Manager, Customer Segments & Affinity Partnerships
Top Benefits
About the role
Application Deadline: 12/30/2025
Address: 33 Dundas Street West
Job Family Group: Customer Solutions
As part of BMO’s North American Retail Payments, the Partnerships team manages several existing partnerships and has the mandate to develop and grow new partnerships that are aligned with our strategic vision to provide value add benefits to our BMO credit cardholders
The Manager, Customer Segments & Affinity Partnerships is responsible for leading the end-to-end strategy, performance, and lifecycle for all Customer segments: Military, Students and MLS programs and Affinity Partnerships. This role drives portfolio depth, segment-level acquisition and engagement strategies, and supports modernization or wind-down of legacy relationships. The manager will develop and execute customer segments and Affinity-specific growth strategies, deepen customer penetration, support value-added benefit positioning, and ensure alignment with BMO's broader card strategy and Ambition 2030 priorities. In partnership with Marketing, Product, Finance, cross-enterprise teams, and Segment Partners, the role ensures strong segment performance, data-driven decision making, and enhancements that improve customer experience, portfolio value, and long-term growth.
Accountabilities:
Lead and execute customer segment strategies (Student, Military, MLS) to drive credit card acquisition, engagement and portfolio depth.
- Develop annual Customer segment growth plans and channel strategies aligned to BMO’s credit card objectives.
- Work closely with the everyday banking segments team to find synergies to grow Segments and drive overall card penetration Optimize segment value propositions, embedded benefits, and lifecycle strategy to deepen penetration and drive sustainable growth.
- Support the tracking of expected benefits due to projects delivered by the team.
Manage and modernize Affinity partnerships to improve customer experience, value, and alignment to BMO’s credit card and loyalty strategy.
- Continue to optimize Affinity partnerships by enabling their channels to drive card acquisition.
- Refresh Affinity partner models, benefits, and economics where relevant to support long-term sustainability.
- Ensure alignment to credit card and loyalty strategy, including benefit positioning and customer experience enhancements.
- Monitor competitive dynamics and recommend segment/Affinity improvements that elevate value perception.
- Effectively manage all contractual requirements for Affinity.
Drive cross-functional delivery and governance for segment-specific initiatives and Affinity partnerships.
- Liaise with other lines of business including other areas of the payments team and other teams within Personal & Business Banking (Acquisition, Small Business, Customer Engagement, Operations, Analytics, Marketing, Distribution).
- Manage risk related to the portfolio and ensure compliance with all laws, rules and BMO policies.
- Maintain performance transparency through regular reporting and documentation.
Management of day-to-day relationships with existing Affinity Partnerships and Customer Segments team.
- Effectively manage the day-to-day operations of partnerships and Affinity products.
- Act as the primary relationship lead for Cards Segments: Students, Military and MLS.
- Ensure that contractual and partner commitments are met.
- Deliver an annual plan for priorities and goals for each Affinity Partner annually.
- Work collaboratively with other areas of the payments business as the P&L owner for Affinity products.
Support modernization, migration and lifecycle transitions across customer segments.
- Oversee customer migrations, graduate bridge programming, school card transitions, and other modernization streams.
- Protect customer experience through proactive readiness planning, communications, and alignment with internal and external teams
- evaluate legacy program performance and recommend opportunities to refine consolidate or sunset where needed
Qualifications:
Knowledge
- Minimum undergraduate university degree, an MBA or other post-graduate degree, or equivalent industry related experience preferred
- 3+ years credit card product management experience
- 2+ years partner relationship management experience
- Management consulting or Strategy experience preferred
- Strong track record delivering results in ambiguous and challenging situations
- P&L management experience preferred
- Data fluency is an asset
Skills
- Excellent business acumen and strategic planning
- Negotiation, business / partnership development, value creation
- Strong financial, quantitative, analytic and business casing skills
- Proven ability to establish conducive working relationships with partners and managers across different business units and groups
- Proven ability to influence without authority and drive change
- Excellent communication skills (oral and written) with ability to frame and effectively communicate complex problems
- Excellent problem-solving skills
- Proven ability to manage multiple facets of a complex business and effectively prioritize the most important business levers and initiatives
- Strong time management and project management skills
- Team-oriented, collaborative and flexible
- Strong attention to detail
About Desjardins
Desjardins Group is the largest cooperative financial group in North America and the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world, with assets of $435.8 billion as at March 31, 2024. It was named one of Canada's Best Employers by Forbes magazine and by Mediacorp. To meet the diverse needs of its members and clients, Desjardins offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its extensive distribution network, online platforms and subsidiaries across Canada. Ranked among the world's strongest banks according to The Banker magazine, Desjardins has some of the highest capital ratios and credit ratings in the industry and the first according to Bloomberg News.
