Director, Product Owner – Applied AI Data Integration

BMO•Chicago, IL

22h•Hybrid

About The Position

As Director, Product Owner – Applied AI Data Integration, you will play a senior leadership role within BMO’s ARC/Applied AI organization, accountable for shaping and delivering data integration and platform capabilities, accelerating scalable and responsible AI solutions that enable strategic value creation. This role blends hands-on Product Ownership with strategic leadership, ensuring data is accessible, governed, and fit-for-purpose to unlock measurable business value. You will lead one or more cross-functional pods of engineers, data engineers, and data scientists while partnering closely with other ARC/Applied AI Product Owners and delivery stakeholders. You will be a key driver product market fit, adoption, and commercialization, operating in a highly regulated financial services environment.

Requirements

Deep expertise in data integration, data platforms, and AI/ML enablement within large, complex environments.
Strong product management and Agile delivery experience.
Executive-level stakeholder engagement and influence skills.
Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear business outcomes.
Experience with cloud platforms and data services (e.g., Microsoft Azure, AWS).
Strong understanding of data governance, security, and regulatory considerations in financial services.
Exceptional communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.
10+ years of progressive experience in technology, data, or AI product leadership, including senior management roles.
Proven track record delivering enterprise-scale data and AI platforms in regulated industries (financial services strongly preferred).
Experience operating within modern data architectures and cloud ecosystems.
University degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field; advanced degree (PhD) considered an asset.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end product lifecycle for Applied AI data integration capabilities, from strategy and roadmap through delivery, scaling, and optimization.
Lead cross-functional teams to design, build, and operate data pipelines, feature stores, and integration services that support AI/ML and GenAI use cases.
Ensure data is “fit for purpose”, enabling superior results as measured by contextual evaluation standards and thresholds.
Translate business and analytic needs into clear product requirements, epics, and prioritized backlogs.
Ensure platforms are designed for scalability, reliability, security, and reuse across the ARC/Applied AI product, feature, and service portfolio.
Embed Agile and modern product management practices to enable rapid iteration and continuous improvement.
Champion responsible AI and data practices, ensuring compliance with BMO’s data governance, privacy, security, and ethical AI standards.
Partner with Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Data Governance teams to ensure data integration solutions meet regulatory and audit expectations.
Design products with explainability, lineage, quality, and controls by default.
Define and continuously evolve a clear product vision and multi-year roadmap for Applied AI data integration capabilities.
Identify, validate, and scale high-impact use cases aligned with BMO’s strategic priorities.
Establish success metrics and OKRs tied to outcomes spanning customer, financial, data, risk, and a winning culture.
Communicate progress and outcomes to senior executives, translating technical capabilities into business value narratives.
Recruit, lead, and develop high-performing, multidisciplinary teams across data engineering, platform engineering, and data product management.
Foster a culture of collaboration, inclusion, accountability, and continuous learning aligned with BMO’s Winning Culture.
Provide coaching, mentorship, and succession planning to ensure sustainable team performance and growth.
Collaborate with internal technology teams and external vendors to deliver platform capabilities while effectively managing supplier risk.
Ensure appropriate governance, financial stewardship, and performance management of third-party solutions.