Director, Operational Innovation & Readiness

RBC • Toronto, ON

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Operational Innovation & Readiness is responsible for strategic delivery and execution of the core operational development and readiness mandates of the group. This hands-on role advances the design, delivery, and ongoing maturation of operational capabilities, processes, and frameworks across RBC CM COO. The role develops and translates the group’s strategic agenda into a structured, outcome-oriented Operational Development program, leading a team to drive measurable improvements in operational efficiencies and performance across the organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business Management or a related field.
• Minimum 10–12 years of progressive experience in operational improvement, process design, program management, organisational development, or operations management in a complex enterprise environment.
• Excellent communication, collaboration and presentation skills.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate complex concepts into clear, actionable direction.
• Proven expertise in managing multiple initiatives, milestone tracking, and executive reporting.
• Hands-on experience with data-driven decision-making, operational metrics, and benchmarking.
• Strong ability to lead and develop multidisciplinary teams, manage competing priorities, and translate strategy into actionable programs.
• Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies; proficiency in process modeling e.g. BPMN, swim lane diagrams.
• Experience in establishing governance structures and risk assessment processes in regulated environments.
• Microsoft suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Sharepoint) and Business Intelligence tools (Tableau, Power BI).

Nice To Haves

• Data Preparation (SQL, Python, Alteryx/DBT)
• Data Modeling (DataBricks, Snowflake)
• ETL/ELT pipelines
• SQL querying
• Low-code/no-code platforms (Power Automate, Zapier)
• Python scripting
• Version control (Git, CI/CD)
• BPMN process modeling
• RPA development (UiPath, Blue Prism)
• APIs/webhooks
• Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and ongoing management of a comprehensive Operational Development roadmap aligned with RBC CM COO business priorities, transformation agenda, architecture and technology roadmaps.
• Develop the go-forward execution strategy, translating into actionable programs and delivery priorities.
• Establish and communicate clear operational development objectives, expected outcomes, and success metrics to the team and senior stakeholders.
• Evolve the roadmap in response to shifting business priorities, post-implementation learnings, and emerging innovation opportunities.
• Lead structured operational assessments to identify development opportunities in existing processes, workflows, technology utilisation, and operational practices.
• Evaluate process characteristics through parameters such as volumes, complexity, rules, exception handling, and integration requirements.
• Develop business cases and prioritisation frameworks for operational initiatives.
• Document baseline metrics, expected improvements, and measurable business value.
• Develop and apply standardised criteria to rank and sequence opportunities in support of investment and prioritisation decisions.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders such as business, architecture, data and technology to translate solution designs into operational procedures, system configurations, or supporting job aids as required.
• Establish solution implementation plans specifying rollout approach, sequencing, technology deployment, training delivery, and resource requirements.
• Define post-implementation activities and establish metrics to track performance, utilisation, and emerging issues.
• Establish and maintain continuous improvement governance structures, including steering committees and working groups that engage cross-functional stakeholders as required.
• Define engagement and approval processes for new initiatives.
• Monitor compliance with enterprise policies and standards.
• Build, develop and lead a team of senior professionals.
• Define team structure, roles, and responsibilities aligned to the operational development and readiness roadmaps.
• Establish hiring, onboarding, and development planning to build internal capability.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, delivery accountability, and operational excellence across the team.
• Contribute to broader operational readiness frameworks and related activities.
• Identify innovation and technology adoption risks early and develop mitigation strategies.
• Monitor key risk indicators and escalate issues that could impact operational performance or success while maintaining contingency plans.
• Ensure risk management discipline across all operational development initiatives.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to develop and maintain repositories of operational best practices, process standards, templates, and tools that can be shared across the enterprise.
• Establish practice communities where operational teams and stakeholders can share insights, collaborate on operational development initiatives and solve common operational problems.
• Conduct industry benchmarking on operational development metrics and process maturity as required.
• Capture and codify lessons learned from transformation and development initiatives to continuously build organisational knowledge.

Benefits

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation, commissions, and stock where applicable.
• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing 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 do challenging work.
• Opportunities to take on progressively greater accountabilities.
• Access to a variety of job opportunities across business.

What This Job Offers

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