Market Transformation Specialist aka Mycelium Matchmaker

Canopy is accelerating the use of circular alternatives to high-carbon and biodiversity-value tree/forest fibre in the production of pulp for paper and textiles.

Scaling a Next Gen materials sector requires more than strong technology or a willing buyer. Feedstock, infrastructure, market demand, capital, policy, and timing all have to align.

The Market Transformation Specialist leads the development of the pathways and vehicles that let brands act together on Next Gen materials. Working with the Senior Director of Next Gen Transformation, with support from experts within Canopy's team, they scope what each mechanism needs, bring in and direct the partners who build it, refine and troubleshoot, and make sure the result is credible, workable, and ready for handover to the Activation team.

Mechanisms that allow for collective action, collaboration, and coordination within and along value chains can both facilitate and accelerate a new, lower-impact commodity's path to market and scale.

Textile waste, agricultural residues, and other cellulose materials can make excellent, lower-impact substitutes for these major commodities. Our five-year goals include catalyzing 40 million tonnes of Next Gen production capacity and $52 billion in investment pulled into the sector. Canopy does not finance projects or run any Next Gen technology directly. We are an ecosystem architect and transform these supply chains by creating the conditions for progress with and for key decision makers such as brands, investors, conventional producers, innovators, and policymakers.

Key Responsibilities 

• Collaboration vehicle design. Define the requirements for each collaboration vehicle, including brand cohorts, innovation pipeline, conventional producers, finance model,
  certificate systems, and claims frameworks so partners have a clear brief to build against. 

• Resilient change pathways. “Quarterback” effective pathways and pre-competitive vehicles with ongoing analysis and strategic refinements, enlisting internal and external expertise as needed. 

• Key partner management. Support building of and stewardship of transformational partnerships with key brands, conventional producers, leading innovators, and financiers to scale Next Gen 

• Partner identification and management. Identify, select, and manage expert partners, such as technical experts, sectoral consultants, standards bodies, registries, traceability providers, consultants, and legal advisers. 

• Design coherence. Hold partners to a single coherent design, making sure it creates
  the right conditions for commercial scaling of Next Gen. 

• Critical review and compliance. Review partner work with a critical eye, testing it against disclosure frameworks such as SBTi and the GHG Protocol, competition laws, and the reality of how supply chains actually operate. 

• Test assumptions and learning. Create methods to test assumptions such as coordinating pilots with early brands and producers, and/or consultations with key partners to bring what's learned back into the design to unlock scaled production on accelerated timelines. 

• Workstream management. Keep the workstream on track, managing timelines, budgets, dependencies, and decisions across multiple partners. 
• External representation. Represent Canopy at key strategic forums and conferences, standards bodies and technical working groups, and flag shifts that affect the pathways; engage with key value chain or enabling condition actors as needed by your team. 

What you'll bring 

• Experience leading significant aspects of early-stage industrial transformation and how to create the right market conditions for a change in business as usual.
• Enough technical depth in chain of custody, book-and-claim, and supply chain claims to challenge experts and judge the quality of their work.
• A track record of managing multiple external partners toward one ambitious outcome, including scoping, procurement, and contract oversight.
• Experience bringing competing companies or stakeholders to agreement on shared rules or outcomes and navigating around impediments to progress.
• Commercial and economic fluency to support assessment of how design choices affect cost, risk, and participation.
• Strong project and budget management, with the confidence to make calls and escalate when needed.
• Clear writing for technical and executive audiences.
• Background welcome from industry, consulting, standards bodies, registries, or nonprofits. Five to eight years of relevant experience.
• A sense of humour!

HOW TO APPLY 

Please submit your CV, a cover letter that includes a response to the prompt below. Applications missing either the cover letter or the prompt response will not be considered. 

Cover letter: 

A standard cover letter expressing your interest in Canopy and the Market Transformation Specialist. 

Prompt response to the application exercise: 

Canopy wants brands to act together to bring Next Gen materials into their supply chain. Imagine we're scoping a collaboration vehicle — a way for a cohort of apparel and packaging brands to collectively source and claim Next Gen content in order to help unlock scaled production. It doesn't exist yet. You've been asked to define what it needs to be. 

Assume: no certification scheme for Next Gen content exists today; brands vary widely in size and risk appetite; Canopy is not a standards body and does not finance projects; the result must be credible to investors, NGOs, and regulators — and workable in real supply chains. 

Questions 

1. Design brief. Define the requirements for this vehicle. What must it include to be credible and workable? Consider the process and factors in procurement decisions within brands, and production decisions of suppliers, how to make a claim (chain of custody, book-and-claim, certificates), governance across a brand cohort, alignment with frameworks like SBTi and GHG Protocol, and what makes it legally safe for competitors to participate. Flag your key trade-offs.
   
2. Partners and risks. Who builds the pieces? What would you build vs. adapt vs. adopt? Name 2–3 risks specific to your design choices and how you would test or mitigate each.
   
3. Pilot. What would one early pilot test, and what would you need to learn before scaling?

Please keep your response to 300–400 words. 

On AI use and authenticity: You may use AI tools to brainstorm, edit, or proofread, but please do not use AI to write your cover letter or prompt response for you. We want to hear your voice, experiences, and perspective, not a polished, generic version generated by a model. If you use AI for minor editing assistance, please add a short note at the end of your prompt response (e.g., "I used [tool name] to proofread this response"). Applications written in a genuine, original voice will be prioritized.