Job Description

Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives and Enablement

What is this opportunity?

We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic leader to join our Transformation and Chief Operating Office. The Strategic Initiatives & Enablement team operates in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, with high visibility across Technology & Operations (T&O) and RBC. As a strategic partner, the team facilitates transformational change by influencing & translating strategy into actionable plans and ensuring scalability. Through close collaboration with senior leadership, functional partners (Enterprise Strategy, Innovation, Human Resources, Corporate Communications, Corporate Real Estate and Finance) and teams across T&O. The team drives strategic initiatives and delivers enablement solutions to enhance business performance, accelerate outcomes, and bolster the organization's competitive position.

This role serves as a trusted strategic advisor to C-suite and senior technology leaders across RBC, leading the continuous evolution of RBC's Technology Strategy through structured review cycles that respond to market disruptions, competitive moves, and emerging technologies. This role will also translate high-level strategic direction into horizontal initiatives that span across T&O. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of developing and executing strategic initiatives, fostering collaborative relationships, and driving business outcomes through strong executive influencing and people leadership.

What will you do?

Strategic Initiatives and Enablement:

• Consult and support RBC’s Technology Strategy through regular refresh & review cycles, adapting to changing internal & external forces
• Develop and execute strategic initiatives that drive business outcomes and support company goals. This includes non-recurring initiatives such as Return to Office and M&A activities.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and prioritize strategic initiatives, including process improvements, technology enablement, and change management.
• Provide enablement and support to ensure successful execution of strategic initiatives, including training, communications, and change management.

Location Strategy & Real Estate:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive Global location strategy that aligns with the T&O and RBC’s objectives and growth plans, balancing talent access, cost effectiveness, and strategic business alignment
• Architect distinctive identities and value propositions for each technology location that reflect their specialized capabilities and strategic importance, enhancing both external talent attraction and internal resource allocation decisions.
• Develop and implement strategies to establish and grow innovation hubs, fostering a culture of innovation and experimentation.
• Develop performance measurement systems that evaluate each technology hub's contribution to RBC's strategic objectives and operational excellence. Lead regular assessment cycles that inform decisions about hub expansion, contraction, or capability evolution, ensuring optimal return on the bank's global footprint investments while maintaining organizational agility in response to changing market conditions.
• Build and maintain relationships with key regional stakeholders, including startups, academia, and industry partners.
• Develop and implement real estate strategies that support T&O’s Location Strategy, growth and transformation. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and prioritize real estate needs, including office space globally and other facilities.
• Influence and manage real estate decisions, ensuring alignment with company goals and objectives.

Change Management:

• Design and orchestrate comprehensive change management frameworks tailored specifically for transformations across RBC stemming from Strategic changes, ensuring strategic alignment between technical implementations and human adoption, minimizing disruption, ensuring seamless transition, and maximizing benefits realization.
• Lead the development of implementation playbooks, capability maturity models, and change acceleration tools that enable business units to adopt new technologies, processes, and initiatives at scale
• Equip senior technology and business leaders with the tools, messaging, and strategic guidance needed to serve as visible, credible champions for transformational change initiatives.
• Pioneer advanced analytics approaches that measure change readiness, adoption velocity, and value realization across complex technology initiatives. Leverage data-driven insights to dynamically adjust change tactics, reallocate resources to high-risk areas, and accelerate adoption through targeted interventions that address specific resistance patterns
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and prioritize change management needs, including training, communications, and stakeholder engagement.

Technology Ecosystem Partnerships:

• Steward major investments and build relationships with select academic institutions and tech organizations that provide T&O with access to talent to address current and future workforce needs and help build the Tech@RBC brand externally
• Establish and nurture strategic partnerships with key stakeholders in hub locations including universities, government entities, innovation ecosystems, and industry consortiums. Negotiate beneficial arrangements that create sustainable talent pipelines, provide access to emerging technologies, secure advantageous operating conditions, and position RBC as a technology employer of choice in each strategic location.
• Keep leadership abreast of developments in academia and across the tech sector, trends impacting talent attraction and our employee value proposition
• Develop and execute strategies to establish and grow technology ecosystem partnerships, including partnerships in academia

Must Have:

Leadership Requirements:

• Strong executive influencing skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships with senior leaders and stakeholders across the organization.
• Proven people leadership skills, with the ability to inspire, motivate, and develop high-performing teams.
• Ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics, with a strong understanding of the company's culture, values, and priorities.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust and credibility with stakeholders at all levels.
• Prior experience in Consulting with C-suite executives at large enterprises
• Bachelor's degree.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in a leadership role, with a focus on technology strategy, location strategy, technology ecosystem partnerships, and change management.
• Comprehensive understanding of the banking technology landscape, including core banking systems, fintech partnerships, regulatory requirements, and emerging technologies reshaping the industry
• Understanding of core and emerging technologies reshaping financial services, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, APIs/microservices, mainframes
• Proven track record of developing and executing strategic initiatives that drive business outcomes.
• Previous application of architecture principles with proven experience translating business strategies into cohesive technology roadmaps within complex banking environments
• Experience working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities and circumstances.

Nice to have:

• Experience working in a technology company or industry.
• Change management certification or experience with change management methodologies.

Job Skills

Adaptability, Commercial Acumen, Creative Visioning, Decision Making, Long Term Planning, Organizational Leadership, Organizational Savvy and Politics, Strategic Thinking

Additional Job Details

Address:

RBC WATERPARK PLACE, 88 QUEENS QUAY W:TORONTO

City:

Toronto

Country:

Canada

Work hours/week:

37.5

Employment Type:

Full time

Platform:

TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONS

Job Type:

Regular

Pay Type:

Salaried

Posted Date:

2025-09-16

Application Deadline:

2025-10-31

Note**:** Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

I****nclusion and Equal Opportunity Employment

At RBC, we believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.

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