Director, Strategy and Operations

Scotiabank; Toronto; On-site; CAD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Diversity & Inclusion

Accessibility & Workplace Accommod.

Upskilling & courses

Competitive rewards

Dynamic ecosystem

Community engagement

Job summary

Scotiabank in Toronto seeks a Director, Strategy and Operations to drive workforce optimization, vendor engagement, and communications across a global technology function. You will translate strategic priorities into an integrated portfolio roadmap and funding decisions, while monitoring outcomes and risks.

You will lead executive reporting, KPI development, and dashboard governance for the Enterprise Data and AI Platform, partnering with product, engineering, risk, and finance to deliver

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, HR, or communications; MBA preferred.
• 10+ years in workforce management, operations, or strategic communications.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional programs with measurable impact.

Responsibilities

• Translate strategic priorities into a portfolio roadmap and delivery priorities.
• Monitor portfolio outcomes, milestones, and investments.
• Lead executive reporting and data-driven insights.
• Manage budgets, forecasts, and vendor capacity.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, risk, and finance teams.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic planning

Stakeholder management

Storytelling & communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, HR, or communications

MBA preferred

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

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Title: Director, Strategy and Operations

Requisition ID: 276793
Join a purpose driven winning team, committed to results, in an inclusive and high-performing culture.

The Role:
This Director Level role is a strategic operational leader within the Enterprise Data and AI Platform organization, responsible for driving workforce optimization, engagement, communication, and innovation outcomes. This role enables the SVP & CIO’s strategic agenda by ensuring that human capital, vendor engagement, and organizational communications are optimized to deliver measurable value, efficiency, and cultural impact across a global technology function.
The Director leads cross-functional initiatives spanning workforce strategy, contract and vendor optimization, communications and branding, and innovation and early talent development, ensuring alignment with Enterprise Data and AI Platform technology roadmap and operational priorities.

Is this role right for you? In this role you will:

Translate strategic priorities into an integrated portfolio roadmap, investment plan, and delivery priorities.

Maintain visibility of portfolio outcomes, milestones, investment decisions, and strategic trade-offs.

Support annual and multi-year planning processes, including roadmap and funding decisions.

Monitor delivery across initiatives, identifying cross-program dependencies, risks, constraints, and execution gaps.

Coordinate with program, product, engineering, architecture, risk, finance, and business teams to ensure portfolio alignment.

Drive disciplined management of scope, milestones, commitments, and portfolio-level outcomes.

Manage portfolio budgets, forecasts, actuals, and financial performance.

Support business cases and investment decisions, including FTE, contractor, and vendor capacity requirements.

Track workforce demand and capacity against portfolio priorities.

Identify opportunities to optimize spend, reduce duplication, and improve return on investment.

Executive Reporting & Insights:

Develop concise executive and SteerCo reporting on portfolio health, delivery progress, investments, risks, and decisions required.

Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to senior leadership.

Establish portfolio KPIs and reporting that connect delivery progress with measurable business outcomes.

Ensure risks and emerging issues are surfaced early with clear mitigation and decision paths.

Metrics, Dashboards, and Reporting:

Own design and governance for Enterprise Data and AI Platform’s dashboarding framework, ensuring timely, accurate, and insightful reporting for executives.

Track and communicate key performance indicators (KPIs) and key risk indicators (KRIs) across workforce capacity, engagement, financial optimization, and innovation delivery.

Partner with data and analytics teams to enhance automation, transparency, and decision support for CIO and leadership forums.

Strategic & Operational Leadership:

Contribute to strategic planning cycles, leadership offsites, and transformation programs.

• Represent the Enterprise Data and AI Platform strategy and operations function across enterprise technology leadership forums.

Do you have the skills that will enable you to succeed in this role? We'd love to work with you if you have:

Bachelor’s degree in business, Human Resources, Communications, or a related field; MBA preferred.

10+ years of experience in workforce management, operations, or strategic communications ideally within technology, financial services, or a professional services environment.

Proven ability to lead cross-functional programs with measurable business impact and stakeholder alignment.

Strong financial and contractual acumen with demonstrated experience optimizing vendor and resource portfolios.

Superior storytelling, communication, and presentation skills with experience representing senior technology leaders.

Familiarity using analytics and visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) to drive workforce and performance insights.

Strategic thinker with a collaborative and execution-oriented leadership style.

What's in it for you?

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Allyship - We strive to create an inclusive culture where every employee is empowered to reach their fullest potential, respected for who they are, and are embraced through bias-free practices and inclusive values across Scotiabank. We embrace diversity and provide opportunities for all employee to learn, grow & participate through our various Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that span across diverse gender identities, ethnicity, race, age, ability & veterans.
• Accessibility and Workplace Accommodations - We value the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the Bank, and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. Scotiabank continues to locate, remove and prevent barriers so that we can build a diverse and inclusive environment while meeting accessibility requirements.
• Upskilling through online courses, cross-functional development opportunities, and tuition assistance.
• Competitive Rewards program including bonus, flexible vacation, personal, sick days and benefits will start on day one.
• Dynamic Ecosystem - Free tea & coffee, universal washrooms, and lots of space for team collaboration.
• Community Engagement - No matter where you choose to work from; we offer opportunities for community engagement & belonging with our various programs.

Location(s): Canada : Ontario : Toronto
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets.

At Scotiabank, we value the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the Bank, and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. If you require accommodation (including, but not limited to, an accessible interview site, alternate format documents, ASL Interpreter, or Assistive Technology) during the recruitment and selection process, please let our Recruitment team know. If you require technical assistance,