Digital : Innovation + Job News

Some of the neatest jobs we've come across this week...

International conservation organization World Wildlife Fund is looking for a digital content strategist. Working as part of the marketing and communications team, the successful candidate will both develop strategy and write content for a variety of platforms.

Also in the environmental sector is the Small Change Fund, which helps communities working on sustainability issues. They are on the lookout for a new operations manager. And one last one in this area: the Canada Green Building Council needs a new education manager to oversee the creation, marketing, and delivery of the organization's educational programs.

Planned Parenthood Toronto is seeking a director of community health services to manage clinical functions, and participate in organization-wide strategic development. Applicants should have at least five years of clinical experience and have a demonstrated commitment to PPT's equity goals.

Social Enterprise Toronto is a network that aims to support the growth of the social enterprise sector in Toronto. They need a community researcher to collect and process data, and to help them plan a forthcoming conference. There's an age requirement on this one: you must be between 15 and 30 years old to apply.

If you are just starting out and love flim, the Toronto International Film Festival has a four-month communications internship opportunity for someone to work in their press office this summer. And if national history is more your thing, the Historica-Dominica Institute has a number of positions now open, ranging from web officers to subject editors for the Canadian Encyclopedia.

And here is one more community organization looking for a lot of summer help: The Stop, which is a food-oriented non-profit that does everything from run cooking classes to build community gardens. You can see the many seasonal positions they have available here.

Are you hiring or do you know of an innovative job opportunity in Toronto? Email Yonge Street's innovation and jobs editor Hamutal Dotan to let her know. 

The federal government has announced that it will provide nearly $1 million in support to Toronto area start-up ThoughtWire. The funding will allow ThoughtWire to leverage another $1.95 million in private investments, and enable the company to complete development on a new software platform--a business tool that aims to substantially increase productivity.

The Unified Experience Platform has been designed to solve one of the most basic and vexing problems people often encounter while working: not all the applications, programs, and pieces of software that they use can talk to each other.

Transferring data from one to another, and allowing the information in one program to sync up with data from another, can seem like a mundane task, but it's one of those persistent annoyances that can eat up a lot of valuable time. ThoughtWire's goal, it explains in a primer on the platform, is to "liberate your data."

The government support comes from FedDev Ontario via a program called Investing in Business Innovation, which aims to "accelerate the development of new products…and help bring them to market." According to Gary Goodyear, the minister responsible for that program, the funding will lead to the creation of "up to 29" new local jobs

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Office of Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

Ontario public broadcaster TVO is hiring for two digital positions right now. They are looking for a digital media producer to help create online content and maintain existing TVO websites. For those with more seniority, TVO.org is also looking for a manager to lead the digital team.

Also in broadcasting, the CBC is on the hunt for a mobile developer to maintain current sites and build new mobile web pages.

If you have an interest in the arts, Canadian Stage is looking for a digital marketing manager for the summer (with a possible contract extention) to help develop web content, execute social media campaigns, and provide project management. Small World Music Society is also looking for some communications help: the charity needs a marketing coordinator with a background in graphic design, media relations, and social media.

Friends of the Greenbelt and the Greenbelt fund are a pair of non-profits that work closely together to support the permanent swath of green space that runs through southern Ontario. They are currently seeking a communications manager with at least five years of experience to take the lead on marketing and media relations, as well as an education and outreach specialist to develop an engagement plan for their local food-purchasing program. Meanwhile Fresh City, a Toronto farm, is looking for a research assistant to help them understand the environmental impact of their operations.

In the academic sector, OCAD University needs a manager of graduate studies to provide oversight of their administration and business affairs.

Toronto's best-known incubator, MaRS, is hiring again, this time for a project manager with a particular background in business analytics. Finally, the Centre for Social Innovation, which runs three shared-space facilities across the city, is looking for a manager to take the lead on day-to-day operations at their new Regent Park location.

Are you hiring or do you know of an innovative job opportunity in Toronto? Email Yonge Street's innovation and jobs editor Hamutal Dotan to let her know. 

If you, like many Torontonians who love their city and want to get more involved in it, have an idea for a neat new neighbourhood initiative or community project, but aren't quite sure how to go about implementing it, there's a new online platform that might be able to help.

It's called Projexity, and while it offers some familiar tools--notably, it serves as a crowd-funding platform--it also includes some distinctive elements such as design assistance and advice navigating the sometimes tangled webs of red tape at City Hall.

Projexity is the brainchild of a couple of urban designers, explains co-founder Marisa Bernstein. She saw, "a lot of the pitfalls in how urban design is carried out...due to many things like lack of resources, lack of guidance, and we think lack of transparency in the process--we think a lot of people don't know what is going on in the community."

