Director, Newcomer Channel Strategy & Operations

Royal Bank of Canada; Toronto; On-site; CAD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Royal Bank of Canada is seeking a Director, Newcomer Channel Strategy & Operations to lead the strategy and evolution of channels, capabilities and partnerships for a differentiated newcomer banking proposition.

You will own how the newcomer strategy translates into intuitive journeys, scalable capabilities, frontline experiences and an ecosystem of services to help newcomers settle in Canada.

Responsibilities

• Own the End-to-End Newcomer Onboarding Experience: develop and evolve the target experience across pre-arrival, onboarding, settlement and growth.
• Map end-to-end newcomer journeys across digital, assisted, and non-traditional channels.
• Identify highest impact experience gaps, friction points, and capability opportunities.
• Define the target state experience and turn it into a prioritized roadmap.
• Establish experience principles and standards across products and channels.
• Partner with Product and Journey teams to align with enterprise roadmaps.

Job description

Job Description

What's the Opportunity?

Newcomers are critical client segment for RBC, with distinct needs across their journey - from preparing to move to Canada, to establishing their financial lives upon arrival, to building deeper financial relationships as they settle and grow.

As Director, Newcomer Channel Strategy & Operations , you will lead the strategy and evolution of the channels, capabilities and partnership operations required to deliver a differentiated newcomer banking proposition. You will own the "how" behind our newcomer strategy: translating our ambition into intuitive client journeys, scalable capabilities, effective frontline experiences and an ecosystem of services that helps newcomers establish their lives in Canada.

This is a highly cross-functional role. You will work across Everyday Banking & Client Growth, Product, Digital, Enablement, Advice Centre, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Marketing, and external partners to identify friction, establish priorities, and mobilize the organization around a multi-year newcomer journey.

What You’ll Do

Own the End-To-End Newcomer Onboarding Experience

• Develop and continuously evolve the target experience for newcomers across key moments in their journey - from pre-arrival through onboarding, settlement, and early relationship growth
• Map and assess end-to-end newcomer journeys across digital, assisted, and non-traditional channels
• Identify the highest impact experience gaps, friction points, and capability opportunities
• Define the target state newcomer experience and work cross‑functionally to define it into a prioritized roadmap
• Establish clear experience principles and standards that can be applied across products and channels
• Partner with Product and Journey teams to ensure newcomer needs are incorporated into broader enterprise roadmaps rather than addressed solely through segment‑specific initiatives

Own the Pre‑Arrival Account Open Capability

• Own and continuously evolve the end‑to‑end pre‑arrival account open capability, ensuring a seamless accessible and differentiated experience for newcomers establishing their relationship before coming to Canada
• Define the strategic direction and prioritized roadmap for pre‑arrival account opening, identifying opportunities to enhance functionality, simplify the client experience and expand acquisition opportunities
• Identify and address capability gaps, client friction points, and operational inefficiencies across the pre‑arrival account opening journey, from application and identity verification through account activation and funding
• Partner with Digital, Product, Technology, Business Development, Operations and Risk teams to deliver capability enhancements that balance client experience, business growth, operational scalability and regulatory requirements
• Identify opportunities to extend the reach and effectiveness of pre‑arrival account opening capabilities across priority newcomer markets, acquisition channels and strategic partnerships

Enable Newcomer Onboarding, Policy & Process

• Lead the efforts to remove unnecessary complexity from how newcomers establish a banking relationship while ensuring appropriate risk and regulatory requirements are maintained
• Identify policies or processes creating disproportionate friction for newcomers
• Clarify documentation, identification, residency and eligibility requirements
• Challenge legacy processes and distinguish true regulatory requirements from internal practices
• Design scalable solutions that balance client experience, growth, operational simplicity and risk
• Improve consistency in how newcomer policies are understood and executed across channels

Own the Newcomer Channel Strategy

• Define how newcomer clients should be served across digital, branch, AC, and non-traditional channels (i.e. referral partnerships), including the role each channel plays throughout the journey.
• Identify capabilities required to increase digital self-service while preserving high-value human advice
• Partner with digital and journey teams to influence enterprise capability roadmaps
• Work with distribution leaders to understand frontline friction and execution gaps
• Ensure new capabilities and propositions can be delivered consistently across channels

Develop the Beyond Banking Newcomer Ecosystem

• Help evolve the newcomer value proposition beyond traditional banking products by identifying and activating services and partnerships that solve meaningful settlement needs (i.e. housing readiness, employment/career support, immigration and settlement services, etc.)

Deliver Newcomer Advisor Enablement

• Ensure frontline employees have the knowledge, tools, and capabilities to deliver a differentiated newcomer experience by working in partnership with enablement and the Advice Centre (Newcomer COE):
• Define the ideal newcomer advisor experience
• Simplify complex policies and product information
• Develop tools and frameworks that support needs-based advice
• Improve frontline awareness of newcomer beyond banking of