Director, Accounting Policy

Wealthsimple is Canada’s leading financial innovator. The company offers a full suite of simple, sophisticated financial products across managed investing, do-it-yourself trading, cryptocurrency, tax filing, spending and saving. Wealthsimple currently serves more than 4 million Canadians and holds over $125 billion in assets under administration. The company was founded in 2014 by a team of financial experts and technology entrepreneurs, and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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Reporting to the Senior Director, Financial Reporting, the Director, Accounting Policy will be the founding leader of Wealthsimple's Accounting Policy function. This is a rare opportunity to build a critical discipline from the ground up at one of Canada's most ambitious fintech companies — and to shape the accounting infrastructure that will carry Wealthsimple through its next chapter.

You will be responsible for establishing the company's accounting policy framework, building and curating a comprehensive policy library, and ensuring that every business line — from brokerage and banking to credit card, WealthsimpleTax, and mortgage — has the technical accounting guidance it needs to launch, scale, and report with confidence. You will also serve as a key point of contact for our external auditors and play a central role in defining Wealthsimple's long-term accounting policy strategy.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, gets energy from building things that don't yet exist, and wants to leave a lasting mark on the financial foundation of a rapidly growing company .

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

Build the Accounting Policy Function

• Stand up Wealthsimple's first dedicated accounting policy team. Define the mandate, operating model, and roadmap for the function.

• Establish the processes, templates, and governance frameworks that will scale with the organization as it grows in complexity and regulatory scrutiny.

Develop the Accounting Policy Library

• Design, build, and maintain a comprehensive accounting policy library aligned with IFRS and Wealthsimple's long-term corporate strategy using Claude and existing accounting memos to build the library at scale and at pace.

• Author and maintain technical accounting policy positions, memos, and white papers covering all areas, especially key ones such as IFRS 9, IFRS 15, equity-based compensation and emerging standards.

• Ensure policies are practical, clearly written, and accessible to both finance professionals and non-finance stakeholders across the business.

Provide Cross-Business Advisory Support

• Act as the go-to accounting policy advisor for all of Wealthsimple's business lines, including brokerage, banking, credit card, SimpleTax, mortgage, and any new products on the horizon.

• Partner with product, legal, and business teams early in the product development lifecycle to assess accounting implications of new products, features, and commercial arrangements before they launch.

• Provide proactive guidance on complex or non-routine transactions, ensuring proper IFRS treatment is identified and documented in advance.

Manage the External Audit Relationship

• Serve as a primary point of contact for external auditors on all accounting policy matters, including new policy positions, changes in estimates, and technical interpretations.

• Coordinate the preparation and delivery of accounting policy documentation to auditors, ensuring positions are well-supported and audit-ready.

• Proactively manage the audit timeline for policy-related deliverables and resolve technical accounting queries efficiently.

Shape the Long-Term Accounting Policy Strategy

• Define and own the multi-year accounting policy roadmap, anticipating the evolving needs of Wealthsimple as it scales by ensuring that all accounting policies are documented, defensible, and aligned with best practices.

• Monitor the IFRS standard-setting pipeline and proactively assess the impact of new or amended standards on Wealthsimple's business and financial reporting.

• Partner with the Senior Director, Financial Reporting and the broader finance leadership team to ensure accounting policies support robust internal controls and meet the expectations of external stakeholders.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in accounting policy, technical accounting, or financial reporting, with meaningful time spent in a dedicated accounting policy or advisory role.

• Deep and current knowledge of IFRS, with demonstrated expertise in complex areas such as IFRS 9, 15 etc. CPA designation required.

• Experience in financial services — particularly across multiple product lines (banking, brokerage, lending, payments) — is a significant asset.

• Proven ability to build new functions, processes, or teams from scratch in a fast-paced environment. Prior experience operating in or preparing for a public company environment (SOX/ICFR) is strongly preferred.

• Experience managing external audit relationships and a track record of navigating complex technical discussions with auditors and regulators.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical accounting concepts into clear, practical guidance for non-finance stakeholders and executive leadership.

• A passion for Wealthsimple, fintechs, technology, and AI.

• An ability to thrive in fast-paced and highly ambiguous settings, building products and processes from the ground up with limited guidance.

• Demonstrated experience in leading cross-functional projects and fostering collaborative partnerships among diverse teams.

🌸 Top-tier health benefits and life insurance

📈 Long-term group savings with employer match, through Wealthsimple for Business

🌴 20 vacation days, 4 wellness days, and unlimited sick and mental health days per year

✈️ 90 days away: work outside Canada for up to 90 days per year

👥 Employee resource groups, including Rainbow (2SLGBTQ), Women of WS, and Black at WS

🌎 We are a hybrid team with over 1,500 employees across North America. The people are one of the best parts of working here: you'll collaborate with incredibly talented, curious, and driven teammates who are deeply committed to doing great work.

Technology & Innovation at Wealthsimple: We move quickly and build thoughtfully. That means we're always looking for better ways to work — whether that's new tools, AI, or rethinking how we approach a problem. We don't expect you to have all the answers, but we do expect curiosity and a willingness to evolve alongside the products we're building.

Inclusion Statement: We're building products for a diverse world, and we need a diverse team to do it well. We strongly encourage applications from everyone, regardless of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status.

Accessibility Statement: We're committed to an accessible hiring experience. If you need any accommodations throughout the interview process, please let us know — we'll work with you to make sure you have what you need. We also welcome any feedback on how we can better accommodate candidates with accessibility needs.

AI in Hiring: We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of our hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our team but don't replace human judgment – all final hiring decisions are made by people. If you have questions about how your data is used, reach out to us.