Projexity is currently supporting projects in Toronto and Philadelphia, and hopes to expand to other major cities such as New York, Vancouver, Montreal, and San Francisco shortly.

Another way that Projexity differs from larger-scale crowd-funding platforms: there's an approval process potential projects needs to go through. You don't get to automatically put your project online.

The Projexity team reviews applications from prospective participants, which Bernstein says is important "because we want to make sure the project has all the ducks in a row to ensure success."

In order to be accepted projects, "need to enhance the city in a definite way," she says. There must be a specific plan with a clear scope (so it isn't suitable for ongoing projects), and that plan must "improve the community." Bernstein concedes that can be hard to define more concretely--especially in urban contexts where not everyone agrees about how a community should develop or how a particular bit of public space should be used--but points out that the crowd-funding element also helps ensure there is strong support for a project. Even if approved, a proposal won't get off the ground unless there is sufficient local support for the fundraising effort.

For projects that are approved and which are successful in their fundraising, Projexity offers additional kinds of support. "One of the main ways that we differentiate ourselves is that we enable people to not only gather the funding but gather the design work and the volunteer work," Bernstein says.

Projexity is trying to give young designers exposure by helping connect them with "people who may have an idea in mind for a project they might want to spearhead, but don't know how it would look."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Marisa Bernstein, Co-founder, Projexity

The best of the job opportunities we've spotted this week:

Free the Children, the children’s rights organization founded by the Kielburger brothers, is looking for a graphic designer with "a passion for digital and social media" to work out of their Toronto office at 233 Carlton. They’re looking for a two-year commitment, with a six-month probationary period, and have advertised the position on ladieslearningcode.com.

If you have a post-secondary education and some experience in fundraising, preferably for an arts or cultural organization, Harbourfront Centre may have a position for you as a business development officer. The application deadline is April 5.

Foodshare, founded in 1985, tries to tackle hunger in local communities. They’re looking for a fundraiser and event co-ordinator, with responsibilities including direct mail campaigns, donor and funder relations, and grant writing. They’re offering $40,000 and a "generous benefits plan," with an application deadline of April 5.

The CBC is looking for three mobile web developers with three years of web development experience and at least one in mobile development.

Osteoporosis Canada seeks a fundraiser to start, with applications being accepted until April 12. They'd like someone with a university degree and a high level of knowledge of donor management tool Raisers Edge.

The Royal Astronomical Society is looking for a marketing co-ordinator to work in their Etobicoke office. You can send your resume in by April 19.

Writer: Bert Archer

Do you know of an innovative job opportunity in Toronto? Let us know!

Excitement in the online literary world continues after news that Amazon is planning to buy Goodreads for an eight-figure sum, with Toronto’s own Wattpad looking to expand and rejuvenate its team of 45 by hiring seven new staff members.

Conceived along similar lines to Goodreads, Wattpad -- boosted by Margaret Atwood, among others -- recommends books and other literary bits and pieces based on its members' reading histories and proclivities. Unlike Goodreads, Wattpad's content is entirely user-generated, and entirely free.

They’re looking for a lead iOS engineer, a senior iOS developer, a platform developer, a senior Android developer, a senior front-end developer, as well as a PR manager and a product designer.

"We’re always keeping an eye out, and for us, our priority is always mobile developers," says marketing director Amy Martin, who was employee No. 9 when she was hired in 2011. "We really want the best engineers we can get on our team, so we’re pretty picky on our hiring."

Due to funding from venture capitalists in Canada and the US, Wattpad is able to offer not only health and dental benefits, but what they describe as "a generous equity stake."

"It was interesting to see Amazon picking up another independent operator," says Martin of the aforementioned eight-figure deal. She says it only serves to highlight Wattpad's own continued independence and its market differentation, which she characterizes as being "the Youtube of books."

Their plug to get you to apply? "Stop wondering what it would be like to work at Twitter, Facebook or Foursquare in their early days -- join us and find out!"

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Amy Martin

Attention digital media innovators: there's a new award that might have your name on it. The first annual Moonshot Awards, organized by the Canadian Digital Media Network, are now open for nominations.

"There are companies out there with great potential and great skill sets," Kevin Tuer, managing director of CDMN, told us this week, "and sometimes we don't celebrate them as much as we should."

The awards were launched in an effort to help rectify that reticence and shine a light on homegrown innovations in digital media. Awards will be distributed in four categories: dynamic company (for demonstrating "the greatest increase in productivity through the adoption of digital media"), globalizer (for increasing international interest in and support for Canadian digital media), innovator, and overall company of the year (chosen from nominees for the first three categories).

Tuer says CDMN hopes to see applications from companies of all kinds. The goal is to acknowledge companies that are making the most of the opportunities digital media offers, or creating new opportunities entirely. "Small companies can make a great impact as well," he points out.

