Title:  Director and Head, Risk Identification - Business Risk Management

Requisition ID: 259190 

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

The Director & Head of Risk Identification is the senior leader accountable for setting the strategy, priorities, and execution of the bank’s enterprise risk identification capability within Business Risk Management, Canadian Bank.

This role integrates risk assessments, RCSAs, CRCAs, testing, risk advisory, and operational resilience identification to proactively identify vulnerabilities, assess control effectiveness, and provide a forward-looking view of non-financial risk across the Canadian Bank.

The role operates with a high degree of independence, professional judgment, and authority, serving as a critical early-warning function. It works in close partnership with the Insights pillar to leverage data, analytics, and AI to move the bank from hindsight to foresight, including resilience risk.

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

• Risk Identification Strategy, AI Enablement & Prioritization:

• Define and own the enterprise risk identification strategy for Business Risk Management, aligned to the bank’s risk appetite, enterprise risk framework, and OSFI expectations.
• Set multi-year and annual priorities for:
• Risk assessments and RCSAs / CRCAs
• Testing coverage, depth, and thematic focus
• Risk advisory engagement with business units
• Operational resilience identification activities
• Exercise authority to dynamically re-prioritize activities based on emerging risks, operational events, regulatory change, or data-driven signals.
• Partner with the Insights pillar to:
• Embed AI-enabled analytics into risk identification
• Shift from calendar-based assurance to risk- and signal-driven identification

• Continuously evolve methodologies using data and technology

• Risk Assessments, RCSA & CRCA Leadership:
  • Lead enterprise-wide and targeted risk assessments, ensuring they are:
    • Forward-looking and scenario-informed
    • Risk-based and proportionate
    • Aligned to enterprise standards
  • Drive quality, consistency, and judgment across RCSAs and CRCAs, ensuring outputs are:
    • Actionable and decision-oriented
    • Integrated with testing outcomes, KRIs, issue data, and resilience metrics
  • Identify systemic, thematic, and resilience-related vulnerabilities across business units.

• Testing & Assurance Oversight (Modernized and Data-Driven):
  • Own the design and oversight of the testing program, including:
    • Credit file testing
    • Control design and operating effectiveness testing
    • Targeted and thematic non-financial risk testing
    • Testing related to operational resilience controls
    • Set testing methodologies, standards, and quality thresholds.
  • Partner with Insights to:
    • Introduce AI-supported sampling, anomaly detection, and continuous monitoring
  • Ensure testing outcomes directly inform:
    • Risk and resilience profiling
    • Remediation prioritization
    • Senior management escalation

• Risk Advisory & Business Partnership:
  • Lead a senior Risk Advisory capability that works hand-in-hand with the business to:
    • Identify vulnerabilities early, particularly in the non-financial and resilience risk space
    • Support self-identification of issues
    • Develop and monitor risk- and resilience-informed action plans
  • Establish a clear interaction model that balances partnership with independent challenge.

• Operational Resilience Risk Identification (OSFI-Aligned):
  • Own risk identification for operational resilience, in alignment with OSFI’s operational resilience expectations.
  • Identify vulnerabilities related to:
    • Critical operations and services
    • Third-party dependencies and concentration risk
    • Technology, data, and people dependences
  • Ensure resilience risks are:
    • Integrated into risk assessments, RCSAs, CRCAs, and testing programs
    • Visible within business unit risk profiles and enterprise reporting
  • Partner with Risk and Regulatory Practices, Specialized Regulatory Functions, and Insights to:
    • Ensure resilience risks are monitored, escalated, and addressed
    • Support scenario analysis and severe-but-plausible disruption thinking

• Risk Profiling, Events & Emerging Risk Foresight:
  • Own the risk profile for each business unit, incorporating:
    • KRIs
    • Testing and assessment results
    • Operational risk events
    • Resilience risk indicators
    • Advisory insights
  • Oversee the identification, analysis, and learning from operational risk events, ensuring root causes and resilience implications are understood.
  • Lead new initiative risk assessments, ensuring risks — including resilience impacts — are identified before implementation.
  • In partnership with Insights, identify:
    • Emerging, cross-cutting, and systemic non-financial and resilience risks
    • Early warning signals that may not yet be visible through traditional assurance

• Enterprise Alignment, Governance & Escalation:
  • Work closely with second-line leadership to:
    • Align methodologies, standards, and risk taxonomies
    • Ensure consistency with enterprise risk and resilience frameworks
  • Represent Business Risk Management in enterprise risk and resilience forums.
  • Exercise authority to challenge and escalate where:
    • Risk appetite or resilience tolerance may be exceeded
    • Vulnerabilities persist without effective remediation
    • Emerging risks require senior attention

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

• Exceptional understanding of banking products, supporting processes and regulatory landscape
• Exceptional planning, strategic and relationship management skills
• 10 years+ of relevant experience
• Resilient leader with the ability to calibrate a team around the delivery of a seamless customer experience
• Proven senior management-level experience in leading complex multi-stakeholder initiatives, with expert track record of delivering on time and on budget

What's in it for you? 

• The opportunity to join a forward-thinking organization where you are surrounded by a collaborative team of innovative thinkers.

• A competitive compensation and benefits package.
• An organization committed to making a difference in our communities– for you and our clients.
• A rewarding career path with diverse opportunities for professional development.
• Lead strategic projects with a significant impact on business line growth.
• A culture that promotes teamwork and cross-functional collaboration to achieve business goals. Inclusive workplace that values diversity of thought, background, and experience. 

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, please click here. Candidates must apply directly online to be considered for this role. We thank all applicants for their interest in a career at Scotiabank; however, only those candidates who are selected for an interview will be contacted.