Work In Tech

We are Koru.

Koru is a first of its kind venture studio funded by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. We partner with OTPP portfolio companies to build and invest in businesses with a clear right to win. We build from 0-1, generating, validating, and scaling ventures across industries and geographies. We expect to build game-changing ventures while promoting a truly entrepreneurial mindset and a culture of fearless reinvention.

Join us if you:

• Are keen on learning and fast-tracking your career progression by working across various industries, business models and customer segments.
• Love autonomy and want to make key decisions in the early stages of new ventures.
• Are looking to make an impact and contribute to building a culture of customer and research-centric decision making and the role design can play in exploring and validating new venture ideas.

Currently, we're seeking a Design Lead to join our team, who is passionate about designing and building innovative product and service experiences across any industry. As the lead of Koru’s Design team, you will help to evolve and define the practice area, lead and mentor a small team of designers (including freelancers) and be the lead designer on specific ventures - delivering and executing on the design needs from early exploration to building and commercially launching new products.

As Design Lead you will:

• Own and lead the end-to-end design process and delivery of entirely new businesses and products - including product design, branding, marketing, etc. working with freelancers and agencies as needed.
• Apply holistic design thinking and evidence-based design to improve adoption, usage and satisfaction (How do users first find the product? What’s their initial interaction? How does the experience differ a year later?).
• Lead user research sessions as part of our discovery efforts, collect data through qualitative research and synthesize findings using artifacts like personas, storyboards, process flows, user journey mapping and sitemaps.
• Create diagrams, wireframes, and mockups rapidly, and at the right level of fidelity to validate hypotheses and achieve product goals.
• Work with Engineering to create components or design systems that allow teams to build and ship quickly.
• Ensure design quality by giving and soliciting constructive feedback from users and domain matter experts.
• Work collaboratively with product & engineering to explore and bring products to life.

You should have:

• 7+ years experience as a product or UX designer - including experience prototyping and building entirely new products and services from scratch
• A strong portfolio exhibiting a proven track record in designing great experiences from 0 to 1, that are based on user and market research, and are also technically feasible to build
• Proficiency in Figma, Sketch, Illustrator, or other relevant design tools.
• Ability to apply your expertise to create simple and straightforward user experiences on products ranging from web, to mobile (iOS and Android), to wearables.
• Ability to work in an agile working environment skewed towards evidence-based design.
• An understanding and curiosity about user and business goals to complement and explain your design decisions.
• Ability to communicate design processes, ideas, and solutions clearly and effectively to teams and stakeholders.

It’d be nice if you have:

• Interest in the design community, understanding the industry’s latest trends and technologies and a good network of other local and international designers.
• Familiarity with front-end web technologies (HTML, CSS, Javascript, React).
• Experience with prototyping tools like Invision, Framer or Haiku.

What happens next?

Once we review your application, if we’d like to move you forward in the process, here’s what you can expect from our standard hiring process:

• Step 1: Interview #1 with Hiring Lead (45 minutes)
• Step 2: Interview #2: Team Fit (45 minutes)
• Step 3: Practical Challenge + Panel Presentation (~3-4 hours prep time + 60 minutes)
• Step 4: Interview #3: 2-3 Team Interviews (~30-45 minutes each)
• Step 5: Candidate Debrief
• Step 6: Offer
• Step 7: Background Check

Please note that this role is hybrid and requires traveling to/working at Koru’s office in Toronto, Ontario. Additionally, all individuals considered for this role are required to be legally eligible to work in Canada.

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Diversity of perspectives and experience is at the core of how we approach disruption and innovation. We believe in fostering an environment where team members of all backgrounds can feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work every day. We aim to ensure all of our employees work in an environment that makes them feel valued, heard and supported while they strive towards career pursuits and their personal and professional growth.

We are committed to providing accommodations for all candidates that require them and in all aspects of the recruitment, selection, and/or assessment process. If you are selected to participate in any part of the selection and/or assessment process, please inform us of any accommodation(s) that you may require.

Our location.

Koru’s offices are located in downtown Toronto. We humbly acknowledge that Koru HQ is located on land that is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, Chippewa (Anishinaabeg), Haudenosaunee, and Wendat. This territory is covered by the ‘Toronto Purchase: Treaty 13’ which was the surrender of the lands from the Mississaugas of the Credit to the British Crown initially in 1787.

Koru staff and/or board members are made up of settlers, immigrants, descendants of immigrants, or a combination thereof. Our roots lie in continents across the world and we are grateful for the opportunity to share this land where we work and live.