Nominations close on April 12, 2013.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Kevin Tuer, Managing Director, Canadian Digital Media Network

Welcome to Yonge Street's first ever job round-up, where we highlight a few of the most interesting job opportunities available in Toronto right now.

Community-oriented food organization Not Far From the Tree helps homeowners collect fruit from the trees in their yards, and sends much of the harvest to local agencies like food banks and shelters. NFFTT is looking for a project director to start this spring. It is the organization's primary leadership position.

Also for those with a green thumb, the Toronto Botanical Garden is looking for a new executive director to oversee all programs and fundraising. Candidates should have a background in horticulture as well as organizational leadership.

FreshBooks makes easy invoicing and accounting tools for small businesses and freelancers. The company is seeking an Android developer who will "make FreshBooks a world-class Android development centre."

Another organization on the hunt for a mobile developer: the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. The company needs someone to develop an Android and potentially also an iOS educational app. The app(s) will explain the benefits of citizenship to youth ages 16-24.

MaRS Discovery District, Toronto's best-known innovation centre, is hiring an investment manager for the Investment Accelerator Fund, which puts funds into early-stage technology companies. This business development opportunity is a mid-level position.

Major design firm DIALOG (550+ staff) does work in urban design, interior design, architecture, and engineering. They are seeking a graphic designer to work in their Communications and Creative Services departments.

The Ontario Power Authority is looking for specialist to help support their Conservation Fund, which is OPA's "vehicle for the incubation of innovative approaches to energy conservation and demand side technologies."

Finally, ebook and ereader company Kobo is looking for a front-end web developer to work on merchandising and marketing materials.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan

Entrepreneurs are, by definition, people with new ideas they want to bring forward in the marketplace. Knowing what you want to create and sell, however, doesn't necessarily mean you know how to go about selling it.

Enter a new partnership between MaRS Discovery District’s information technology, communications and entertainment practice (ICE) and e-commerce agency Demac Media. Last month, they launched a new advisory service to help startups handle e-commerce effectively.

The goal, says ICE's go-to-market lead Nathan Monk, is "to close the gap between what we're seeing developed and what is coming to market." That is, right now e-commerce's capacities often outstrip the uses to which new companies put it. "A lot of the time," he explains, no matter how great their products or ideas are, startups "haven't actually done the customer development. They need the methodology to reduce the risk of failure."

"Canadians will almost double their mobile spent…by the end of this year," Monk says, but many startups aren't well positioned to offer their customers an optimal e-commerce experience.

The new advisory services (many of which are exclusive to MaRS clients) include office hours for clients to discuss potential strategies with Demac Media experts, workshops for tackling topics such as e-commerce interfaces, and public discussions on broader subjects like email and seasonal marketing. A meet-up group is now online for those interested in the latter.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Nathan Monk, Go-to-Market Lead, ICE practice, MaRS Discovery District

Globalive founder Anthony Lacavera announed recently that he'll be stepping down as chairman and CEO of WIND Mobile, one of that company's key holdings, and will focus his energy on a new venture capital project, Globalive Capital.

WIND Mobile was launched by Globalive in 2008, with financial backing from Orascom Telecom, and reports that it currently has more than 600,000 subscribers across Canada, making it the fourth-largest mobile provider in Canada after "big three," Rogers, Telus, and Bell.

“As an entrepreneur, my vision was to ignite change across the wireless landscape in Canada, bringing more competition, better prices and superior service to Canadians...[a]nd that is exactly what we did,” Lacavera said in a press statement, explaining his reasons for leaving now.

The financial details haven't been made public, but Orascom will purchase Lacavela's shares from him, pending regulatory approval. Orascom is an Egyptian company, but recent changes to legislation allow foreign ownership of telecoms with less than 10 per cent of the market.

A timeline hasn't been announced yet, but Globalive Capital will launch in "early 2013," the company says. It will focus specifically on "entrepreneurs developing early-stage technology, media, and telecom companies." Further details are so far scarce, but more are promised soon.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Globalive

The presence and capacity of mobile devices have outstripped the services available on them, according to a new report from OCAD University, but dealing with this problem could provide ample opportunity for Ontario, including job creation. 

The Taking Ontario Mobile report examines, "how to engage mobility in order to better realize the full potential of all of Ontario's residents, bring significant increases in productivity, create and retain jobs in the knowledge industries, allow inclusion and engagement, and build on Ontario's extant leadership in the broadcast of mobile industries."

The goal is to lay out some courses Ontario should be charting in order to become more productive, create more jobs, and and increase engagement with the development of new mobile strategies.

