AVP Product Transformation and Operations -(Hybrid)

Central 1 cooperatively empowers credit unions and other financial institutions to deliver banking choice to Canadians. Central 1 provides critical services at scale to enable a thriving credit union system. We do this by collaborating with our clients, developing strategies, products and services to support the financial well-being of their more than 5 million diverse customers in communities across Canada. For more information, visit www.central1.com.

What we offer:

• Work-life flexibility 
• Hybrid work environment 
• One time allowance to set up your office for remote first employees
• Variable annual incentive plan
• Generous annual vacation allotment
• Top-notch flexible benefits plan including family building and gender affirmation
• Retirement Plan, matched contributions at 6%
• Access to a learning platform and educational assistance support
• Access to a virtual wellness platform
• Career development opportunities
• Wellness Flex Fund to support personal interest and activities
• Day off to volunteer in your community and other paid time off options
• Corporate discounts

*subject to employment agreement

Job Summary:

As the AVP of Product Transformation and Operations, you will lead the development, implementation, maintenance, and improvement of business outcomes within the Product Group at Central 1, with initial emphasis on Payments related processes. As a strategic leader, you will be a key driver of improving business processes and providing direction and leadership to implement changes within the division. You will guide and support internal teams and external stakeholders to build product-centric delivery and operate with improved agility and capability. A background in payments is critical given the initial focus within C1’s Payments sphere. 

What you'll be doing:  

• Transform a business function from a resource driven model to a technology driven model in order to better support the growth of the business. 
• Create a culture of continuous improvement across critical functions. 
• Transition the business function from a resource-driven to a technology-driven model to better support business growth.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement across key areas of the organization.
• Develop integrated strategies to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness across departments, functions, and processes.
• Identify business needs and deliver solutions to strategic and operational challenges.
• Partner with senior leaders to reimagine the operating model for the business line, implementing innovative changes that align with long-term strategic goals.
• Guide teams in developing long-term product roadmaps and prioritizing backlogs to drive operational efficiencies while ensuring alignment with organizational objectives.
• Lead the design and execution of a long-term continuous improvement strategy for critical functions, ensuring business benefits are realized and tracked.
• Promote agility by fostering a culture of "test and learn" and upskilling teams continuously.
• Strengthen metrics and measurement capabilities to track operational excellence, embedding an analytical and data-driven approach.
• Collaborate with teams and stakeholders to establish clear objectives and key results (OKRs) to deliver measurable value.
• Define and implement metrics to monitor and track progress effectively.
• Work with vendors and industry experts to advance process automation strategies, ensuring alignment with business needs.
• Drive business growth by delivering tools and services that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of servicing internal and external clients.

What you'll have: 

• An undergraduate degree in business administration, computer science or engineering.  A MBA is preferred. 
• At least 10 years of experience in a leadership role, particularly in operations management related roles 
• Experience in applying technology in driving efficiencies in business operations through workflow automation (using AI and/or low-code approaches), increasing capabilities for clients to support self service, and process reengineering and optimization. 
• Experience within Payments organization or function including understanding of processes 
• The ability to make sense of complex, high-quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems. 
• Knowledge of leveraging insights to share and drive critical initiatives. 
• Highly effective communication skills for developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences. 
• A proven track record of creating new and better ways for an organization to be effective using approaches such as Lean and Agile. 
• The ability to make timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward. 
• Comfort in relating openly with diverse groups of people and maintaining productive relationships. 
• An engaging leadership style that motivates teams to deliver their best work by clearly communicating expected outcomes, confirming accountabilities, and providing praise and credit for contributions. 
• The ability to progress across multiple priorities by securing and deploying resources effectively and efficiently. 

Salary: $150,000-$175,000 plus an attractive incentive package
 

The salary range represents the job rate determined for the successful candidate who is fully competent in the role. The actual salary will vary depending on market conditions and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training.

#LI-Hybrid

Central 1 is an equal opportunity employer and committed to building an inclusive workforce by creating an environment where everyone feels like they belong and has the opportunity to be successful. We welcome all applicants to join our diverse workforce and we will provide an accessible candidate experience including, but not limited to accommodations to interview sites and alternate formats upon request to our Recruitment team.