Jen Manuel and Kate Downing share the role of General Manager of FundFindrs, a role in which they celebrate their two-year anniversary. Here they reflect on their partnership and what they’ve achieved together.
Their story began seven years ago, when both were looking for flexible work arrangements after having children. With broad and differing business backgrounds, it was a chance meeting over coffee that revealed a shared work ethic, ambition, and complementary skills. Their first experience of a job share was as Marketing Managers, which later evolved into senior roles where they built strategies and led teams. They continued to work together across a range of industries, moving from managing existing functions to creating new ones, establishing departments, setting direction, and driving change on the way. What started as a job share became a leadership style — two strategic minds tackling every business challenge.
Then two years ago, Jen and Kate stepped into the shared role as General Manager of FundFindrs. Since then, the duo’s successful leadership partnership has strengthened and helped build a business that continues to thrive, adapt and deliver meaningful impact for Australian businesses.
“Collaboration is second nature,” Jen explains. “One of us has an idea and the other springboards it further. It gives us built-in validation and allows us to see challenges from multiple angles.”
Kate adds: “Our team gets the benefit of two different perspectives, and clients get leaders who truly understand the diversity of industries they work in.”
In their time, FundFindrs has welcomed new clients and expanded its team. For Jen and Kate, success has come from a clear people strategy; hiring individuals who not only understand business but are passionate about contributing to others’ success.
They also credit their growth to a “fail fast” mentality. “We test, we learn, and we pivot,” says Kate. “Sometimes weekly. The funding landscape changes quickly, and our agility helps us adapt.”
“Real-time financial insight and forecasting underpin everything we do and the decisions we make. We’ve always been data-driven,” Jen says. This combination of strong people, constant feedback loops, and data at the core is what lets FundFindrs move fast without losing precision.
At its heart, FundFindrs helps businesses access growth funding while retaining control. Jen notes: “Often clients don’t realise what funding they’re eligible for. When they see what’s possible, the excitement builds and all of a sudden they’re planning new projects and seeing bigger opportunities.”
Unlike consultants who appear once a year to process an R&D claim, FundFindrs takes a deeper, ongoing role. “Although we do support clients with R&D Tax Incentive, we do much more than that; we get to know businesses, their goals and innovation plans. This is what FundFindrs is all about and why we love what we do,” Kate explains. “And knowing their business helps us unlock a range funding strategies, award submissions, and greater opportunities for support and growth, more broadly than R&DTI submissions,” adds Jen.
Jen and Kate are upfront about the realities of startup life. “It requires a level of comfort with uncertainty, which we’re transparent about throughout the hiring process, because you need to thrive in an environment where things change quickly,” says Jen. “We’ve come from different corporate backgrounds, and we too have needed to adjust and adapt. We love being able to make quick decisions and give the team ownership to drive the business forward as well,” adds Kate.
Onboarding and empowerment are key. “We want people set up to succeed from day one, and given the space to use their strengths,” says Jen, and Kate adds “We make sure we give people the best chance to succeed. It’s so important and getting it right means you see people flourish here, and that’s what makes FundFindrs special.”
Technology plays a big part in this too. “We invest heavily in giving the team the right tools and training,” says Jen. “Exploring AI is a good example, not because it’s novel, but because it amplifies what our team can do, helping them work smarter and produce better outcomes for clients.”
As for the future, both are excited about continuing to expand services and evolve with client needs. “We want to be a real partner that businesses come to for support, to grow their business, and who want to succeed together. We will cater to the needs of our clients and expand our services accordingly.” Kate says.
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