Partnership Intake Coordinator

Opportunity Overview

The Partnership Intake Coordinator will serve as an important front door and first point of triage for incoming opportunities and requests across CFIN, helping ensure incoming opportunities and requests are effectively captured, assessed, routed and followed through, while supporting the identification of high-value opportunities for CFIN and its partners.

Working at the intersection of customer service and community management, this role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving problems, helping others and making connections. With support from the Business Development team, the incumbent will develop a strong understanding of CFIN's programs, membership benefits, and internal resources, enabling them to effectively respond to inquiries, understand stakeholder needs, identify potential opportunities, and connect stakeholders with the appropriate CFIN team member. Through these interactions, the incumbent will help identify, route, and support opportunities that may lead to new partnerships, sponsorships, memberships, or other revenue-generating activities, including membership-building campaigns and joint or cross-membership initiatives with partner organizations across the food ecosystem.

The role will work closely with CFIN's Regional Innovation Directors, who serve as the primary relationship owners for members and provide mentorship, connections, and support across the food ecosystem. The Partnership Intake Coordinator will address inbound service requests and resolve routine inquiries while also gathering the appropriate information that will ensure more complex needs are assessed, documented and connected to the appropriate internal resource(s).

The role will also help manage and assess the many external requests and inquiries received by CFIN's Senior Leaders (SLT), supporting their role in developing and executing CFIN's networking and partnership activities, to help drive member value, revenue generation, and opportunities that build brand visibility, awareness, and positive sentiment for CFIN.

This is an ideal opportunity for an early-career professional who enjoys working across teams, building relationships, understanding business needs, and turning a high volume of information into clear priorities and action.

About the Canadian Food Innovation Network

The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) is the most dynamic, trusted, national, member-based organization dedicated to advancing Canada’s food business ecosystem. We’re focused on becoming the ultimate solution centre for Canada’s food industry – fostering collaboration, innovation and growth for companies of all sizes.

What Makes CFIN Stand Out?

• Collaborative Ecosystem: We excel at building partnerships that unite diverse collaborators to transform innovative ideas into impactful solutions.
• Focus on Impact: CFIN champions commercialization projects that push the boundaries of food science, technology, and sustainability, delivering real solutions to the food industry’s toughest challenges.
• Industry-Led Initiatives: Guided by input from our members, Innovation Advisory Council, and Board of Directors, we design funding programs, tools, workshops, and resources that empower innovators to break through barriers.

What You’ll Be Doing:

1. Intake & Opportunity Triage

• Act as an initial point of contact for incoming requests, inquiries, and opportunities across CFIN.
• Review incoming requests and conduct an initial assessment to understand their purpose, urgency, potential value, and appropriate internal owner.
• Identify requests requiring follow-up and coordinate next steps in accordance with established processes, escalating where appropriate.
• Identify and flag high-value or strategically relevant opportunities to the appropriate department or leader.
• Maintain clear records of requests, actions, outcomes, and next steps, contributing to CFIN's role as an up-to-date source of intelligence on ecosystem resources and contacts.
• Identify recurring themes or gaps in incoming requests and provide insights to leadership and marketing

2. Member Needs & Regional Innovation Director Support

• Receive and assess revenue generating opportunities referred by RIDs and others, advancing them through the business development process.
• Support the intake and triage of general or routine inquiries to understand member needs, conduct brief discovery conversations (where necessary) to gather additional information and recommend appropriate next steps.
• Resolve basic inquiries by providing information related to CFIN membership, programs, events or tools.
• Identify inquiries that may involve more complex, non-commercial needs and route them to the appropriate Regional Innovation Director, ensuring relevant context, documentation and notes are captured in the CRM to support an effective handoff.
• Monitor inbound inquiries and conversations to identify recurring themes or emerging needs. Share relevant insights and regional trends to inform priorities.

