Vice President - Productivity & Efficiency and Business Management

RBC • Toronto, ON

8d • Onsite

About The Position

As a VP and strategic leader embedded in the COO Office, you will drive competitive advantage across RBC Capital Markets by translating strategy into operational reality and sustainable value creation. Your mandate bridges three critical pillars: strategy and narrative, operational efficiency and fiscal discipline, with organizational capability building. You will serve as the strategic and operational backbone of the COO Group, shaping how productivity initiatives and organizational alignment translate into measurable business outcomes and stakeholder confidence. This role demands an operator-strategist, someone who combines deep analytical rigor with the narrative ability to synthesize complexity into clear strategic direction for executive audiences facing ambitious growth and transformation agendas. You will work at the intersection of Productivity & Efficiency (P&E) and Business Management, within the COO Office, ensuring the COO Group priorities and initiatives are coherently orchestrated rather than siloed. This role is equivalent to a Senior Manager or Associate Director level and is not a Finance role.

Requirements

• Proven strategic communication ability. You must be able to write and present at board and C-suite level, taking complex transformation and efficiency analyses and distilling them into clear, compelling narratives.
• 5–7 years of progressive experience in strategy, transformation, operations, or management consulting in financial services, capital markets, or comparable complex environments.
• Led or deeply shaped major transformation programs or efficiency initiatives end-to-end, from design through adoption and benefits realization.
• Exceptional critical thinking, judgment, and stakeholder navigation.
• Advanced financial acumen, deep understanding of P&L drivers, capital efficiency metrics (ROE, NIBT, NIE), and how to model cascading impact of efficiency initiatives on business outcomes.
• Deep fluency with zero-based budgeting frameworks and financial planning and analysis.
• Program and project leadership expertise. Proven ability to manage complex, multi-workstream programs to time and quality, identify and mitigate risks, and maintain team accountability across organizational boundaries.
• Self-directed operator. Comfortable working independently on high-stakes initiatives, and equally comfortable collaborating and building teams when needed.
• Organizational design and change management expertise. Proven experience in organizational design, role definition, and operating model development.
• Understanding of HR practices related to job architecture, span of control, and talent planning.
• Experience with workforce optimization, location strategy, and global delivery models.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced technical mastery in data storytelling and analytics. Mastery in Excel and Tableau with the ability to build dashboards that give executives confidence in their cost base and strategic decisions.
• Exceptional ability to translate quantitative insights into narrative and strategic direction that moves senior leaders to action.
• Advanced degree (MBA/EMBA) from a respected program, or specialized credentials (CPA, CFA, CMA).
• Direct experience with program management offices, change governance, or portfolio orchestration in regulated or matrix environments.
• Track record of building organizational capabilities, designing training programs, or driving cultural change initiatives.
• Familiarity with agile transformation methodologies and how to scale them in large, hierarchical organizations.
• Experience in Capital Markets (trading, execution, market data, or similar functions) that informs your ability to navigate Capital Markets complexity and business dynamics.
• Prior experience implementing or managing OKR frameworks or balanced scorecard approaches at scale.
• Experience driving employee engagement initiatives, internal communications, or cultural change programs.

Responsibilities

• Translate the P&E productivity agenda, and Capital Markets strategic priorities into a compelling, data-driven narrative for stakeholders.
• Develop integrated strategy documents, board-ready presentations, and capability-building roadmaps.
• Drive zero-based cost transparency across Capital Markets functions, establishing the true cost of running each business line.
• Own Capital Markets fiscal planning cycles, integrate P&E initiatives into financial forecasts, and ensure that productivity gains are tracked, validated, and reinvested strategically.
• Coordinate business unit leaders to ensure initiatives are sequenced strategically, dependencies are managed, and governance rigor is embedded.
• Identify horizontal (cross-functional) opportunities that multiply impact and facilitate trade-off decisions when priorities compete for resources or attention.
• Serve as trusted advisor to senior Capital Markets executives, business heads, and the COO office, providing strategic counsel on pace, organizational readiness, and risk.
• Champion a culture of productivity and change mindset, embedding efficiency thinking into performance management and business planning.
• Strengthen the COO office's reporting rhythms, ensuring monthly and quarterly metrics tell a coherent story about Capital Markets' strategic trajectory.
• Own spans and layers analysis, role pyramid reviews, and organizational health assessments that inform HR discussions and track the health of each business unit.
• Partner with HR on workforce planning, mandate development, and location strategy execution to ensure optimal talent distribution across high-cost and low-cost centers.
• Design and recommend organizational structures, role definitions, and accountability frameworks that align with business strategy and operational requirements.
• Coordinate annual performance planning cycles, including OKR setting, bonus planning, and year-end performance reviews in partnership with HR and Finance.
• Manage the setting, tracking, and communication of organizational OKRs, ensuring clear alignment with COO strategic priorities and facilitating regular updates and adjustments.
• Design and maintain comprehensive scorecards that provide visibility into organizational performance and enable data-driven decision-making.
• Develop and implement the employee engagement roadmap for the COO Group, including Town Halls, newsletters, and initiative communications that reinforce transformation priorities and organizational culture.
• Ensure employees feel agency in the transformation journey, not just disruption, by maintaining clear, consistent communication about organizational changes and their implications.
• Materially improve how Capital Markets employees experience transformation, ensuring communication is clear, change is supported with training and resources, and the organization feels agency in the transformation journey, not just disruption.
• Partner with HR to assess organizational capability gaps and design targeted capability-building interventions.

Benefits

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation
• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities
• Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team
• Opportunities to do challenging work

What This Job Offers

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