In general terms, the report argues that "public services can be delivered in a more cost-effective and efficient manner" with the help of mobile technology -- important at a time where deficit-fighting is the government's prevailing concern. More specifically, the report considers mobile opportunities in five key sectors (some governmental and some commercial).

1) Education, including applications in primary and secondary classrooms, at the post-secondary level, and in retraining to create a more flexible workforce. 

2) Health, for instance providing more efficient care to seniors with remote monitoring.

3) Government services, where a large range of efficiencies may be found by managing data more effectively and making it available more quickly, and where mobile may be an invaluable tool for offering necessary services to rural and remote populations.

4) Cultural industries, where we already have a strong talent pool, can be made even stronger by using mobile to create larger audiences for the work we produce.

5) Commerce, especially significant given that Ontario is home to most of Canada's banks and financial institutions. "The face of m-commerce is still undeveloped," the report finds, "and the area is ripe for design, creating opportunities for the traditional finance sector and for new players."

"Failing to act now," the report warns, "will disadvantage Ontario in numerous ways."

The full text of the report is available online [PDF].

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: "Taking Ontario Mobile" (OCAD)

It's a distinctly modern annoyance when cellphones run out of juice. Today we rely so heavily on our mobiles that a dead battery can scupper meetings, disrupt dinner plans, and overturn after-school carpool arrangements.

Toronto startup DanTeb Enterprises aims to help the battery-drained by installing mobile charging stations at select locations across Toronto in the coming months.

The idea came about, co-founder Laura Miller explains, in the most ordinary of ways. She was on the phone with her father, who was telling her a story about a friend of his who had come across a mobile charging station while travelling in Mexico -- and as he was telling her that story, her own phone ran out of power.

DanTeb officially launched with a pilot this past summer with stations at the CNE. Things ran smooth enough between visitors to the Ex and convention attendees, Miller says, that they've quickly moved on to their next phase: installing five or six stations in the PATH underground mall downtown, and a total of 20-25 stations across Toronto this quarter.

The stations use MicroPulse charging technology, which allows for fast charging. The point isn't to charge a phone back to full battery, explains Miller, but to give it enough power in a short time to allow users to make a few calls and survive on standby until they're back at home or work. Users can access the phone while it charges or check out the station's touchscreen, which will come with some apps and advertisements. Those ads will provide revenue for the startup.

DanTeb is currently supported by the Ryerson Digital Media Zone and the university's new urban energy business incubator, i-CUE. Miller says the two-person operation will hopefully ramp up to about a dozen staff within the next six months. In addition to a strong sales team, she'll be looking to bring on engineers and technical experts. She hopes that soon the charging stations, which right now are imported from Spain, will soon be built locally.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Laura Miller, Co-founder, DanTeb Enterprises

Technology news site Techvibes has just unveiled the finalists for 2012's Canadian Startup Awards with Toronto startups snagging more spots than any other city. 

The finalists this year were selected from "well over 1,200 nominees," writes Techvibes president Rob Lewis in a blog post announcing the shortlist. It's a list, happily, that features many Toronto startups, and includes several you might have learned about here on Yonge Street.

Among them are photo sharing site 500px, which has seen exponential growth in its staff over the past year, and also made its first acquisition, Algo Anywhere, in 2012; Wave, which makes cloud-based apps for small businesses; and data sharing platform Hubba, which helps retailers and brands tell their stories more effectively.

Techvibes introduced the awards, in conjunction with consulting firm KPMG, just last year. Toronto-based e-reading company Wattpad won that inaugural award, after more than 11,000 votes were cast.

You have until midnight on Friday, January 25 to cast your ballot.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Techvibes

It was nearly two years ago that Yonge Street first told you about B2B marketing company Influitive. The company was just getting ready for the beta launch of its advocacy-based platform, and like all startups, nobody was quite sure how things would go.

Very well, it turns out. Just before the holidays, the company announced that it has closed $7.3 million in Series A financing. The funding is coming from Hummer Winblad and Relay Ventures, along with some support from existing investors, and will go towards further development of the company's platform. They are also hiring: at 18 staff members now, Influitive currently has four positions they are trying to fill, and anticipate further hiring later this year.

Influitive, headquartered in both Toronto and San Francisco, is making its name with AdvocateHub, a marketing platform which relies on customer reviews, referrals, and engagement. Companies encourage their best customers to sign up; those participants then become advocates for the companies and brands they like, and in return those advocates receive benefits from the companies they've recommended. The idea is that these recommendations can be especially trusted because the advocates are motivated by receiving services from the very companies they are endorsing -- and why would you go to the trouble if you didn't think those services were valuable?

The company is clearly on a roll: as the Financial Post reports, they closed an earlier round of funding—$3.75 million—just four months ago.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Influitive