Senior Director

Senior Director, Chief Operating Office, T&O

 WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY?

Leads the direction, oversight and delivery of the strategic vision, horizontal initiatives and business operations for the Transformation and Chief Operating Office (“TCOO”), as well as governance, and horizontal functions / programs for Technology & Operations (“T&O”).
Reporting to the Vice President, T&O Transformation and Chief Operating Office, provides strategic and operational support to TCOO’s senior leadership team and collaborates with leaders across T&O and RBC Functions to drive and deliver on strategic and operational mandate and programs.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Leadership & Team Development

• Drive a high performing, technical team with strong employee engagement.
• Lead, mentor, and coach to promote a positive work environment and build capacity across multiple disciplines.
• Define and set clear objectives, ensuring alignment between operational execution and long-term growth.
• Align team on shared outcomes with effective communication, continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the practices used by the team and establish clear lines of ownership.
• Provide direction to ensure alignment of our technology investments against our technology strategy, including governance and IT Risk, project and program management, stakeholder engagement and communications.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Establish and build credibility with key stakeholders including executives, team members, business, and functional groups to provide representation that is seen as professional, positive, and creditable.
• Partner with T&O GE leader and OC leaders to drive cross-enterprise strategic initiatives and programs. Analyze and challenge large T&O investments and provide recommendations to the T&O Investment Review Board to influence investment decisions

TCOO Strategy Enablement & Business Operations

• TCOO Strategy Enablement:
  • Lead horizontal strategy setting and implementation and monitoring of performance metrics (including creation of TCOO North Star strategy and metrics).
  • Chair TCOO SLT meetings and offsites and set agenda to drive strategic direction and discussion progress on operational activities and strategic initiatives.
  • Lead horizontal initiatives to drive employee engagement.
• TCOO Business Operations:
  • Lead TCOO business operations to drive a culture of operational excellence and efficiency.
  • Lead implementation and oversee execution of TCOO financial and risk policies and procedures, including budgeting, financial planning, and resource management.
  • Coordinate internal audit and regulatory requests.

T&O Governance

• T&O Operating Committee (“OC”):
  • Lead strategy planning and governance for T&O OC to ensure continued focus on prioritized strategic discussions that align to Enterprise strategy and business objectives, while ensuring Compliance with Enterprise Policies and regulatory requirements.
  • Partner with T&O OC leaders to set the agenda for weekly T&O OC meetings, weekly T&O OC Risk & Regulatory meetings, and T&O OC Offsites to drive strategic direction and discussion.
• Domain Ownership of COO Office Domains (per IT Risk taxonomy):

• Own the IT Budgeting & Resource Management, IT Strategy and Portfolio, Programs, and Project Management Risk domains, operating both processes and technologies horizontally across T&O to meet both Canadian and US regulatory requirements. This includes setting the strategy for each domain as well as identifying, assessing, mitigating and monitoring risks that fall within each domain.

• Accountabilities include: ensuring control implementations are complete, domain specific risks are adequately mitigated, services are performing with SLA, accuracy and integrity of source data, ensuring alignment to standards and regulatory requirements, issues management and determination of performance metrics

• T&O Investment Review Board (“IRB”):

• Lead governance, strategic direction, and evolution of T&O IRB to drive operational effectiveness, strategic alignment and transparency and oversight.
  • Analyze and challenge large T&O investments and provide recommendations to T&O IRB to influence investment decisions
  • Set and implement a proactive approach for T&O IRB to challenge and approve investments (projects, technology enhancement  and contracts) based on described benefits and associated risks.
  • Establish and operationalize an approach for T&O IRB to measure and capture benefits and value, with a focus on realization of Enterprise metrics and milestones
  • Establish best practices and guiding principles per PAR type (projects, technology enhancements and contracts).
  • Ensure appropriate governance and controls are in place to maintain compliance with Enterprise Policies and regulatory requirements.
• Chair T&O IRB Working Group to:
• Ensure PARs are thoroughly reviewed from various business and technology perspectives to strengthen business cases and enable more productive T&O IRB discussions.
• Facilitate identification of pipeline items that are of strategic importance and high-risk contracts to be brought forward for discussion 6-18 months in advance to allow for thorough analysis and negotiation
• T&O Execution Assurance (“EA”):
  • Lead governance, strategic direction, and evolution of T&O’s Primary Project Management Office (“PPMO”) to ensure appropriate governance, risk control, and delivery of best practices are in place to deliver value and efficiencies while maintaining compliance with Enterprise Policies and regulatory requirements.
  • Oversight of the T&O sponsored project portfolio to ensure adherence to RBC Initiative Risk Policy & Standards, ORM guidelines and Audit findings.
    • Assess project risk key controls, processes, and procedures that are in place and evaluate that they are operating effectively per policies
    • Work in collaboration with the Project Risk Group (PRG), business level PPMOs and Agile CoE.
  • Foster relationships with T&O Segment PMOs and Planning functions to help create alignment and function as a single federated community.

