Director, Data Foundations, Automation & Infrastructure

bmo; Toronto; On-site; CAD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

BMO in Canada seeks a Director, Data Foundations, Automation & Information Infrastructure to lead a highly technical team that builds trusted, curated data assets for reporting, analytics, AI and strategic decision‑making across Commercial Banking.

You will oversee data engineering, data operations, information infrastructure, and business-managed applications, shaping a modern data platform while aligning with governance, security, and enterprise priorities.

Qualifications

Responsibilities

• Data Strategy and Architecture: Define and deliver the Data Foundations strategy and roadmap, aligned to business, CDAO and enterprise data priorities
• Data Development and Operations: Lead the design, development and operation of ETL processes and data pipelines
• Modernization and Innovation: Continuously evaluate and adopt technologies, tools and practices that improve scalability and resilience
• Data Enablement and Partnership: Manage data requests, promote data literacy and serve as a trusted partner to business, analytics and AI teams
• Business-Managed Applications: Oversee a portfolio of business-managed applications and ensure they are well controlled and supported
• People Leadership: Build and lead a high-performing data team

Job description

About the Opportunity:

This is an exciting leadership opportunity within Commercial Banking to shape the future of how data powers business decisions across Canada and the U.S.

As Director, Data Foundations, Automation & Information Infrastructure, you will lead a highly technical team responsible for delivering trusted, curated, and scalable data assets that support reporting, analytics, AI, and strategic decision-making across Commercial Banking. You will oversee data engineering, data operations, information infrastructure, and business-managed applications while influencing the broader Commercial Banking data strategy.

The role combines banking knowledge, technical leadership, people management, and strategic thinking. As the organization continues its journey toward cloud modernization, AI-enabled automation, Client 360 capabilities, and near real-time data delivery, this leader will play a critical role in shaping the future state of Commercial Banking's data ecosystem.

This opportunity is ideal for a banking-savvy technology leader who enjoys building high-performing teams, solving complex data challenges, driving modernization initiatives, and translating business needs into scalable technical solutions.

About This Role

The Director, Data Foundations leads the team responsible for building, managing and continuously improving the curated data that powers Commercial Banking. This includes client, financial, client activity and master data, along with the other key business data sets that reporting, analytics and AI teams across the organization rely on to make decisions.

The Director owns the end-to-end data lifecycle, from requirements, data modeling and architecture, through ETL and pipeline development, to the reliable production of trusted data within established service levels. The role partners with business, analytics, AI, Technology and Data Governance partners to ensure data is accurate, well documented and easy to use, and leads the ongoing modernization of data platforms and practices.

The ideal candidate combines deep data management expertise with strong people leadership and a high standard for quality.

Why This Role Matters

• Consistent, reliable data that supports executive reporting and business decision-making
• Curated data assets that allow reporting, analytics and AI teams to focus on insights
• A scalable, modern data ecosystem that keeps pace with evolving business needs
• Strong data quality and control practices aligned to BMO's data governance standards

Key Responsibilities

Data Strategy and Architecture

• Define and deliver the Data Foundations strategy and roadmap, aligned to business, CDAO and enterprise data priorities
• Design and maintain the data architecture and models for curated data assets, including master and reference data, with long-term usability and scalability in mind
• Establish and uphold standards for data modeling, naming, metadata, integration and data sharing

Data Development and Operations

• Lead the design, development and operation of ETL processes and data pipelines
• Ensure recurring data production is accurate, timely and reconciled to authoritative sources, within published service levels
• Monitor data flows, resolve issues promptly and drive root-cause remediation
• Embed data quality checks, validation and controls throughout the data lifecycle
• Ensure data is handled securely and protected from loss or unauthorized access, in line with legal and company standards

Modernization and Innovation

• Continuously evaluate and adopt technologies, tools and practices that improve the scalability, efficiency, and resilience of the data ecosystem
• Partner with Technology on platform strategy, infrastructure and the path to production
• Prepare and structure data to support advanced analytics and AI use cases

Data Enablement and Partnership

• Manage the intake and prioritization of data requests transparently, with clear service levels
• Promote data literacy and self-service through documentation, data dictionaries and a community of practice
• Serve as a trusted partner to business, analytics, AI and Technology teams on data definitions, changes and their downstream impacts
• Partner with Data Governance to meet data quality, metadata, lineage and data risk requirements

Business-Managed Applications

• Oversee a portfolio of business-managed applications that support key business processes, from intake and design through delivery, enhancement and ongoing support
• Ensure these applications are well controlled and supported, and aligned to BMO technology, data and risk standards

People Leadership

• Build, develop and lead a high-performing team of data professionals, working effect