Associate Director, Product Ownership - Lending Services

RBC • Toronto, ON

3d • Onsite

About The Position

This role is a strategic operational leader on the Lending Services team and plays a critical role in achieving our Vision to be recognized as the centre of excellence in delivering lending products to RBC’s Top Tier clients globally and proactively enabling global growth by leveraging deep expertise coupled with a transformational mindset. In this role you will execute on our Mission to deliver seamless and scalable solutions that mitigate risk and continually elevate the customer experience through continuous innovation, disciplined governance and collaboration to build out a corporate asset scalable for growth. As Associate Director, Product Ownership for Lending Services, you will own and optimize a portfolio of designated lending processes—a strategic operational function serving multiple lines of business globally. This role combines process ownership with operational leadership to deliver integrated solutions that improve client and employee experiences while ensuring safety and strategic alignment. You will own the end-to-end process lifecycle from design through execution, optimization, and continuous improvement, and collaborate closely with other partners within the lending ecosystem. Working in close partnership with the Director, your deep operational expertise and process insights will directly inform the Lending Services transformation strategy and product roadmap. Leading a team of process owners, you will shape the Lending Services process portfolio and ensure it is modernized, operationally efficient, and aligned with business objectives through streamlined, automated, and digitally enabled solutions.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or equivalent professional experience.
• 7–10 years of experience in process management, process engineering, operations management, or business transformation roles, with demonstrated success leading teams.
• Strong expertise in lending operations, processes, and business workflows including deal structures, product types, inherent operational risks, and control requirements.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high performing teams of operational professionals and drive accountability for performance.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to interpret operational data, identify trends, and recommend data-driven improvements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to present findings and recommendations to leadership, process teams, and operational stakeholders.
• Deep experience designing, optimizing, and reengineering end-to-end processes.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Visio); comfort with operational analytics and process visualization tools.
• Experience working cross-functionally and managing stakeholder priorities in a matrixed environment.
• Highly collaborative with strong influencing and negotiation skills and an ability to partner strategically with senior leadership to shape organizational direction.
• Ability to think differently about how work is done through demonstrating capacity to challenge conventional approaches and reimagine processes for improved efficiency.
• Strategic mindset with ability to link process-level decisions and improvements to broader organizational objectives and long-term business value creation.

Nice To Haves

• MBA or advanced degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, or a related field.
• Lean Six Sigma or similar process improvement certification.
• Experience with process automation or robotic process automation (RPA).
• Familiarity with lending regulations and compliance requirements.
• Experience with process mining or advanced analytics tools.
• Background in Financial Services operations or Commercial Banking.
• Project management or program leadership experience.
• Experience leading or implementing technology-enabled transformations.
• Exposure to voice-of-customer programs or design thinking methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Own the complete end-to-end design, execution, and optimization of an assigned portfolio of lending processes.
• Establish operating models for standardization, documentation, and continuous improvement and develop a process improvement roadmap that is aligned with the Director’s transformation strategy and informed by your operational insights and team feedback.
• Build, lead, and mentor a team of process owners responsible for executing assigned processes.
• Set clear performance expectations and improvement targets and foster a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and cross-process collaboration.
• Lead diagnostic analysis of process performance data to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and root causes of operational friction.
• Prioritize and design business cases for transformation initiatives with emphasis on automation, digitization, and simplification.
• Lead improvement projects and measure impact against baseline metrics and share insights with the Director to inform broader organizational transformation priorities.
• Identify and champion automation and digital transformation opportunities that improve efficiency and reduce operational risk.
• Translate automation requirements and work with technology teams to define scope and implementation roadmaps, and support adoption across assigned processes.
• Partner with the Director to identify strategic opportunities that align with the broader Lending Services vision.
• Define data and metrics strategy in partnership with Business Management.
• Establish baseline measurements and improvement targets and partner to build dashboards and reporting that surface process performance trends and opportunities to leadership.
• Serve as the primary operational interface between process owner teams, the Director, technology teams, compliance, and other business stakeholders.
• Escalate blockers, risks, and cross-functional issues requiring resolution while communicating process changes and strategic initiatives transparently.
• Ensure all processes within the portfolio incorporate appropriate controls aligned with regulatory requirements and risk standards.
• Partner with Operations Excellence and Compliance teams to maintain control standards and shift from detective to preventative/automated controls.
• Partner with Platform Enablement to plan and execute successful launches of process improvements and product enhancements.
• Define operational readiness requirements, provide training and change management support, and serve as the operational escalation point during transitions.
• Establish and maintain consistent standards for process documentation, tools, communication, and training across the assigned portfolio through collaboration with centers of excellence and the Director to ensure alignment with organizational standards.
• Work collaboratively with the Director and peer Associate Directors to identify cross-process dependencies, systemic opportunities, and strategic insights that inform the evolution of the Lending Services product and process strategy.

Benefits

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation, and commissions where applicable.
• Leaders who support your development through coaching and mentoring opportunities.
• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact.
• Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team.
• Flexible work/life balance options.
• Opportunities to take on progressively greater accountabilities.
• Access to a variety of job opportunities across the business.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director