Minor in advertising.

Major in mattering.

Academy is a full-service, social-first agency that makes brands matter to the people who matter most to them.

We’re on a mission to connect what brands have to say with what people actually care about—through best-in-class strategy, creativity, and cultural insight.

We’re growing, and with that comes the need to be more intentional about how we hire, support, and develop our team.

Academy is looking for a People & Culture Manager to help us do exactly that.

This job is not easy. But it’s meaningful. It’s hands-on. It’s a constant pursuit of betterment—for the agency and for the people in it. And it’s a chance to build an environment where smart, capable people can do the best work of their careers.

About the Role This is a high-impact, hands-on role reporting to the President.

You’ll own the full employee lifecycle—from hiring great people, to helping managers lead better, to building the systems and structure that make the agency run more effectively.

You’ll operate as the sole HR / People lead, which means being proactive, resourceful, and comfortable figuring things out without a playbook. You won’t just run processes—you’ll build and improve them.

You’ll work alongside our Ops function (focused on process and resourcing), while owning everything related to people, performance, and culture.

Success in this role looks like a healthy, high-performing, and engaged team, with transparent expectations, strong management, and a culture that supports great work.

On a day-to-day basis, the People & Culture Manager will be responsible for:Hiring & Talent

- Own end-to-end hiring across creative, strategy, and client-facing teams (account management, production, partnerships)
- Partner with leadership to define roles, scorecards, and interview processes
- Improve the speed and quality of hiring while maintaining a strong candidate experience
- Build consistent,



scalable hiring practices and workflows

Employee Experience & Culture
- Maintain a strong pulse on team morale, engagement, and overall experience
- Act as a connector between leadership and the broader team
- Help define and reinforce what makes Academy, Academy
- Support team rituals, offsites, and cultural initiatives
- Identify friction points across the employee journey—and fix them

Performance & High Standards
- Build and run performance review cycles and feedback processes
- Support managers in goal setting, professional development, and performance conversations
- Coach team leads through real-world people challenges
- Help establish and maintain a high bar for performance across the agency (including addressing underperformance when needed)

People Operations & Compensation
- Support salary benchmarking, compensation planning, offer letter creation, development, and promotions
- Manage and evolve core HR processes and policies to ensure compliance, consistency and scalability as we grow
- Oversee benefits administration while continuously evaluating and enhancing offerings to support employee wellbeing and retention
- Develop and refine onboarding and offboarding processes that enhance the employee lifecycle experience
- Maintain and improve employee documentation (contracts, handbook, policies)

Compliance & Employee Relations
- Ensure compliance with Ontario employment standards and regulations
- Handle employee relations matters with sound judgment and discretion
- Support sensitive situations (leaves,



terminations, conflicts) appropriately and professionally

Systems, Structure & Growth
- Act as a strategic partner to leadership, providing guidance on people strategy, organizational design, and team effectiveness to support business goals
- Implement and manage HR tools (HRIS, ATS), including HiBob
- Build scalable processes and automate HR workflows as we grow beyond 50+ people
- Support leadership with organizational clarity (roles, responsibilities, team structure)
- Help source and coordinate external resources (e.g., training, development, coaching) to support team growth

Successful candidates will have:

- 5–8+ years in HR, People Ops, or Talent, ideally in a small or growing company
- Comfortable operating as a solo HR function with a high degree of ownership
- Strong generalist experience across hiring, performance, and employee experience
- Experience building or improving processes from the ground up
- Experience working in an agency, creative, or professional services environment
- Experience partnering closely with founders or senior leadership
- Strong understanding of compensation practices, including offers, promotions, and benchmarking
- Experience implementing or managing HR systems (e.g., HiBob or similar), with a strong interest in becoming an expert and maximizing system capabilities
- Resourceful and proactive—you know what good looks like and can figure out how to get there
- Strong judgment and ability to navigate ambiguity
- Ability to balance empathy with accountability and business needs
- Solid understanding of Canadian (Ontario) employment practices

Why This Role Matters

You’ll shape how we build our team—and how we show up for each other day-to-day.

Done well, this role creates the conditions for better work, stronger teams, and a more resilient, scalable agency.

📌 People & Culture Manager (Toronto)
🏢 Academy
📍 Toronto