Bilingual Director, Operational Controls and Resilience, Global Insurance

Requisition ID:

Join a purpose driven winning team, committed to results, in an inclusive and high-performing culture.

Director – Operational Controls and Resilience, Global Insurance (Toronto)

Purpose

The Director, Operational Controls and Resilience will be responsible for 1A risk oversight and play a pivotal role in strengthening the operational and non-financial risk management capabilities across the Global Insurance business. This role leads strategic initiatives, drives transformation, and ensures regulatory compliance while fostering a culture of proactive risk identification and mitigation. The successful candidate will be a seasoned leader with deep expertise in operational risk, governance, and cross-functional collaboration.

What You'll Do:

Risk Oversight & Governance

• Lead the development and implementation of risk frameworks, operating models, and horizontal controls across Global Insurance.
• Oversee mitigation and management of operational, compliance, conduct, and other non-financial risks.
• Champion adherence to global risk frameworks, including AML/ATF, conduct risk, and regulatory compliance across diverse jurisdictions.
• Deliver a consolidated view of control and risk program effectiveness via the Country Risk Dashboard.
• Manage country-level issues and follow up on Audit Action Plans and regulatory commitments.
• Provide strategic oversight across Creditor and Non-Creditor Insurance, Procurement, and Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM).
• Ensure integrity and oversight of specialized programs such as the Collateral Protection Program across international markets, including monitoring KPIs/KRIs and operational controls.
• Maintain expert analytical capabilities to synthesize data and develop actionable risk insights and recommendations.

Operational Excellence & Transformation

• Drive operational risk efficiency by improving processes and team performance.
• Identify and implement enhancements in day-to-day operations (D2D).
• Explore and lead automation opportunities to streamline workflows.
• Spearhead process re-engineering and standardization across countries and business lines.
• Design and integrate client-focused operational solutions across international markets, enhancing distribution channels and delivery capabilities.
• Continuously review and analyze operations and sales performance to identify gaps and drive improvements.

Issue Management & Escalation

• Oversee operational support activities and controls to proactively identify and resolve systemic issues, particularly in insurance-related processes.
• Collaborate with local and head office teams to ensure timely resolution of escalated issues and alignment with strategic goals.
• Manage self-identified issues, Operational Risk Events, and systemic challenges.
• Lead escalation protocols for TPRM reporting and insurance cancellation cases (30/90-day thresholds).
• Secure resolution of roadblocks through in-country Insurance Leadership.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and lead a team of internal and external experts to deliver key risk transformation components.
• Influence without formal authority across cross-functional teams and geographies.
• Manage relationships across 13 countries, including local operations, Business Risk Management, AML, audit, compliance, legal, and insurance partners.
• Drive a results-focused and inclusive culture, emphasizing innovation, critical thinking, and high performance.

Compliance & Regulatory Support

• Maintain deep understanding of global insurance trends, including legal, compliance, operational, and regulatory developments.
• Ensure operational activities meet obligations under multiple risk frameworks, including the Operational Risk Management Framework and AML/ATF Global Handbook.
• Monitor regulatory developments and ensure alignment with compliance requirements.
• Support drafting and vetting of policies and procedures.
• Lead the development of Global Insurance Sales Practices standards, training, and monitoring tools.

Reporting & Council Leadership

• Design and maintain Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track delivery and adherence.
• Leverage data to support governance oversight, synthesizing findings into clear recommendations for senior leadership.
• Present strategic plans and performance updates across functional and geographic boundaries, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Provide periodic updates to Senior Management, highlighting progress, bottlenecks, and critical dependencies.
• Prepare and lead monthly Global Insurance Risk Council sessions.

What You'll Bring:

• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills in order to build consensus and obtain cooperation .
• Experience in managing complex projects and initiatives to completion within tight timelines, across different businesses and cultures.
• General knowledge of financial and non-financial risk management general theory and practice (including AML)
• Broad knowledge of operational risk management practices .
• Project Management skills and experience
• Deep understanding of IT development, production, and business process management.
• Expertise in data analyses across various data types (e.g. account data, position data, time-series data, etc.), and understanding of data governance theory. Ability to partner with data governance SMEs on the design and implementation of refinements to data architecture and data quality
• Familiarity with compliance and control testing in financial institutions.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a naturally collaborative working style.
• Ability and temperament to manage through ambiguity and evolving requirements and imperatives.
• Excellent analytical skills, particularly the ability to identify themes and root causes underlying observed facts, spot patterns and trends, and avoid spurious data and relationships
• Ability to plan, prioritize and set tangible goals; resourcefulness in navigating past obstacles.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Solid attention to detail and comfort with working with large amounts of data.
• Proven track record of growing, developing and upskilling teams of junior colleagues – team management from a development and upskill perspective

Work Arrangement:

• Work in a standard office-based environment; non-standard hours are a common occurrence.

Interested?

If your experience is closely related but doesn't align perfectly with every qualification, we do encourage you to apply - you might be the right candidate for this or other roles at Scotiabank

At Scotiabank, every employee is empowered to reach their fullest potential, respected for who they are and, embraced for their differences. That's why we work to grow and diversify talent and engage employees in a performance-oriented culture.

What's in it for you?

Scotiabank wants you to be able to bring your best self to work – and life, every day. With a focus on holistic well-being, our many flexible benefit programs are designed to help support your unique family, financial, physical, mental, and social health needs.

Location(s): Canada : Ontario : Toronto

Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets.

At Scotiabank, we value the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the Bank, and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. If you require accommodation (including, but not limited to, an accessible interview site, alternate format documents, ASL Interpreter, or Assistive Technology) during the recruitment and selection process, please let our Recruitment team know. Candidates must apply directly online to be considered for this role. We thank all applicants for their interest in a career at Scotiabank; however, only those candidates who are selected for an interview will be contacted.