Manager, Customer Segments & Affinity Partnerships
Top Benefits
About the role
Application Deadline: 12/30/2025
Address: 33 Dundas Street West
Job Family Group: Customer Solutions
As part of BMO’s North American Retail Payments, the Partnerships team manages several existing partnerships and has the mandate to develop and grow new partnerships that are aligned with our strategic vision to provide value add benefits to our BMO credit cardholders
The Manager, Customer Segments & Affinity Partnerships is responsible for leading the end-to-end strategy, performance, and lifecycle for all Customer segments: Military, Students and MLS programs and Affinity Partnerships. This role drives portfolio depth, segment-level acquisition and engagement strategies, and supports modernization or wind-down of legacy relationships. The manager will develop and execute customer segments and Affinity-specific growth strategies, deepen customer penetration, support value-added benefit positioning, and ensure alignment with BMO's broader card strategy and Ambition 2030 priorities. In partnership with Marketing, Product, Finance, cross-enterprise teams, and Segment Partners, the role ensures strong segment performance, data-driven decision making, and enhancements that improve customer experience, portfolio value, and long-term growth.
Accountabilities:
Lead and execute customer segment strategies (Student, Military, MLS) to drive credit card acquisition, engagement and portfolio depth.
- Develop annual Customer segment growth plans and channel strategies aligned to BMO’s credit card objectives.
- Work closely with the everyday banking segments team to find synergies to grow Segments and drive overall card penetration Optimize segment value propositions, embedded benefits, and lifecycle strategy to deepen penetration and drive sustainable growth.
- Support the tracking of expected benefits due to projects delivered by the team.
Manage and modernize Affinity partnerships to improve customer experience, value, and alignment to BMO’s credit card and loyalty strategy.
- Continue to optimize Affinity partnerships by enabling their channels to drive card acquisition.
- Refresh Affinity partner models, benefits, and economics where relevant to support long-term sustainability.
- Ensure alignment to credit card and loyalty strategy, including benefit positioning and customer experience enhancements.
- Monitor competitive dynamics and recommend segment/Affinity improvements that elevate value perception.
- Effectively manage all contractual requirements for Affinity.
Drive cross-functional delivery and governance for segment-specific initiatives and Affinity partnerships.
- Liaise with other lines of business including other areas of the payments team and other teams within Personal & Business Banking (Acquisition, Small Business, Customer Engagement, Operations, Analytics, Marketing, Distribution).
- Manage risk related to the portfolio and ensure compliance with all laws, rules and BMO policies.
- Maintain performance transparency through regular reporting and documentation.
Management of day-to-day relationships with existing Affinity Partnerships and Customer Segments team.
- Effectively manage the day-to-day operations of partnerships and Affinity products.
- Act as the primary relationship lead for Cards Segments: Students, Military and MLS.
- Ensure that contractual and partner commitments are met.
- Deliver an annual plan for priorities and goals for each Affinity Partner annually.
- Work collaboratively with other areas of the payments business as the P&L owner for Affinity products.
Support modernization, migration and lifecycle transitions across customer segments.
- Oversee customer migrations, graduate bridge programming, school card transitions, and other modernization streams.
- Protect customer experience through proactive readiness planning, communications, and alignment with internal and external teams
- evaluate legacy program performance and recommend opportunities to refine consolidate or sunset where needed
Qualifications:
Knowledge
- Minimum undergraduate university degree, an MBA or other post-graduate degree, or equivalent industry related experience preferred
- 3+ years credit card product management experience
- 2+ years partner relationship management experience
- Management consulting or Strategy experience preferred
- Strong track record delivering results in ambiguous and challenging situations
- P&L management experience preferred
- Data fluency is an asset
Skills
- Excellent business acumen and strategic planning
- Negotiation, business / partnership development, value creation
- Strong financial, quantitative, analytic and business casing skills
- Proven ability to establish conducive working relationships with partners and managers across different business units and groups
- Proven ability to influence without authority and drive change
- Excellent communication skills (oral and written) with ability to frame and effectively communicate complex problems
- Excellent problem-solving skills
- Proven ability to manage multiple facets of a complex business and effectively prioritize the most important business levers and initiatives
- Strong time management and project management skills
- Team-oriented, collaborative and flexible
- Strong attention to detail
About Desjardins
Desjardins Group is the largest cooperative financial group in North America and the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world, with assets of $435.8 billion as at March 31, 2024. It was named one of Canada's Best Employers by Forbes magazine and by Mediacorp. To meet the diverse needs of its members and clients, Desjardins offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its extensive distribution network, online platforms and subsidiaries across Canada. Ranked among the world's strongest banks according to The Banker magazine, Desjardins has some of the highest capital ratios and credit ratings in the industry and the first according to Bloomberg News.