Vice President Strategy/Chief of Staff to the CEO, Open Farm
4 days a week in office (Little Italy, ON )
Ethically sourced & humanely raised pet food
Open for applications
Ethically sourced & humanely raised pet food
101-200 employees
Open for applications
4 days a week in office (Little Italy, ON )
101-200 employees
Company mission
To empower pet parents with high quality nutrition for pets, crafted from humanely raised and sustainable sourced ingredients.
Role
Who you are
- The ideal candidate is equal parts strategist and operator, comfortable rolling up their sleeves to build dashboards and board decks one day and facilitating strategic decision-making, executive alignment or leading cross-functional projects the next
- 7+ years of experience in strategy consulting, investment banking, private equity and/or high growth operating roles, with exposure to consumer/retail a bonus
- Deep strategic, financial, and operational acumen; proven ability to connect strategic priorities to business and financial outcomes
- Proven track record of managing complex, cross-functional initiatives
- Strong analytical and strategic problem-solving skills; with a strong ability to synthesize complex issues into actionable recommendations
- Exceptional communication and storytelling ability—particularly in translating complex data into compelling narratives
- Highly organized and process-driven
- Comfortable with ambiguity, with a bias toward action
- Able to work in-office in Toronto 4 days per week
What the job involves
- We’re looking for a dynamic and hands-on Vice President Strategy/Chief of Staff to the CEO to serve as a strategic partner and executor
- In this high-impact role, you will work closely with our CEO and other leaders across the business to shape priorities, drive clarity and alignment, and to accelerate execution across the organization
- As the Vice President Strategy/Chief of Staff to the CEO, you will partner with the CEO & Co-founder, and Senior Leadership to keep key initiatives on track, decision-making informed, and the business operating with focus and discipline
- Your work will amplify the CEO & Co-founder’s leadership impact, drive the business forward, and foster collaboration across all levels of the organization
- Work directly with the CEO & Co-founder to shape and drive strategic priorities across the business
- Partner with senior leaders to align initiatives with the company’s vision and long-term goals
- Anticipate risks and opportunities, distilling complex inputs into clear recommendations for the CEO & Co-founder
- Lead Open Farm’s operating cadence, including biweekly leadership meetings, annual strategic planning and executive leadership offsites
- Serve as a confidential advisor and sounding board to the CEO & Co-founder, providing candid perspective, testing assumptions, and supporting sound decision-making
- Partner closely with Finance and functional leaders to ensure operational and financial plans are integrated, achievable, and transparent
- Optimize the CEO & Co-founder’s time and focus by managing priorities, protecting bandwidth, and ensuring attention is directed to the highest-value opportunities
- Lead special projects and CEO-sponsored initiatives, ensuring they are well-structured, executed, and aligned with strategic priorities
- Provide oversight and support for executive-level projects (e.g., board preparation, investor decks, CEO-driven initiatives, or cross-functional priorities requiring CEO sponsorship)
- Track deliverables and outcomes to ensure initiatives are completed on time and with measurable results
- Own investor reporting and board deck construction—synthesizing company metrics, narrative, and visuals into clear, concise materials
- Build and maintain business dashboards and analytics for leadership decision-making
- Identify opportunities to improve operational processes, systems, and data flows
- Act as a liaison between the CEO’s office, leadership team, employees, and external stakeholders
- Prepare for and help run key internal and external content, including, company all-hands, strategy discussions, investor conversations, board meetings, and public facing events such as user conferences
- Draft and maintain briefing decks, onboarding materials, and tailored talking points for internal and external meetings, ensuring the CEO is equipped with clear, compelling narratives
- Reinforce company values and drive organizational effectiveness by fostering alignment, transparency, and accountability across the leadership team
- Ensure consistent messaging and clarity in cascading strategic priorities
- Enhance organizational alignment by ensuring clear communication of goals, priorities, and progress across all levels
- Prioritize, triage, and follow up on the CEO’s communications, ensuring timely responses and alignment with critical priorities
Our take
Much like humans, eating a balanced and nutritious diet is important to ensure a pet is happy and healthy. On top of this, owners are usually keen to purchase products that meet the same ethical and sustainability standards of goods they would buy for themselves - but big pet food brands often do not cater for any of these requirements.
Open Farm sells nutrition-focused pet food for dogs and cats at online and retail stores, with ingredients obtained from sources with excellent animal welfare standards and low carbon footprints. From its recipes to its packaging, the company displays a strong focus on ethics and environmental responsibility, and stands out for its transparency.
As consumer sentiment trends towards more conscious purchasing, there is a widening market for products such as Open Farm's. The company has been steadily growing its presence in the expanding pet food sector, and introduced an online carbon footprint tool that allows consumers to see the carbon footprint of all its products.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
26% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (1 round)
Jan 2021
$65m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Total funding: $65m
Company benefits
- Health, Medical & Dental Benefits
- Wellness Days & Summer Hours
- Mental Health Support
- Wellness Stipend
- Slack Interest Groups
- Pet Feeding Program
- RRSP and 401(k)
- Hybrid & Remote Work
Company HQ
Little Italy, Toronto, ON
Leadership
Isaac Langleben
(Co-Founder & CEO)Experience as Investor and Board Member of Canada Pooch from 2011 to 2019. Co-founder and Board Member of Diggs Pet since 2016.
Jacqueline Prehogan
(Co-Founder & CBO)Experience as Senior Associate of PricewaterhouseCoopers and RSM Richter. Founder and CEO of Canada Pooch since 2011.
Salary benchmarks
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