Director, Canadian Business Banking Credit Strategy Risk Management

Address:

33 Dundas Street West

Audit, Risk & Compliance

Join a high-impact team at the forefront of strategic credit decisioning—where your leadership will shape the future of credit risk for BMO’s Business Banking portfolio. As a Director in Canadian Business Banking Risk Management, you’ll play a pivotal role in ensuring that automated lending decision and portfolio management strategies elevate portfolio performance, optimize Return on Equity (ROE), and influence enterprise-wide decision-making.  You’ll lead a team of seasoned credit strategy professionals to advise the line of business on credit strategy development, provide end to end effective challenge on the credit strategies they develop, and design your own challenger strategies to grow the Business Banking portfolio, optimize profitability and ROE and effectively manage the credit risk in the portfolio.  This is a rare opportunity to drive transformative initiatives that balance growth, risk, and profitability—while aligning with BMO’s enterprise strategic priorities.

At BMO, we’re more than a bank—we’re a purpose-driven organization committed to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. As one of North America’s top ten banks, we foster an inclusive, high-performing culture built on integrity, empathy, and innovation. Our Employee Value Proposition centers on personalized career development, competitive rewards, and holistic well-being—mental, physical, social, and financial. We empower our people to shape their future through continuous learning, flexible work arrangements, and vibrant Employee Resource Groups.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a team of seasoned credit strategy professionals to:
  • Provide end-to-end oversight and effective challenge for the development and implementation of new Canadian Business Banking credit strategies across loan origination, portfolio management, fraud and collections, driving sustainable growth and risk-adjusted returns within risk appetite.
  • Leverage deep expertise to advise the line of business on credit strategy development.
  • Review and approve testing plans and outcomes to ensure flawless implementation of credit strategies within automated decision platforms.
  • Proactively design challenger strategies to further optimize portfolio growth and performance and implement them when outcomes out-perform existing strategies.
• Monitor performance and emerging risks, proactively recommending mitigation actions to enhance portfolio quality and resilience and identifying opportunities for profitable growth.
• Lead advanced analytics and deep-dive portfolio assessments to uncover trends, inform strategy, and support agile decision-making.
• Provide thought leadership and strategic insights to senior executives; represent Credit Risk in governance forums, regulatory reviews, and audits.
• Stay ahead of macroeconomic, competitive, and regulatory developments to anticipate risks and opportunities.
• Champion industry leading innovation and creativity to drive competitive advantage and business growth.
• Provide strong leadership for the Business Banking Credit Strategy Risk Management team
  • Inspire and mentor colleagues, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous development, aligned to BMO purpose, values and strategy.
  • Regularly connect work to BMO's purpose, set inspirational goals, define clear expected outcomes, and ensure clear accountability for follow through.
  • Attract, retain, and enable the career development of top talent.
  • Improve team performance, recognize and reward performance, coach employees, support their development, and manage poor performance.
• Build strong partnerships across the line of business, credit strategy, finance, legal, operations, and product teams to ensure cohesive strategy execution and strong effective challenge considering all areas of risk.

Qualifications

• Graduate degree in Economics, Business Management, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Finance or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 9+ years of progressive experience in credit risk management, ideally within Business Banking, unsecured lending or Private Banking in the Canadian Banking industry; Business Banking preferred.
• Deep expertise in credit risk management, decision strategy development, and governance frameworks.
• Strong understanding of ROE drivers and experience implementing strategies to enhance financial performance.
• Proven track record of leading strategic initiatives and delivering measurable outcomes.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and simplify complex analytics.
• Advanced proficiency in data science and AI/ML tools (Python, PySpark, SageMaker, R, SAS, SQL).
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with a high degree of autonomy.
• Strong leadership skills with proven ability to attract, grow and retain top talent, and inspire and coach team to success.

What We Offer

• A high-impact leadership role shaping the future of credit strategy for a critical business segment.
• Influence on enterprise-level decisions and portfolio outcomes.
• A dynamic, inclusive culture that values innovation, integrity, and professional growth.
• Opportunities to lead strategic projects and drive ROE-enhancing initiatives.
• A collaborative environment with access to senior leadership and cross-functional teams.

$110,500.00 - $192,500.00

Salaried

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: https://jobs.bmo.com/global/en/Total-Rewards

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 https://jobs.bmo.com/ca/en.

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.