• Support segment PMOs with access to best practices, enablement and capabilities enhancements.

• Enable a culture of continuous improvement and Agile mindset through innovation and best practices.

• Identify potential process improvement opportunities in the context of EA activities and best practices at the program/project level and lead the process development activities.

• Evolve key EA activities / practices including but not limited to; benefits tracking, monthly financial reporting, status reporting, artifacts management, Enterprise Initiative Management Framework alignment, etc.

• Act as the T&O Business Admin for T&O PlanView SaaS node and evolving the use of tool for T&O Sponsored PARs reporting.

• Productivity & Efficiency (“P&E”):

o Maximize the value delivered through our annual technology investments. This includes continuously optimizing workforce  utilization through our global location strategy & ITAS contracts, driving annualized efficiencies
o Establish standardized productivity metrics and benchmarks to measure the effectiveness of technology teams and initiatives
o Provide T&O OC leaders and CIO Navigators with data-driven insights to inform investment and allocation decisions
o Lead the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program for eligible tax credits, with the CRA, Innovation, and

Development leaders

T&O Horizontal Programs/Functions

• CIO Navigators Program.
• Elevate the CIO Navigator program with designated T&O OC leader sponsorship and going beyond original value proposition of business & technology partnership. Set an updated strategic direction, as well as pivoting and executing against that.

• Collaborate with leaders to understand the overall T&O strategy and T&O Talent Strategy to ensure the CIO Navigators

Program contributes to a future-ready workforce and drives business outcomes.

• Integrate industry and organizational best-practices, and identify new ways to grow, engage, and create value for T&O

Application Development Executives.

• Gain consensus on program outcomes/value proposition and boost program engagement with compelling messaging, effective marketing campaigns, creative events, and meaningful experiences.

• Design:

• Elevate the role of Design from a tactical function to strategic enabler, with advisory and storytelling capability for deliverables including Investor Day and Quarterly Business Reviews (between the T&O GE leader, T&O OC leader and RBC CFO, CRO and CEO).
• Attract and retain top-tier design talent, capable of operating at a strategic level, balancing creativity with business and technology acumen.
• Foster an environment where designers work effectively and collaboratively with cross-functional teams, empowering them to lead initiatives and drive design innovation.
• Ensure that design team’s success is directly tied to organizational growth and strategic objectives. Measure and drive impact using metrics, KPIs and analytics to inform design decisions and track the impact on business performance.
• Ensure that all products uphold high standards of design quality, delivering an exceptional user experience and reflect T&O’s commitment to excellence.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO SUCCEED?

 Must have:

• 12+ years proven experience collaborating and advising senior executives while leading and executing strategic projects / programs
• Proven experience in defining, developing, and executing large-scale technology strategies that align with business goals
• Hands-on experience with application development, data governance, analytics, and leveraging data insights to drive strategy decisions
• Proven track record in building and leading diverse teams
• Experience managing multi-million-dollar portfolios, including funding/budget management
• Demonstrated ability to consult and to lead on complex change management concepts
• Experience with managing/building technology strategy, and a broad understanding of technology delivery (role does not include technical delivery).

Nice-to-have

• Ability to lead, motivate and inspire team, including promote a culture of high performance that celebrates inclusivity and innovation
• Familiarity with strategic technologies such as cloud computing, AI, machine learning, and data analytics.
• Expertise in modernizing legacy systems and developing enterprise-wide IT architectures to improve scalability, resilience, and agility
• Think creatively to address unique or ambiguous situations and to find solutions to complex problems
• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing, and executive-level communication skills
• Comfortable with ambiguity, adept at navigating change, and have the ability to prioritize and multitask under pressure
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to evaluate and articulate complex information
• Strong problem solving, strategic mindset with a strong understanding of our revenue-generating businesses and financial literacy

What’s in it for you?

We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing, and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference to our communities, and achieving success that is mutual.

• 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
• A world-class training program in financial services
• Flexible work/life balance options
• Opportunities to do challenging work

Job Skills

Adaptability, Commercial Acumen, Creative Visioning, Decision Making, Long Term Planning, Organizational Leadership, Organizational Savvy and Politics, Strategic Thinking

Additional Job Details

RBC WATERPARK PLACE, 88 QUEENS QUAY W:TORONTOTorontoCanada37.5Full timeTECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONSRegularSalaried2025-05-022025-10-31

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

Inclusion and Equal Opportunity Employment

At RBC, we believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.