Overview
Director, Capital Projects & Strategy Jobs in Greater Toronto Area, Canada at Zentek Ltd.
Title: Director, Capital Projects & Strategy
Company: Zentek Ltd.
Location: Greater Toronto Area, Canada
Zentek Ltd. (TSX-V: ZEN / Nasdaq: ZTEK)
Albany delivery + capital projects + modeling + FP&A + S&OP. The operational engine room runs how the company plans, projects, and proves out value.
Reports To: Chief Executive Officer
The Director, Capital Projects & Strategy owns the operational engine room of Zentek, across four scope areas: (1) Albany delivery end-to-end — PEA, PFS, FBR pilot and commercial build-out; (2) capital projects broadly — any other capex initiative as the company scales; (3) modeling and FP&A three-statement modeling, scenario analysis, budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, board reporting; (4) S&OP integrated business planning across the three commercial verticals.
This role exists because Zentek is moving into a phase defined by disciplined operational planning a real planning cadence, the modeling architecture that connects revenue forecasts to capital deployment decisions, and project-delivery rigor to match the scale of what's ahead.
Boundary with the CFO. The CFO owns controllership: accounting, treasury, audit, tax, financial controls, capital structure decisions, banking relationships, securities disclosure. This Director owns the operational side of finance: modeling, FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, S&OP, and capital project delivery. The two functions are partners. Capital structure decisions are CFO-led, with this Director providing project-level inputs and modeling support. Monthly close and quarterly disclosure are CFO-led, with this Director providing variance analysis and board pack inputs.
Key Responsibilities
Albany Capital Project Delivery
Capital Projects Beyond Albany
Modeling & Financial Planning
FP&A Budget, Forecast, Variance, Reporting
S&OP — Sales & Operations Planning
Cross-Functional Coordination
Qualifications
Required
- Progressive experience spanning capital projects and finance / FP&A. Has personally owned both a major capital project and a financial planning function — not just one or the other.
- Has personally built and maintained three-statement financial models for an operating company. Comfortable in Excel at the modeling-architect level, not just data entry.
- Has personally run an FP&A function or partnered closely with one. Understands budget process, variance analysis, monthly close rhythm, board reporting cadence.
- Has personally owned a capital project from feasibility through construction, C$50M+ scope. Has held contractors accountable for slippage.
- Familiarity with NI 43-101 / FEED gated engineering processes. Understands the QP sign-off chain, disclosure standards, and public-company technical disclosure rhythm.
- Track record managing 2–4 direct reports — has hired, coached, and developed junior finance or operations talent.
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, finance, or a related quantitative field. MBA, CFA, or P.Eng. strongly preferred ideally a combination.
Strongly Preferred
- Experience with Canadian government funding instruments
- Public-company experience with TSX-V or TSX continuous disclosure, quarterly reporting, board reporting.
- S&OP discipline at a multi-product or multi-platform company.
- Network in the Canadian advanced materials, mining engineering, process metallurgy, or critical minerals finance community.
Cultural Fit
- Operator track record. You have personally owned a P&L, a major project, or a commercial book — and delivered against it.
- Peer accountability instinct. Comfortable holding peers accountable without formal authority, and being held accountable in return.
- High clock speed. You move on commitment. You close loops. You don't require organizational scaffolding to decide.
- Direct communicator. You say what you think, what you don't know, and what you need — without hedging, aggression, or theatre.
- Outcome orientation. By day 30 you can articulate the outcomes you own and the working groups you convene. Then you deliver.
Team-Building Authority
This role hires its own team, capped at two analysts in year one. An FP&A / Financial Analyst (first hire) owns monthly close reporting, variance analysis, budget tracking, board pack data, and model maintenance. An Operations / Project Analyst (second hire, only if workload justifies) supports capital project tracking, contractor coordination, S&OP data collection, and schedule management.
Compensation
Compensation reflects the broad senior scope (capital projects + modeling + FP&A + S&OP) and the engine-room responsibility this role carries — set materially above a standard Director, Capital Projects band. Package includes base salary, target bonus with milestone triggers, stock options, benefits, and LTIP participation. Final terms confirmed at offer; option grant subject to TSX-V approval and option pool capacity.
Onsite Expectations
For the first 12 months, this role is onsite. Zentek is establishing along the Highway 404 / 407 corridor, and the Director is expected in the office daily through the build phase, with travel to Northern Ontario, U.S. customer sites, and contractor offices as required.
This requirement exists for a reason. Year 1 is about installing project-delivery discipline, hitting the PEA milestone, launching the PFS workstream, advancing FBR funding, and standing up the FP&A function with hired analysts. None of that work happens well remotely. Real-time coordination with the CFO, the QP on technical disclosure, research partners on the university collaboration, and the CEO on government engagement is the operating advantage. The eventual analyst hires also report onsite.
After 12 months, the role moves to hybrid. Candidates who cannot commit to daily presence in the GTA office for the first year should not apply.
Success Metrics
Performance is measured across four dimensions: capital project delivery, financial planning discipline, S&OP integration, and team build.
What Disqualifies
Zentek's flat, networked operating model and the breadth of this role are not for everyone. The following profiles are not a fit:
- Hierarchical comfort-seekers who need a clear chain of command to function.
- Career consultants and strategists without delivery scars people who have advised but not personally owned a project, a deadline, or a milestone.
- Empire builders who measure success by headcount, budget size, or org-chart real estate.
- Passive escalators who route routine decisions upward instead of owning them.
- Politically motivated communicators who calibrate for internal positioning over clarity.
- Pure capital project managers without genuine financial modeling and FP&A chops the role requires both.
- Pure FP&A or finance leaders without genuine capital project delivery experience, a finance-only background will not survive it.
- Candidates who require seat-equivalence on capital structure decisions. The CFO leads capital structure; this role feeds modeling and project inputs. The boundary is intentional.
- Candidates who cannot commit to daily onsite presence in the GTA office 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 commercially distinct platforms unified by 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 a phase of operational discipline and commercial scale-up.
Zentek runs on a flat, networked leadership model. Every Director and above reports directly to the CEO. 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). The CEO is the tiebreaker, not the daily arbiter. We're building a company that scales delivery without scaling bureaucracy.
