When Canopy Simulations started looking for an Operations Manager, they were hoping to find someone experienced, self-directed, and genuinely comfortable working remotely. Amy was exactly that person — but she hadn’t heard of Canopy, until she started browsing on Flexa. 

"I knew as soon as I saw the job advert"

Amy Martin wasn't in active job-hunting mode when she came across Canopy. She'd been thinking of doing what she calls "job shopping" — a casual browse, born out of curiosity rather than urgency — when she was reminded of Flexa by an ad.

"I was familiar with Flexa as we'd used them where I worked before," she says. "It was a timely reminder that it’s a great place to discover employers, so I clicked through to see what part-time, work from home roles they had."

The Canopy Operations Manager role was the second or third listing Amy looked at, and she applied the same day.

What pulled Amy in wasn't just the job itself — it was the way it was presented. The listing was specific enough to feel real, and varied enough to feel worth doing.

"It was a great job spec; a really interesting role with lots of things I'd done before, and some things I hadn't so I could develop my skills further,” Amy explained. “The hours and the ability to work from home matched my needs."

“I hadn’t heard of Canopy, but Flexa shows you all the key information and was a great starting point for doing my homework. I spent some time updating my CV, which I hadn’t touched in over a decade, wrote my cover letter in a way that did my best to sell myself, and applied for the role.”

How Canopy made themselves stand out

Canopy Simulations is a natively remote SaaS business, and they've always known that finding the right person matters more than filling a seat quickly. For the Operations Manager role, they were looking for what their Chief Operating Officer describes as an "all-round operational ninja"; someone with the maturity and independence to work well without being managed closely, ideally on a part-time basis initially, with room to grow.

Getting that specificity into the listing was deliberate. As a Flexa client, Canopy had been shown how to use the platform effectively, including which values and benefits to surface, and how to tell a more compelling story about what it actually feels like to work at Canopy.

"Our wonderful Customer Success Manager, Lydia, had shown me how and where to showcase our EVP credentials, and the analytics helped me understand which company values and benefits to highlight,” explained Lizzie Jarvis, Chief Operating Officer.

The listing itself leaned into the things that would matter most to the right candidate: flexibility, variety, the chance to play a meaningful part in a scaling business. Canopy specified: ‘This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a varied, hands-on environment and wants to play a key part in the smooth running and scaling of a SaaS business.’

Lizzie explained that this helped them to stand out and find the right talent: “Our job post gave a decent amount of detail on the specifics of the job, and scope for Amy to demonstrate how her skills and experience could be a great fit for Canopy.”

The application process

Amy says that Canopy’s profile on Flexa was a great starting point for her application preparation.

"I took some time to read some articles on preparing for interview, particularly when I got through to the skills-based interview," Amy explained. "There’s lots of helpful information on the Flexa in the Guide and Resources area on finding your perfect match, writing a CV, preparing for interviews."

After joining

Amy joined Canopy and was pleased to learn that their Flexa profile was an accurate representation of what it was truly like to work there. 

"Canopy is a brilliant place to work and I feel very lucky to have got the job,” Amy said. “The team are all genuinely good people. We work remotely and flexibly, whilst still meeting up a few times each year for co-working days."

Advice for companies looking to fill specific roles

For companies hiring on Flexa, Canopy's advice is to resist the instinct to over-write: "Don't make the job description too long; focus on the areas you need support in, and how and where the person will add value."