Notman House is seeking to fill an Operations Manager position.

The Organization

The OSMO Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support the growth, development and global reach of the Montreal startup ecosystem. In 2011, the OSMO Foundation created Notman House, a 30,000 square foot campus that provides physical infrastructure and community for Montreal innovators and entrepreneurs. OSMO’s success is measured by the scale of the community organizations it builds, as well as the billions of dollars of value created by the startups and expansions that thrive at Notman House.

The Operations Manager Position

Under the supervision of the Executive Director, the Operations Manager plans and directs all activities and develops the service offering of Notman House. He/she ensures the development and improvement of operational processes and guarantees the proper flow of information throughout the organization. Most importantly, the candidate plays a key role in the execution of the organization’s strategic action plan. He/she will contribute to the success of the pivot initiated by OSMO to position Notman House in a complex ecosystem and a context changed by the pandemic.

Strategic Management

• Develops and implements the organization’s action plan, policies and procedures in consultation with senior management and the Board of Directors;
• Convene and facilitate management meetings consistent with the operational strategy to achieve objectives.
• Operational Management
• Acts as an interface between the various departments of the organization;
• Develops and implements work policies, methods and procedures related to the organization’s activities
• Assume responsibility for the maintenance, safety and cleanliness of facilities;
• Controls inventory of supplies, products and equipment and manages the purchase of routine expenses.
• Ensure that OSMO Café operations are managed in accordance with laws, the lease and community expectations.

Sales and Customer Success

• Establish service standards based on industry best practices and maintain customer service excellence within the team;
• Monitor customer satisfaction and develop action plans to close gaps.

Marketing and Communication

• Ensure that Notman House has and maintains an attractive reputation and visibility with governments, partners and potential collaborators;
• Promote the offering through word of mouth and digital channels to entrepreneurs and community instigators.
• Human Resources Management
• Manage teams, focusing on the development of their full potential and well-being, using a coaching approach;
• Ensure the acquisition of new talent and their training
• Set performance objectives for teams and evaluate results;
• Instilling an organizational culture based on the values promoted by the organization.

Financial Management

• Develop and maintain the operating budget
• Review all financial statements for discrepancies before forwarding to accounting departments

Experience

• University degree in administration or any other related discipline or combination of relevant education and experience
• Minimum 2 years experience in a management position
• Minimum 2 years experience in the startup/entrepreneurial ecosystem

Desired skills

• Strongly demonstrated leadership and interpersonal skills
• Business and political acumen
• Team management and mobilization
• Good knowledge and practical experience in managing human, financial and material resources
• Action-oriented and results-oriented skills
• Problem solving and project management skills
• Information technology skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in French and English

Benefits/Conditions of Employment

• Flexible schedule, 35 hours per week
• Vacation starting at 4 weeks (including the holiday season)
• Advantageous group insurance
• Laptop computer and telephone package
• Stimulating and inspiring work environment
• Full time position

To apply, send your application as soon as possible to rh@notman.org

Interview with Vince Haeger, resident at Notman House.

At the OSMO Cafe bar, Vince Haeger COO and co-founder of Consilium Crypto puts down his cup of latté after taking a sip. 

“It was in 2019, deep in the winter crypto bearish market, after telling them we’re looking to raise $600,000, the silence from the nearly eighty investors was very present” recalls Vince about launching the first investment round for Consilium. However, the startup whose office has been running at the Notman house since 2018, would not give up.

It would be two years of sailing the Atlantic before Vince set foot on land in Montreal, Canada where his sister was already living. He loved the city so much that he didn’t hesitate one second to enroll in Mechanical Engineering at Concordia University. This choice of career was obvious, considering all those summers spent at his uncle’s workshop in Dortmund, where he learned the secrets and parts of automobiles to the point that, at sixteen, they reassembled an entire car together.

After two years studying in his field, the doubts arisen. He then decided to drastically change course and began, with new winds, a degree in finance. It was in the last year of his undergrad that his now business partner and co-founder Austin Hubbell invited him to join a fintech startup in proprietary trading.  “We proposed to them to not only look at the FOREX markets but also to go for the new crypto currency market, but they didn’t like the idea. That’s how I set my foot in the startup world, it was brief. So I went back to university to finish my undergraduate degree.”

However, that first brief but firm step would stir the seas that any entrepreneur would never hesitate to sail. Months before graduating, like a wave breaking on his voice, Austin came back to him and said, “Let’s do it again, but this time, we are the founders.”

In 2017, Consilium Crypto was launching into the startup sea that took it to Toronto and Montreal to be part of incubators and accelerators, including Holt Accelerator (2018) and CDL (2019). The company was starting to take off thanks to its first investments and projects well underway. But Montreal, one of the pillars of the Canadian startup ecosystem, like a lighthouse to which boats flock, beckoned in the distance.

II

“For us to be in an environment with people who shared the same struggles and the same aspirations is a great motivator. Once inside Notman House, it was not only about having that access to people but also giving back by participating in the community. Also, if we need to approach VCs, Fonder Fuel or Techstars, Notman is like that person who shows you around and opens the doors for you to meet them. And without that open door, it would be very difficult to get that first meeting”, explains Vince.

One of those doors at Notman house is called Google for Startups, which makes products and connections available. “It was huge for us, especially for a fintech company, to have access to services and, of course, the Google Cloud credits were very helpful”, says Vince. The entrepreneur remembers Nick Feller, Google’s Cloud Customer Engineer, walking into the Café OSMO wearing a baseball cap, waving politely as he sat down, looked up and set aside his computer. At this moment, Nick said in a pleasant tone, “Guys, I don’t need that, I’m here to meet you, to hear from you. I want to listen to you all and then teach you what I can teach you”.

“This helped us to further develop our structure plus Google was well aware of how and what we were using the credits for. If it wasn’t for the connection between Notman and Google, our growth would have been stunted significantly”, assures Vince about that 2019.

III

After that silence that flooded the room, floating was not an option, “We are not going to give up, we are not going to stop in this fundraising, we have to keep trying. As long as we keep growing we will try to get investment, at some point people will call and ask Hey, do you accept investment? you’ll see!”

And one day, the call came.

By January  2020, nine companies invested in Consilium Crypto $600,000 USD, which allowed them not only to maintain the team but to hire more professionals in times when the pandemic made the most optimistic doubt. “Many startup companies saw their investors’ funds withdrawn at the last minute,” adds Vince, who believes that while fortune was on their side at the beginning of 2020, that for many, delivered what it promised to be: a year of crisis. Part of the stability of the startup’s growth is due to the strong personal connections and shared vision between team members.

“When I was traveling on a ship for months at a time, all the luggage, people and belongings  cohabited the same space. It was impossible to be indifferent to each other. That’s what we have put into practice since we formed the first team at Consilium , if we want to be productive we need to respect each other’s way of working and at the same time get involved in team projects, otherwise we won’t move forward”, concludes Vince, who has been served another Coffee and lets us understand that, while in Notman the synergy of an ecosystem floods its corridors, the synergy in a startup also navigates inside.

By César Salvatierra, Notman House staff