Senior Manager, Credit Risk Strategy Oversight

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Join a purpose‑driven team at the core of BMO’s risk management ecosystem. As the Senior Manager, Credit Risk Strategy Oversight, you will provide independent, forward‑looking challenge on credit strategies, policies, and portfolio decisions across BMO’s Canadian Retail lending business. In this high‑impact second line role, you will strengthen the bank’s risk discipline through clear, data‑driven oversight, ensuring alignment with risk appetite, regulatory expectations, and enterprise governance. You will influence strategic credit outcomes, elevate decision quality, and help embed sound credit practices across the lifecycle. This role provides meaningful opportunities to strengthen portfolio resilience and support BMO’s commitment to Boldly Grow the Good.

Key Responsibilities

Credit Risk Strategies Oversight & Effective Challenge

• Provide independent review and challenge of retail unsecured lending credit strategies ensuring alignment with risk appetite and regulatory expectations.
• Responsibility for forming, documenting and communicating independent conclusions, including findings, limitations, residual risks, approval recommendations and required mitigants.
• End-to-end lifecycle oversight with Effective Challenge across strategy development, approval, implementation, post-implementation review and ongoing monitoring.
• Review and challenge champion-challenger testing frameworks, policy experiments, and strategy optimization initiatives.
• Assess conceptual soundness, core assumptions, data quality, and directional risk impacts across origination, account management, and collections strategies.
• Ensure sufficient controls, monitoring, and success measures are established prior to implementation.
• Evaluate post-implementation results and provide independent assessment of realized risk outcomes.

Portfolio Analytics & Risk Insights

• Conduct deep‑dive portfolio analytics to identify emerging vulnerabilities and forward‑looking loss drivers.
• Deliver data‑driven insights to strengthen portfolio quality, enhance risk‑adjusted returns, and improve decision effectiveness across the credit lifecycle.
• Monitor portfolio performance, early‑warning indicators, and emerging risks; escalate material issues with clear, actionable recommendations.
• Identify deviations from expected outcomes and support timely adjustments to strategies, controls, and processes.

Risk Governance, Policy & Regulatory Compliance

• Evaluate the appropriate use of credit risk models, scorecards, behavioral indicators, and analytical tools within credit risk strategies.
• Oversee adherence to credit‑related policies, standards, and regulatory requirements
• Support internal audits, regulatory examinations and risk governance assessments.
• Ensure appropriate documentation, evidence of challenge, and governance records are maintained for significant risk decisions.

Cross‑Functional Influence & Collaboration

• Partner with business teams to review and validate business cases, ensuring assumptions are robust, risk and financial impacts are well quantified, and proposals comply with enterprise standards and governance requirements.
• Build strong partnerships with credit, finance, product, operations, and modeling teams to embed risk considerations early in credit strategy design.
• Influence senior stakeholders through concise, insight‑rich analysis that enhances transparency and elevates decision quality.
• Represent the second line in select cross-functional governance forums and regulatory interactions, clearly articulating risk, loss and stress-related insights.

Leadership & Culture Building

• Mentor and develop analysts and associates to strengthen analytical rigor, credit judgment, and effective challenge capabilities.
• Foster a culture grounded in integrity, transparency, and continuous improvement.

• Clear accountability for work allocation, prioritization, quality review, coaching, performance management, succession planning and capability building within the team.

• Operate as a specialist resource and trusted advisor to senior leaders and key stakeholders across the organization.
• Apply strong analytical skills and creative problem‑solving to navigate complex or ambiguous situations.
• Stay current on emerging trends, evolving risks, and regulatory developments; recommend adjustments to ensure oversight practices remain effective.
• Take on broader work or enterprise‑wide deliverables as required.

Qualifications

• Typically, 7+ years of progressive experience in credit risk management, policy, strategy, or governance preferably within retail lending or OSFI‑regulated environments.
• Graduate degree in a quantitative discipline (Statistics, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, Engineering, Finance, Economics, or related field).
• Strong understanding of credit risk frameworks, models, risk appetite, second‑line responsibilities, regulatory expectations, and stress testing/regulatory capital concepts.
• Demonstrated ability to provide objective, well‑reasoned, analytically grounded challenge.
• Strong understanding of credit lifecycle economics, ROE drivers, and risk‑return optimization principles.
• Advanced skills in Python, SQL, SAS, R, or comparable analytical tools; ability to translate complex analysis for senior audiences.
• Strong communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills; able to operate autonomously in a fast‑paced environment.

What We Offer

• A strategic second‑line leadership role with visibility across the enterprise.
• Opportunities to materially strengthen credit oversight, decision quality, and portfolio resilience.
• A culture grounded in integrity, innovation, inclusion, and performance.
• Access to senior leadership, cross‑functional partners, and complex analytical challenges that support ongoing career development.
• Flexibility, autonomy, and support to build a long‑term career at one of North America’s most respected financial institutions.

The above represents BMO Financial Group’s pay range and type.

Salaries will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and qualifications for the role, and may include a commission structure. Salaries for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on number of hours regularly worked. For commission roles, the salary listed above represents BMO Financial Group’s expected target for the first year in this position.

BMO Financial Group’s total compensation package will vary based on the pay type of the position and may include performance-based incentives, discretionary bonuses, as well as other perks and rewards. BMO also offers health insurance, tuition reimbursement, accident and life insurance, and retirement savings plans. To view more details of our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.bmo.com/global/en/Total-Rewards

About Us

At BMO we are driven by a shared Purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. It calls on us to create lasting, positive change for our customers, our communities and our people. By working together, innovating and pushing boundaries, we transform lives and businesses, and power economic growth around the world.

As a member of the BMO team you are valued, respected and heard, and you have more ways to grow and make an impact. We strive to help you make an impact from day one – for yourself and our customers. We’ll support you with the tools and resources you need to reach new milestones, as you help our customers reach theirs. From in-depth training and coaching, to manager support and network-building opportunities, we’ll help you gain valuable experience, and broaden your skillset.

To find out more visit us at https://jobs.bmo.com/ca/en.

BMO is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By learning from each other’s differences, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. To request accommodation, please contact your recruiter.

Note to Recruiters: BMO does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. Any unsolicited resumes sent to BMO, directly or indirectly, will be considered BMO property. BMO will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. A recruiting agency must first have a valid, written and fully executed agency agreement contract for service to submit resumes.