Manager, Operational Excellence

TD•Toronto, ON

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Operational Excellence Specialist is a senior individual contributor within PCA's Performance & Operational Excellence function. This role is responsible for identifying inefficiencies, designing better processes, and implementing improvements to support the channel's profitability and client experience objectives. The Specialist navigates PCA's operating model within a large bank-owned insurance structure, working in cross-functional agile teams (journey pods) to advance PCA-specific initiatives. Success requires process expertise, persuasion, political savvy, and the ability to build a compelling case for prioritization. The role also involves operating beyond the journey pod model by finding creative workarounds and partnering with non-journey stakeholders when formal channels are slow or misaligned.

Requirements

5–8 years of progressive experience in operational excellence, process improvement, or business operations within financial services or insurance.
Demonstrated experience working in or alongside agile delivery teams, journey pods, or cross-functional squads within a large, matrixed organization.
Proven ability to build compelling business cases and influence prioritization decisions in competitive, resource-constrained environments.
Track record of delivering operational improvements through both formal project channels and informal, self-directed problem-solving.
Strong working knowledge of P&C insurance operations including policy servicing, underwriting support, renewals, and claims interfaces.
Proficiency in process mapping, root cause analysis, and structured problem-solving methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, or equivalent).
Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills; comfortable engaging peers, partners, and senior leaders with equal effectiveness.
Undergraduate degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or a related field.

Nice To Haves

Experience in high-net-worth or affluent client segments within personal lines property and casualty insurance.
Familiarity with bank-owned insurance distribution models and the operational dynamics of bancassurance.
Experience navigating shared technology or transformation roadmaps where business line priorities compete for limited delivery capacity.
Hands-on experience identifying, piloting, or scaling AI-enabled solutions in an insurance or financial services operating environment (e.g., automation, intelligent document processing, predictive analytics, or AI-assisted advisor tools).
Familiarity with responsible AI principles, model governance, and compliance considerations in regulated industries.
Lean Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or higher) or equivalent continuous improvement credential.
CIP, FCIP, or other insurance professional designations considered an asset.

Responsibilities

Represent PCA in shared journey pods, ensuring HNW-specific needs are articulated.
Develop business cases for PCA improvement initiatives, quantifying expected impact.
Maintain a PCA-specific improvement backlog, refining and sequencing initiatives.
Track pod roadmap decisions and advocate proactively when PCA initiatives risk deprioritization.
Translate PCA's channel strategy into pod-ready problem statements with clear acceptance criteria and success metrics.
Identify and cultivate relationships with partners outside the formal journey pod structure to source alternative implementation paths.
Design and pilot pragmatic interim solutions (process redesigns, manual workarounds, targeted tool enhancements).
Map the informal influence landscape and develop tailored engagement strategies.
Broker creative arrangements (resource swaps, co-funded pilots, shadow capacity) to allow PCA to move at its desired pace.
Lead end-to-end process improvement initiatives from diagnosis through implementation and benefit realization.
Conduct process mapping, root cause analysis, and operational diagnostics.
Develop and maintain process documentation, playbooks, and standard operating procedures.
Ensure operational readiness for product, pricing, technology, and policy changes.
Own PCA's AI capability roadmap—identifying, evaluating, and sequencing AI-enabled use cases.
Serve as PCA's primary advocate and subject matter lead for AI initiatives within journey pod prioritization discussions.
Partner with enterprise data, technology, and digital teams to assess AI tooling availability, feasibility, and readiness.
Pilot and evaluate AI-enabled process improvements, establishing proof-of-concept frameworks.
Track the evolving AI capability landscape and translate emerging developments into concrete opportunities for PCA.
Develop AI literacy and adoption within PCA by collaborating with team leads to embed AI tools into workflows.
Define and monitor operational KPIs including turnaround times, error rates, exception volumes, SLA adherence, and capacity utilization.
Build and maintain operational performance reporting that connects process metrics to channel-level outcomes.
Conduct post-implementation reviews on completed initiatives to capture lessons learned and validate realized benefits.
Apply a high-net-worth lens to every operational decision.
Identify and eliminate operational friction points across the full client journey.
Collaborate with account management, new business, and appraisal teams to understand frontline pain points and translate them into structured improvement opportunities.