Leadership: Develop and maintain trusted relationships with government agencies, financial institutions, customers, universities, nonprofits, implementation partners and supply-chain collaborators. Lead strategic alignment with partners by understanding their priorities, identifying shared value and shaping credible co-investment or collaboration pathways. Serve as McCain’s primary business relationship owner for funded programs and strategic funding partnerships, with clear governance, expectations, scopes of work, milestones and performance management. Partner closely with External Affairs, Legal, Finance, Communications, Sales and technical teams where policy, contracting, financial disclosure, customer alignment or public communication is required.
• Program Development, Proposals & Funded-Program Ownership: Lead priority funding opportunities from initial qualification through submission: workback planning, funder engagement, concept development, stakeholder mapping, partner outreach, proposal narrative, budgets, contribution strategy, support letters, approvals and submission. Build clear, audience-specific materials, concept notes, strategic alignment maps, partner decks, executive briefs and funding presentations, that connect McCain priorities with external stakeholder needs. Coordinate grant writers, consultants and advisors where they add value while retaining internal ownership of strategy, project design, partner positioning and decision-making. Serve as overall program owner for major funded initiatives where McCain holds accountability, maintaining the project plan, partner governance, contractual requirements, reporting, compliance and leadership visibility. Own reimbursement and payment-request processes and other funder-required business documentation, ensuring submissions are accurate, auditable and on time.
• Customer Partnership, Co-Investment & Storytelling: Lead project management for high-profile customer farm visits and agriculture engagements across North America, from request through execution and follow-up. Coordinate Agriculture, Sustainability, Sales, Communications and regional teams so each engagement is well prepared, technically credible and tailored to the customer’s priorities. Translate McCain’s regenerative agriculture, resilience and resource-efficiency work into clear customer narratives and materials that strengthen partnership and support co-investment where there is strategic fit. Build reusable visit, briefing and engagement playbooks so recurring customer work becomes more efficient and consistent.
• Portfolio Systems, Reporting & Continuous Improvement: Maintain practical systems for opportunity tracking, partner mapping, project intake, budgets, proposal development, funded-program governance and reporting. Create clear handoffs between the Funding & Partnerships Lead, technical SMEs, regional teams and external partners so strategic work is not lost to administrative churn. Use technology and AI responsibly to reduce repetitive work while preserving human judgment for strategy, relationship management, contracting, compliance and external communication.

What You’ll Need To Be Successful:

• Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Sustainability, Business, Finance, Economics, Public Policy, Communications, or a related field. Advanced degree and/or relevant professional certification considered an asset.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, multi-stakeholder programs, partnerships, or strategic initiatives from concept through execution.
• Experience in external funding, sustainable finance, corporate finance, public-private partnerships, government programs, infrastructure funding, customer partnerships, or related areas.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills with the ability to influence senior leaders and external partners.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including business cases, ROI analysis, funding structures, budgeting, and partner economics.
• Experience managing contracts, agreements, scopes of work, compliance requirements, and formal reporting processes.
• Excellent written, verbal, visual, and presentation communication skills.
• Strong storytelling and customer engagement capabilities, including experience developing executive presentations, partner materials, and funding proposals.
• Proven project management skills with the ability to manage multiple long-cycle initiatives simultaneously.
• Ability to operate independently, navigate ambiguity, prioritize effectively, and drive execution from strategy through implementation.
• Willingness and ability to travel periodically across North America and participate in farm, field, customer, and grower site visits.

About The Team: The Sustainability Funding & Partnerships Lead is part of the North America Agriculture and Resource Efficient Operations team. The role works closely with Sustainability, Agriculture, External Affairs, Finance, Legal, Communications, Sales, and regional operational teams while serving as a key connector between McCain and external partners. Success in this role depends on strong cross-functional collaboration, relationship management, and the ability to align diverse stakeholders around shared sustainability and business objectives.

About McCain: McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. As a global family-owned company, we strive to be the employer of choice in the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that inclusion drives our creativity, resilience, and success and makes our business stronger. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process, please let us know, and we will work with you to find appropriate solutions.