Program Director, Transformation Office

Referred applicants should NOT apply directly to this role.

All referred applicants must first be submitted through Workday by a current OMERS and Oxford employee, and then must apply through the unique link received via their email.

Choose a workplace that empowers your impact. 

Join a global workplace where employees thrive. One that embraces diversity of thought, expertise and experience. A place where you can personalize your employee journey to be — and deliver — your best.

We are a purpose-driven, dynamic and sustainable pension plan. An industry leading global investor with teams in Toronto to London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and other major cities across North America and Europe. We embody the values of our 600,000+ members, placing their best interests at the heart of everything we do.

Join us to accelerate your growth & development, prioritize wellness, build connections, support the communities we live and work.

Don’t just work anywhere — come build tomorrow together with us.

Vision and Core Values

OMERS overall vision is to play a leadership role in the pension industry and be first of class, deliver superior services and to grow and attract investment partners. The core values are to be fair, have high integrity, respect for each other, provide superior service and work as a team.

The Corporate Objectives for OMERS is to provide secure pensions for all their constituents by:

Investing to earn outstanding returns with due regard for risk

Partnering with like-minded investment managers

Providing high quality service to our members and employers

Delivering value for money

Building a culture of excellence and pride in OMERS

OMERS Operating Principles are: Financial Strength, Accountability, Member Focus, Talent and Reporting.

Value Proposition

This is an opportunity to join a forward-looking leadership team to help design and lead a digital transformation that will enable OMERS Capital Markets, Total Portfolio Management, and Corporate Finance functions to deliver on our pension promise. Our team is at the early stages of defining a strategic roadmap, and the selected leader will be a key member of the team that will work with our internal partners to understand their needs and deliver outcomes, with excellence. This role joins a team on a journey, with significant future potential in a global, sophisticated, and complex enterprise.

We believe that time together in the office is important for OMERS and Oxford, the strength of our employees, and the work we do for our pension members. Our flexible hybrid work guideline requires teams to come to the office a minimum of 3-4 days per week.

Scope of Position

Reporting to the VP, Finance Platform, the Program Director, Transformation Office leads the Program and Project Management function for a multi-year transformation of the Capital Markets operating model, including the modernization of technology and data capabilities to support our investment teams. The Program Director will be accountable for coordinating with internal and external delivery partners, such as OMERS Data & Technology, System Integrators, and other internal control partners, to ensure the program executes within scope, budget and schedule constraints.

The incumbent will lead a team of project management resources responsible for the day-to-day management of the program and its various constituent projects and initiatives, ensuring integration across the program. They will provide Program Leadership and executive stakeholders with transparency into program health and provide expert guidance and advisory support in the design and execution of the program.

Responsibilities:

Lead the execution of transformation initiatives to modernize the OMERS Capital Markets operating model and platforms, collaborating with senior executives to ensure projects meet the strategic objectives of the program.

Support senior leaders in the development of business cases for transformation initiatives that capture strategic alignment, expected total cost of ownership, benefits, and target operational KPIs.

Advise Program Leadership on strategies to optimize the program execution, mitigate delivery risks, and enhance benefit realization.

Establish a process for the identification, monitoring, and realization of program benefits across impacted stakeholder groups.

Develop the program operating model including the definition of project/program management standard processes and clarification of roles and responsibilities.

Develop and maintain the integrated project plan with clear dependencies and milestones, ensuring appropriate governance and control processes over changes.

Coordinate delivery partners (platform vendors, system integrators, and internal OMERS teams) to ensure the program is managed cohesively.

Engage stakeholders through the preparation of consolidated status reporting and briefings to senior executives to facilitate the program governance model and ensure buy-in and program success.

Identify and actively manage program risks and issues with appropriate reporting and escalation to Program Leadership and the Steering Committee. Reporting of Key Risk Indicators to Enterprise Operational Risk and the Operations Committee.

Develop and facilitate a robust change control process to appropriately govern program change.

Develop metrics (KPIs) and solicit feedback to identify improvements to project/program management processes, creating a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.

Document and maintain key processes and controls, for training, continuity, and audit purposes.

Engage internal and external control partners, such as Internal Audit and external Risk Advisory partners, to review and mitigate risks to program delivery.

Provide clear direction and motivation to the team as a member of the Transformation Office leadership team.

Develop relationships among partners by supporting a culture of transparency, collaboration, and service excellence.

Qualifications:

10+ years experience managing large programs and/or transformation initiatives in the Financial Services industry.

Minimum of 5 years experience leading a Project Management Office or managing and coaching project management teams with a demonstrated history of contributing to their development and success.

Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in a related field such as Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Accounting, or Finance.

Expert knowledge of project/program management best practices and standards.

Expert communication and presentation skills with all levels of business, technology, and control partner stakeholders. Ability to translate and synthesize complex topics, negotiate, and solicit decisions with senior executives.

Proven ability to manage highly complex projects and programs with competing priorities.

Understanding of the investment lifecycle across investment products, including key processes.

Experience implementing and delivering change to leading investment applications, including but not limited to Eagle, Calypso, Charles River, Bloomberg, BlackRock, and/or SimCorp.

Experience with the Azure cloud platform and/or Snowflake is nice to have.

Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is preferred.

Additional certifications such as Agile, Lean, Six Sigma, Change Management are considered an asset.

Self-motivated with strong, proven, leadership, analytical and problem-solving skills.

Commitment to standards of professionalism, internal controls, and compliance.

And you demonstrate:

High standards of business and ethical values including the ability to deal with confidential information.

A people-first focus with a desire to develop meaningful, positive relationships across all levels of the organization.

A teammate mentality coupled with servant leadership.

A sense of urgency, optimism, and a desire to deliver excellence.

A desire to drive debate, to speak candidly and to listen empathetically; and

Strong orientation towards strategy, change and results.

As one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, our people-first culture is at its best when our workforce reflects the communities we live and work — and the members we proudly serve.

From hire to retire, we are an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment and selection process that extends all the way through your employee experience. This sense of belonging and connection is cultivated up, down and across our global organization thanks to our vast network of Employee Resource Groups with executive leader sponsorship, our committee and employee recognition programs.