Chief Operating Officer - Future Fields

Who Is Future Fields & How Are They Changing the World

Recombinant proteins are complex signalling molecules that are essential to everything from insulin and cancer therapies to crop protection and sustainable biofuels. Yet producing them remains a complex, resource-intensive process that has seen remarkably little innovation in decades.

Future Fields is taking a fundamentally different approach.

Founded in Edmonton by Matt and Jalene Anderson-Baron, the company has developed a synthetic biology platform that uses genetically engineered fruit flies to produce custom proteins efficiently and at scale.

Over the past six years, Future Fields has raised more than $20 million, commercialized its technology, and earned validation from major enterprise organizations across crop sciences, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and other emerging applications.

Today, Future Fields develops custom protein-production processes for its customers and moves successful programs into commercial manufacturing.

The technology is proven. Now the opportunity is commercial scale. Future Fields needs to build the operating discipline, leadership capacity, and infrastructure required to deliver.

That is where you come in.

How Will I Make An Impact?

As Chief Operating Officer, you will build the operating system that enables Future Fields to scale from a founder-led organization into a world-class biomanufacturing company that delivers multi-million dollar contracts efficiently and successfully.

Working alongside the CEO, you'll build the operating cadence, leadership discipline, and cross-functional alignment needed to deliver increasingly complex customer programs. You will:

Drive Execution & Accountability

Translate strategy into clear data-driven priorities, operating plans, and measurable outcomes - and hold the team accountable to company targets
Create clear visibility into priorities, risks, and progress so decisions happen earlier and with confidence.
Provide hands-on operational leadership for the R&D team by building a shared, reviewable system that holds the function accountable to the same operating rhythm as the other departments.
Create urgency without toxicity by building clear expectations, accountability, and faster decision-making.

Lead the Leadership Team

Lead, coach and develop the VP team, creating a stronger standard for leadership and execution.
Partner closely with a deeply technical organization, bringing stronger operational discipline without compromising scientific curiosity or innovation.
Align R&D, manufacturing, commercial, and finance around shared priorities and customer commitments.
Serve as a trusted thought partner and constructive counterbalance to the CEO.

Scale the Business

Build the systems to scale 200x in the next year in order to fulfill customer contracts, while maintaining quality and capital efficiency.
Align Sales & Production by acting as the strategic bridge between Sales and Tech Ops (Manufacturing) to keep the commercial pipeline synchronized with plant capacity. This should improve and protect critical enterprise delivery metrics.
Partner directly with Finance to manage unit economics and budget, helping to build the labour model for manufacturing at scale.

How Do I Know If This Is For Me?

You'll likely thrive in this role if:

You Love Turning Complexity Into Clarity

You naturally bring structure to fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
You enjoy building the operating systems, processes, and rhythms that help great teams execute consistently.
You know how to distinguish between healthy scientific uncertainty and avoidable operational drift.

You Lead Through Accountability

You believe urgency and accountability can coexist with psychological safety and a healthy culture.
You aren't afraid to make difficult decisions, have candid conversations, and hold leaders accountable.
You coach people to become stronger leaders.

You're Comfortable Being the Integrator

You enjoy partnering with visionary founders and aren't afraid to challenge ideas or ask difficult questions.
You like connecting technical, commercial, and operational teams around a common goal.
You gain satisfaction from helping other leaders succeed rather than being the person in the spotlight.

You're Excited By What's Ahead

You're energized by the opportunity to scale breakthrough technology into a world-class business.
You're comfortable rolling up your sleeves in a founder-led company where not every answer already exists.
You're excited by the opportunity to relocate to Edmonton and build alongside an ambitious team that's entering its next chapter.

Our Ideal Candidate Looks Like:

You've led executives or functional leaders in a rapidly scaling environment.
You've scaled manufacturing, physical infrastructure, or a technically complex product and company.
You've built the operating rhythms, planning processes, and accountability systems that helped an organization scale.
You can work credibly with scientists, engineers, manufacturing, commercial teams, and investors.
You've balanced customer commitments with manufacturing capacity, technical complexity, and operational realities.
You’ve built accountable, performance-driven cultures without fear or toxicity.
Biotech is a plus, but hard-tech/manufacturing scale is more important.
Experience using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a plus. The Future Fields team is deeply embedded with EOS.

Our Process:

Interview with the Co-Founders
Second Interview with the CEO & Co-Founder (Hiring Manager)
On-site in Edmonton at their facility, which will include:
1. Tour of facility and office
2. Case study presentation
3. Meet ‘n greet with the executive team and future direct reports
4. More 1:1 time with both Co-Founders
5. Meeting the broader Future Fields team

We understand, accept, and value the differences between people of different backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, ages, beliefs, and abilities. We are happy to make any accommodations you may need throughout the interview process. We aim to create an inclusive environment and encourage diverse individuals to apply.

Your Artemis Canada partner, Negin, will work closely with you throughout every step of the process.

We’d love to hear from you - even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements!