Overview
Director, Commercialization – Multi platform Jobs in Greater Toronto Area, Canada at Zentek Ltd.
Title: Director, Commercialization – Multi platform
Company: Zentek Ltd.
Location: Greater Toronto Area, Canada
Owns near-term revenue across three verticals. One leader, twelve months to revenue.
Direct reports: BD Managers (3)
Location: Onsite for the first 12 months — GTA office Hwy 404 / 407 corridor). Hybrid after 12 months. U.S., Canadian, and allied-nation customer travel.
ROLE PURPOSE
The Director, Commercialization is the single senior commercial leader at Zentek for the first 12 months of Phase 2, owning near-term revenue across three structurally distinct verticals: ZenGUARD Coatings (industrial licensing, coated-media supply, and direct-to-consumer channels), and Triera Biosciences (CRO services and aptamer IP licensing).
This is a deliberately consolidated role. Year 1 is about installing commercial discipline, hiring and developing the BD team, building pipeline across all three verticals, and signing the first revenue contracts. The Director runs the pipeline that feeds those conversations, and owns end-to-end commercial execution on ZenGUARD and Triera.
This role is designed to evolve. As the verticals mature, the company will reassess how the commercial function should be structured — at the 12-month mark, against revenue and pipeline maturity. The right candidate sees this as a chance to define the commercial architecture of the company for its most consequential year.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES.
ZenGUARD — End-to-end ownership
- Convert the active filter-OEM pilot into a commercial agreement, across three monetization paths: IP licensing to major filter manufacturers, coated-media supply to converters, or targeted direct-to-consumer.
- Personally own the largest ZenGUARD deals (filter OEMs, HVAC system primes, channel partners with C$1M+ annual potential)
- Manage the BD Manager, ZenGUARD on the licensing and channel pipeline, and the DTC Specialist on Amazon FBA execution (multi-SKU launch, paid acquisition, Day-90 decision gate).
- Coordinate with Operations & Technology on capacity, licensing architecture, and regulatory positioning.
- Lead on the first ZenGUARD commercial contract.
Triera — End-to-end ownership
- Build Triera's Development-on-Demand CRO model. Personally relationship-manage diagnostic, infectious-disease, pharma BD, and biotech CSO engagements.
- Develop the aptamer licensing pipeline against the five owned aptamers (SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, VEGF, Norovirus, Syphilis), structuring revenue arrangements that retain Zentek ownership of core IP.
- Manage the BD Manager, Triera on pipeline development, with the R&D Director as scientific backbone on substantive customer calls.
- Lead on the Triera CRO bookings threshold
Commercial discipline & system operation
- Operate the commercial system across all three verticals: CRM, pipeline reviews, deal stage gates, forecasting cadence, win/loss reviews, account planning.
- Hire, coach, and develop direct reports — performance metrics, 1:1s, compensation, progression.
- Co-accountable with the CFO on revenue forecasting, customer credit decisions, and contract terms across all three verticals.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Progressive commercial leadership at companies with structurally complex products and long-cycle sovereign or strategic-supply customers. Has personally owned a commercial P&L.
- Multi-vertical experience — run commercial across more than one industry or platform at once, switching between sovereign procurement and industrial channel sales in the same week.
- Personally closed deals across multiple size ranges
- Operating fluency with CRM, pipeline forecasting, deal-stage governance, and team-level commercial discipline.
- Managed 3–5 direct reports in BD/commercial roles — hired, coached, developed, and managed out underperformance cleanly.
- Bachelor's degree; MBA or equivalent commercial training strongly preferred.
Strongly preferred
- Direct experience in at least one of: critical minerals / strategic-supply commercial; HVAC or filtration; specialty industrial coatings; biotech CRO commercial; antimicrobial or life-sciences IP licensing.
- Bilingual (English/French)
- Active eligibility for security clearance (Canadian, U.S., NATO-aligned), or ability to obtain.
Cultural fit
- Operator track record you've owned a P&L, a project, or a commercial book, and delivered against it.
- Peer accountability comfortable holding peers accountable without formal authority, and held to the same.
- High clock speed you move on commitment, close loops, and don't need scaffolding to decide.
- Direct communicator you say what you think, what you don't know, and what you need, without theatre.
- Outcome orientation by day 30 you can name the outcomes you own and the working groups you convene.
COMPENSATION
Compensation reflects the consolidated scope (three verticals, four direct reports, year-1 mandate) with heavy variable weighting tied to revenue accountability. Package: base, target variable with milestone triggers, stock options, benefits, and LTIP. Final terms at offer, subject to TSX-V approval and option pool capacity.
ONSITE EXPECTATIONS
For the first 12 months this role is onsite, daily, at the GTA office Hwy 404 / 407 corridor. This is build-phase work that does not happen well remotely real-time coordination with the CEO, Operations & Technology, the R&D Director, and the team is the operating advantage. The role moves to hybrid after 12 months. Candidates who cannot commit to daily onsite presence for the first year should not apply.
SUCCESS METRICS
- First ZenGUARD commercial contract signed — lead.
- Triera CRO bookings threshold — lead
- Pipeline health — qualified value across all three verticals, conversion rates, forecast accuracy.
- Team development — four reports performing, strong retention, ramp within target.
- Commercial discipline — CRM hygiene, weekly pipeline cadence, win/loss documentation.
WHAT DISQUALIFIES
The consolidated scope is not for everyone. Not a fit:
- Hierarchical comfort-seekers who need a chain of command to function.
- Passive escalators who route routine decisions upward instead of owning them.
- Single-vertical specialists — the role requires context-switching across three verticals at once.
- Anyone uncomfortable with heavy variable compensation tied to revenue.
- Candidates who cannot commit to daily onsite presence for the first 12 months.
ABOUT ZENTEK
Zentek Ltd. (TSX-V: ZEN / Nasdaq: ZTEK) is a Canadian advanced materials and life sciences company operating three platforms on one foundational science base: Albany Graphite (a hydrothermal graphite deposit positioned for nuclear, defence, semiconductor, and battery markets), ZenGUARD Coatings (a graphene-based antimicrobial coating technology for filtration media), and Triera Biosciences (an aptamer-based diagnostic and therapeutic IP platform). The company is entering Phase 2 operational discipline and commercial scale-up.
Zentek runs on a flat, networked leadership model. Accountability runs horizontally between peers against seven named annual outcomes. Work happens in time-bound cross-functional working groups with published decision rights (RAPID framework). We're building a company that scales delivery without scaling bureaucracy.
