Director – Operational Controls and Resilience, Global Insurance (Toronto)

Purpose The Director, Operational Controls and Resilience will be responsible for 1A risk oversight and play a pivotal role in strengthening the operational and non-financial risk management capabilities across the Global Insurance business. This role leads strategic initiatives, drives transformation, and ensures regulatory compliance while fostering a culture of proactive risk identification and mitigation. The successful candidate will be a seasoned leader with deep expertise in operational risk, governance, and cross-functional collaboration.

What You’ll Do: Risk Oversight & Governance • Lead the development and implementation of risk frameworks, operating models, and horizontal controls across Global Insurance. • Oversee mitigation and management of operational, compliance, conduct, and other non-financial risks. • Champion adherence to global risk frameworks, including AML/ATF, conduct risk, and regulatory compliance across diverse jurisdictions. • Deliver a consolidated view of control and risk program effectiveness via the Country Risk Dashboard. • Manage country-level issues and follow up on Audit Action Plans and regulatory commitments. • Provide strategic oversight across Creditor and Non-Creditor Insurance, Procurement, and Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM). • Ensure integrity and oversight of specialized programs such as the Collateral Protection Program across international markets, including monitoring KPIs/KRIs and operational controls. • Maintain expert analytical capabilities to synthesize data and develop actionable risk insights and recommendations.

Operational Excellence & Transformation • Drive operational risk efficiency by improving processes and team performance. • Identify and implement enhancements in day-to-day operations (D2D). • Explore and lead automation opportunities to streamline workflows. • Spearhead process re-engineering and standardization across countries and business lines. • Design and integrate client-focused operational solutions across international markets, enhancing distribution channels and delivery capabilities. • Continuously review and analyze operations and sales performance to identify gaps and drive improvements.

Issue Management & Escalation • Oversee operational support activities and controls to proactively identify and resolve systemic issues, particularly in insurance-related processes. • Collaborate with local and head office teams to ensure timely resolution of escalated issues and alignment with strategic goals. • Manage self-identified issues, Operational Risk Events, and systemic challenges. • Lead escalation protocols for TPRM reporting and insurance cancellation cases (30/90-day thresholds). • Secure resolution of roadblocks through in-country Insurance Leadership.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement • Build and lead a team of internal and external experts to deliver key risk transformation components. • Influence without formal authority across cross-functional teams and geographies. • Manage relationships across 13 countries, including local operations, Business Risk Management, AML, audit, compliance, legal, and insurance partners. • Drive a results-focused and inclusive culture, emphasizing innovation, critical thinking, and high performance.

Compliance & Regulatory Support • Maintain deep understanding of global insurance trends, including legal, compliance, operational, and regulatory developments. • Ensure operational activities meet obligations under multiple risk frameworks, including the Operational Risk Management Framework and AML/ATF Global Handbook. • Monitor regulatory developments and ensure alignment with compliance requirements. • Support drafting and vetting of policies and procedures. • Lead the development of Global Insurance Sales Practices standards, training, and monitoring tools.

Reporting & Council Leadership • Design and maintain Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track delivery and adherence. • Leverage data to support governance oversight, synthesizing findings into clear recommendations for senior leadership. • Present strategic plans and performance updates across functional and geographic boundaries, ensuring transparency and accountability. • Provide periodic updates to Senior Management, highlighting progress, bottlenecks, and critical dependencies. • Prepare and lead monthly Global Insurance Risk Council sessions.

What You’ll Bring:

• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills in order to build consensus and obtain cooperation . • Experience in managing complex projects and initiatives to completion within tight timelines, across different businesses and cultures. • General knowledge of financial and non-financial risk management general theory and practice (including AML) • Broad knowledge of operational risk management practices . • Project Management skills and experience • Deep understanding of IT development, production, and business process management. • Expertise in data analyses across various data types (e.g. account data, position data, time-series data, etc.), and understanding of data governance theory. Ability to partner with data governance SMEs on the design and implementation of refinements to data architecture and data quality • Familiarity with compliance and control testing in financial institutions. • Strong interpersonal skills and a naturally collaborative working style. • Ability and temperament to manage through ambiguity and evolving requirements and imperatives. • Excellent analytical skills, particularly the ability to identify themes and root causes underlying observed facts, spot patterns and trends, and avoid spurious data and relationships • Ability to plan, prioritize and set tangible goals; resourcefulness in navigating past obstacles. • Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. • Solid attention to detail and comfort with working with large amounts of data. • Proven track record of growing, developing and upskilling teams of junior colleagues – team management from a development and upskill perspective