Director, Expense Oversight & Transparency GWM Finance

Scotiabank • Toronto, ON

2d • Onsite

About The Position

Lead expense management and transparency for Global Wealth Management (GWM) Finance. The role provides oversight, analytics, and governance across the expense base to support strategic priorities, improve decision-making, and drive operational efficiency in alignment with regulatory requirements, internal policies, and risk frameworks. This role will be responsible for managing the expense oversight function by performing insightful analysis on expense categories, including staffing levels, and providing timely information to executive management to support strategic decisions.

Requirements

• University degree in Business, Finance, or related discipline; MBA or professional designation (CPA, CA, CMA) preferred.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in financial planning & analysis, expense management, or related functions.
• Strong leadership and people management capabilities.
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on actionable insights.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence senior executives.
• Proven ability to manage complex stakeholder environments and drive change.
• Strong understanding of banking/business strategy and financial processes.

Nice To Haves

• MBA or professional designation (CPA, CA, CMA) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the GWM expense management framework, including transparency, reporting standards, and governance processes.
• Lead benchmarking and performance tracking of key expense metrics to assess efficiency and effectiveness.
• Drive optimization initiatives to improve cost structure and align expenses with strategic priorities.
• Partner with business leaders and Finance stakeholders to ensure end-to-end cost planning and management.
• Strengthen governance through best practices, policy adherence, and audit/compliance alignment.
• Ensure activities align with the Bank’s risk appetite, controls, and regulatory obligations.
• Lead consolidated expense planning, forecasting, and reporting (monthly, quarterly, annual).
• Deliver clear, actionable insights on expense drivers, variances, productivity, and operating leverage.
• Provide decision support to senior leadership through deep-dive analysis and scenario evaluation.
• Challenge and validate allocations and support transparency across shared and direct costs.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities and operational improvements across business lines.
• Support strategic planning processes with timely, data-driven analysis and recommendations.
• Build strong relationships across Finance (EO, AP&P, BL Finance, Other Divisional Finance teams, etc.), business lines (CWM, SGAM, IWM), and executive stakeholders (CFO).
• Influence cost discipline and decision-making through clear communication of insights and recommendations.
• Partner on change initiatives, including operating model optimization and expense transformation efforts.
• Maintain awareness of industry trends and best practices to enhance expense management capabilities.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team, fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Set clear objectives aligned to business strategy and support employee development and succession planning.
• Promote an inclusive, transparent, and performance-driven culture.
• Ensure effective day-to-day controls, risk management, and compliance within the team’s activities.

Benefits

• The opportunity to join a forward-thinking organization where you are surrounded by a collaborative team of innovative thinkers.
• An organization committed to making a difference in our communities - for you and our customers.
• You can expect to be recognized and rewarded for high-performance; you will be supported by leadership through meaningful development conversations that enable faster advancement and internal training to support your growth and development.

What This Job Offers

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