Sustainability Lead, Funding & Partnerships

McCain Foods; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 82,000 - 109,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Retirement benefits

Leave support

Vacation & holidays

Volunteering time

Job summary

McCain Foods in Toronto, Ontario, is seeking a Sustainability Lead, Funding & Partnerships to drive external funding and co-investment programs for North America’s Agriculture and REO priorities. The role leads complex proposals, funds initiatives, and builds strategic partnerships with government, financial institutions, customers and universities.

You will translate priorities into fundable opportunities, manage governance and reporting, and collaborate with External Affairs, Legal, Finance

Qualifications

• Experience leading complex, multi-stakeholder programs from concept to execution.
• Experience in external funding, sustainable finance, PPPs or government programs.
• Excellent stakeholder management with senior leaders and external partners.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen including ROI, budgeting and funding structures.
• Ability to travel periodically across North America and engage on field visits.

Responsibilities

• Manage the North America funding and financing pipeline across priorities.
• Develop partnerships with government agencies, financial institutions and customers.
• Lead proposals, budgets, narratives and supporting letters.
• Oversee funded initiatives with governance, reporting and compliance.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams for strategy, contracting and communications.
• Lead customer farm visits and agriculture engagements across regions.

Skills

Stakeholder Mgmt

Financing Strategy

Partnership Development

Contract Management

Strategic Leadership

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree / Certification

Job description

Position Title: Sustainability Lead, Funding & Partnerships

Position Type: Regular - Full-Time

Requisition ID: 44704

In every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and passionate about creating exceptional work experiences - together. With a customer-first mindset, we make doing business with McCain easy.

About The Role.

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.

Click Here to learn more about McCain and how we provide opportunities to make an impact that matters.

Leadership principles.

At McCain, our leadership principles guide how we engage with customers, collaborate as a team, and achieve success. We focus on understanding customer needs, driving innovation, empowering people, and taking ownership to clear obstacles and deliver results.

AI & Digital Capabilities.

At McCain, AI and digital capabilities are part of how we work and innovate. We value curiosity toward emerging technologies and the thoughtful, responsible use of AI-enabled tools to improve outcomes as part of our future-ready culture.

The McCain Experience.

We are McCain. This statement is a testament to our collective strength and our individual value. Your contributions play a vital role in our success. Our winning culture is rooted in authenticity and trust, empowering us to bring out the best in one another. Here, you’ll find opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. Join us and experience why we’re better together.

Our purpose is grounded in building meaningful relationships. We’re big believers in the power of working together in person—it helps us stay connected, collaborate more effectively, and grow as a team. At the same time, we recognize the importance of flexibility. Most office-based roles follow a hybrid model, with the option to work remotely two days a week. There may be exceptions depending on the role and location, so we encourage you to speak with your recruiter for more details.

Compensation Package: $81,600.00 - $108,900.00 . CAD annually + Bonus Eligibility

Benefits: At McCain, we’re on a mission to create a winning culture that puts employee safety and well-being at the heart of what we do, every day. We understand and appreciate that each person’s needs are unique and ensure our benefits & well-being programs reflect that. Employees are eligible for the following benefits: health coverage (medical, dental, vision, prescription drug), retirement savings benefits, and leave support including medical, family and bereavement. Well-being programs include vacation and holidays, company-supported volunteering time, and mental health resources. Coverages are aligned with applicable law and can vary by work level, location, and nature of the role. Additional benefit detail available during the application process.

Your well-being matters to us, and we’re here to provide you with the necessary resources to support you in being your best self at work — and at home.

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 (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms), please let us know, and we will work with you to find appropriate solutions.

Your privacy is important to us. By submitting personal data or information to us, you agree this will be handled in accordance with McCain’s Global Privacy Policy and Global Employee Privacy Policy, as applicable. McCain leverages AI in the hiring process, though all final decisions are made by humans. You can understand our approach to AI and how your personal information is being handled here.

Job Family: Agriculture

Location(s): CA - Canada : Ontario : Toronto

Company: McCain Foods (Canada)