Head of Default Operations

Application Deadline:

Address:

Job Family Group:

Director of Recoveries and Default Management

Focus: Canadian Retail and Small Business Products within BMO

Role Purpose

Provides leadership and strategic oversight for Recoveries and Default Management, ensuring effective management of internal recovery operations, third-party collection agencies, law firms, debt sale programs, foreclosure processes, insolvency workflows, and hardship solutions. This role is critical in driving recovery performance, maintaining compliance, and safeguarding the Bank's interests while delivering customer-centric solutions for clients in financial hardship.

Key Responsibilities

Business Operations

• Oversees the full recoveries lifecycle, including internal recovery teams, external Collection agencies, and law firms.
• Manages the debt sale program, ensuring optimal pricing, compliance, and execution.
• Leads the end-to-end insolvency process, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and adherence to regulatory requirements.
• Oversees the Loss Mitigation Team, responsible for hardship programs and client assistance strategies.
• Manages the Bank's foreclosure program, ensuring compliance with legal requirements and minimizing reputational and financial risk.
• Maintains deep knowledge of recovery strategies, insolvency practices, foreclosure regulations, and industry trends; integrates insights into operational decisions. (active learning)
• Acts as the primary contact for internal/external stakeholders, including regulators, regarding recoveries and default management.
• Identifies emerging trends in recoveries, insolvency, foreclosure, and legal collections to inform strategic decisions.
• Networks with industry contacts to gather competitive insights and best practices.

Execution Excellence

• Champions strong, collaborative relationships across agencies, law firms, and internal teams to ensure seamless alignment with business priorities.
• Develops and defines business requirements for analytics and reporting frameworks to evaluate recovery effectiveness and assess vendor performance.
• Designs and directs operational programs, frameworks, and tools for vendor oversight, insolvency management, foreclosure handling, and hardship solutions.
• Reviews and adapts existing programs; develops new capabilities to enhance recovery outcomes and compliance.
• Ensures programs are executed effectively to meet financial and operational goals.

Leadership and People Management

• Provides leadership to internal recovery teams, debt sale specialists, insolvency process managers, foreclosure specialists, and hardship solution teams.
• Empowers senior leaders with actionable tools and strategies to enhance oversight and optimize agency and law firm performance.
• Develops and executes strategies to build competencies for vendor management, insolvency handling, foreclosure processes, and hardship support.
• Leads change management initiatives related to vendor transitions, regulatory updates, and process improvements.
• Oversees design and implementation of training and tools for internal teams to manage third-party relationships effectively.
• Harnesses performance data and advanced analytics to uncover improvement opportunities, optimize vendor outcomes, and refine recovery workflows.
• Champion a culture of compliance and oversight to adhere to policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements throughout recovery processes.

Qualifications

• Typically 9+ years of relevant experience and post-secondary degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Expert knowledge of credit, recoveries, insolvency processes, foreclosure management, and legal collections.
• Strong process management background, from an environment requiring extreme attention to detail, particularly for insolvency and foreclosure workflows.
• In-depth understanding of federal, provincial, and local laws pertaining to recoveries and collections.
• Strong negotiation skills as it relates to reviewing, securing  and managing third-party vendor relationships.
• Seasoned expert with extensive industry knowledge and thought leadership in recoveries and vendor management.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to influence and lead strategic initiatives across multiple teams and external partners.

Core Competencies

1. Strategic Leadership

• Competency: Ability to set vision and direction for recoveries and default management across internal teams and external vendors.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Develops and executes strategies for recoveries, insolvency, foreclosure, and hardship programs.
  • Aligns operational plans with enterprise objectives and regulatory requirements.
  • Influences senior leadership decisions through data-driven insights.

2. Vendor & Partner Management

• Competency: Expertise in managing third-party collection agencies, law firms, and debt buyers.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Negotiates contracts and monitors vendor performance against SLAs.
  • Builds strong partnerships to optimize recovery outcomes.
  • Ensures compliance with legal and regulatory standards in all vendor activities.

3. Process & Risk Management

• Competency: Strong process management skills with extreme attention to detail.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Designs and oversees end-to-end insolvency and foreclosure processes.
  • Implements controls to mitigate operational and reputational risk.
  • Leverages data and analytics to consistently improve workflows and compliance.

4. Financial & Analytical Acumen

• Competency: Ability to analyze complex data and drive financial performance.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Defines reporting requirements to monitor recovery effectiveness.
  • Uses analytics to identify trends and inform strategic decisioning.
  • Develops action plans to safeguard the Bank's financial interests.

5. Customer-Centric Problem Solving

• Competency: Commitment to delivering hardship solutions and maintaining trust.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Oversees Loss Mitigation Team to provide tailored hardship programs.
  • Resolves escalated customer issues with empathy and professionalism.
  • Balances recovery objectives with customer experience considerations.

6. Regulatory & Compliance Expertise

• Competency: Deep knowledge of Canadian laws and regulations related to collections, insolvency, and foreclosure.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Ensures all recovery activities comply with federal and provincial requirements.
  • Acts as primary contact for regulators and internal audit teams.
  • Maintains awareness of emerging regulatory trends and integrates into operations.

7. Change Leadership

• Competency: Ability to lead transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Drives change management programs for vendor transitions and process enhancements.
  • Engages stakeholders to ensure readiness and adoption of new strategies.
  • Champions innovation in recovery and default management practices.

Salary:

Pay Type:

The above represents BMO Financial Group's pay range and type.

Salaries will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and qualifications for the role, and may include a commission structure. Salaries for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on number of hours regularly worked. For commission roles, the salary listed above represents BMO Financial Group's expected target for the first year in this position.

BMO Financial Group's total compensation package will vary based on the pay type of the position and may include performance-based incentives, discretionary bonuses, as well as other perks and rewards. BMO also offers health insurance, tuition reimbursement, accident and life insurance, and retirement savings plans. To view more details of our benefits, please visit: 

About Us

At BMO we are driven by a shared Purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. It calls on us to create lasting, positive change for our customers, our communities and our people. By working together, innovating and pushing boundaries, we transform lives and businesses, and power economic growth around the world.

As a member of the BMO team you are valued, respected and heard, and you have more ways to grow and make an impact. We strive to help you make an impact from day one – for yourself and our customers. We'll support you with the tools and resources you need to reach new milestones, as you help our customers reach theirs. From in-depth training and coaching, to manager support and network-building opportunities, we'll help you gain valuable experience, and broaden your skillset.

To find out more visit us at

BMO is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By learning from each other's differences, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. To request accommodation, please contact your recruiter.

Note to Recruiters: BMO does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. Any unsolicited resumes sent to BMO, directly or indirectly, will be considered BMO property. BMO will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. A recruiting agency must first have a valid, written and fully executed agency agreement contract for service to submit resumes.