3. Business Development & Revenue Opportunity Support

• Identify incoming inquiries that may represent potential business development opportunities, including sponsorships, partnerships, memberships, events, or other revenue-generating activities, in support of CFIN's broader revenue generation strategy.
• Conduct initial qualification and route potential opportunities to the Business Development team.
• Support membership-building campaigns and joint or cross-membership opportunities with organizations such as trade associations, other national superclusters, and Strategic Innovation Fund–supported networks.
• Support the preparation of basic background information and opportunity briefs to help the Business Development team prioritize prospects.
• Track opportunities through the intake process and support timely follow-up.
• Help identify cross-functional opportunities where a member need may also represent a potential partnership or revenue opportunity.

4. CEO & Executive Intake

• Review and triage external requests directed to the CEO, which may include partnership inquiries, speaking requests, event invitations, funding opportunities, business proposals, and other external outreach.
• Conduct an initial review of requests to gather relevant information, assess alignment with established criteria, and recommend appropriate next steps.
• Route requests to the appropriate internal team or leader based on established processes and direction from the VP, Business Development or other senior leaders, as appropriate.
• Prepare concise summaries and recommendations for requests requiring executive review.
• Support the coordination and tracking of the CEO's approved national and international engagements, including gathering relevant background information and coordinating internal follow-up as required.
• Maintain a centralized tracking system to ensure requests are appropriately managed and followed up on.

5. Cross-Functional Coordination

• Build strong working relationships across Business Development, Regional Innovation, Marketing, Events, and other CFIN teams.
• Coordinate handoffs between teams, including the VP Business Development, Director of Communications, and Regional Innovation Directors to ensure a seamless experience for members and external stakeholders.
• Support the development and help establish/continuously improve CFIN's intake, qualification, and routing processes.
• Support the development of tools, templates, and workflows that improve efficiency and visibility across the organization.

What You Bring:

• 1–3 years of experience in a coordination, customer success, business development, sales support, partnerships, account management, or similar role.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple requests and priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly developed emotional intelligence, empathy, tact and personability.
• Strong judgment and curiosity. You naturally ask, “What is the opportunity here, and who is best positioned to act on it? What is your objective and how can CFIN help you achieve it?
• Ability to quickly understand a request, identify its potential value, gather relevant information, and recommend or coordinate appropriate next steps.
• Comfortable working across teams and engaging with stakeholders at different levels of an organization.
• Strong attention to detail and follow-through.
• Bilingual (English and French) or additional languages considered a strong asset
• Experience with CRM systems or other tracking tools is an asset.
• Interest in Canada's food, agriculture, innovation, or technology ecosystem is an asset.

Key Competencies

• Triage & Prioritization: Able to quickly assess incoming requests and determine urgency, relevance, and potential value.
• Commercial Curiosity: Naturally recognizes opportunities that could lead to stronger member engagement, partnerships, or revenue generation.
• Relationship Orientation: Builds positive relationships and creates a seamless experience for potential partners and external stakeholders.
• Communication: Can synthesize information and communicate clear, concise recommendations to internal stakeholders.
• Execution & Follow-Through: Highly organized, accountable, and able to ensure opportunities move from intake to action.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Comfortable navigating a matrixed organization and connecting the right people to the right opportunities.
• Pattern Recognition and Process Improvement: Able to ‘connect the dots’ to identify trends and common needs to improve templates, FAQ and fact sheets.

Why Join Us?

This is a unique opportunity to join a winning team during an exciting time of growth. At CFIN, you’ll pay a vital role in shaping the future of food in Canada and be part of a forward-thinking, purpose-driven organization where your contributions will make a tangible impact on the industry. Together, we’ll build a more innovative, sustainable, and competitive food ecosystem.

Accessibility & Accommodation

Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) is committed to creating an inclusive, accessible workplace that respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. CFIN values diversity in all its forms and seeks candidates who can help build an inclusive, equitable, and nationally relevant value proposition that resonates across the food innovation ecosystem. CFIN provides equal employment opportunities and is dedicated to ensuring compliance with applicable accessibility and human rights legislation across Canada.

Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the recruitment, selection, and assessment process. If you require accommodation, please contact [email protected], and we will work with you to support your participation.

Apply today and let’s transform the future of food—together!

#ind1