Toronto, Canada (Hybrid)

We are Koru.

Koru is a first of its kind venture studio funded by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. We partner with OTPP portfolio companies to build and invest in businesses with a clear right to win.

Founded in 2019, our mission is to drive value creation aimed at growing the overall value of OTPP’s portfolio companies by partnering with them to identify, validate, build and oversee new disruptive businesses. We go from 0-1, building ventures that address customer frictions head-on — and we leverage our corporate partnerships to gain unfair advantages in the market.

We offer a unique balance of risk and reward where startup talent can build with the backing of a $250B pension plan and the ability to impact portfolio companies all around the world, explore disruptive new opportunities and share in the upside of every business we put into the market. We promote a truly entrepreneurial mindset and a culture of fearless reinvention.

You will have a unique opportunity to be exposed to a wide array of industries, and be a vital voice when it comes to your particular domain, but also various areas of the businesses you’ll launch. Since 2019, we’ve launched 10 ventures (https://www.hellokoru.com/our-ventures) across a broad array of industries and problem spaces.

In Koru’s work environment, you’ll need to be scrappy and experimental — rapidly prototyping new products—and at other times pragmatic and disciplined, navigating enterprise systems and chosen tech stacks. If you’re energized by this variety and thrive in both startup and enterprise settings, this role will suit you well.

What You’ll DoAt Koru, we build ventures from the ground up. As a Full stack Developer, you’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with founders, engineers, and designers to turn bold ideas into scalable businesses and capabilities. We’re looking for someone who thrives in ambiguity, experiments with speed, and delivers with excellence.

Scope of responsibilities:

• Build from scratch: Design and develop disruptive products from ideation to MVP to commercialization (Web & Mobile Apps, SaaS, Data, AI/ML platforms).
• Work across the stack: From front-end experiences to backend systems and architecture.
• Prototype and scale: Write lightweight code for rapid prototyping, then build robust, production-grade solutions.
• Shape the user experience: Deeply understand end users and tune products to what matters most.
• Grow your AI skills: Apply full stack expertise while expanding into applied AI engineering.
• Contribute to the venture: Be self-directed, scrappy, and collaborative, pushing your team forward at every stage.

What You Bring• 7+ years’ hands-on experience developing Web Apps, SaaS, big data and/or AI/ML platforms.

• Proven track record building successful digital products from scratch, ideally in startup environments.
• Broad development experience across multiple languages and frameworks.
• Proficiency in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React (or similar), SQL, REST, APIs, HTTP, JSON, AWS, Python/Node, GitHub.
• Strong grasp of architecture, design trade-offs, and cloud deployment.
• Solid foundation in engineering best practices: agile, testing, CI/CD, security, documentation.
• Ability to navigate uncertainty with continual validated learning.
• Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Emerging AI/LLM proficiency (prompt engineering, context engineering, pipelines, RAG, hallucination mitigation, API integration).

Nice to Have• Portfolio of apps showcasing both front- and back-end contributions.

• Experience balancing 0–1 development priorities vs. scaling approaches.
• Rapid prototyping expertise with modern tools and frameworks.
• Awareness of security, monitoring, and observability best practices.
• Native or hybrid mobile development (iOS, Android, Ionic).

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:

• Step 1: Interview with the hiring lead (45 minutes, virtual)
• Step 2: Interview w/someone in the same cohort (45 minutes, virtual)
• Step 3: Practical Challenge (~3-4 hours preparation + 60 minute panel interview)
• Step 4: Team Interview (45 minutes)
• Step 5: Candidate Debrief (hiring team)
• Step 5: Offer

What does Koru offer you?

Our total rewards package is balanced, flexible, inclusive, and fair which makes it a key part of our employer value proposition. We regularly review and update our total rewards, taking into account best practices, industry trends, and feedback from our team. Currently, our total rewards package is inclusive of:

• Cash compensation made up of 1) competitive base salary 2) annual bonus 3) company-matched RRSP and 4) participation in our equity program
• Comprehensive health benefits, including:
• Group insurance
• A flexible healthcare spending account
• Fitness benefit
• Mindfulness benefit
• Generous paid time off including vacation, sick, and a parental leave top-up.
• Other benefits include, mobile phone reimbursement and education benefit.

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.

We’re flattered that you’d like to join our team, but only applicants selected to proceed in the hiring process will be contacted.