Senior Product Manager

Join a Challenger

Being a traditional bank just isn’t our thing. We are big believers in innovating the banking experience because we believe Canadians deserve better options, and we challenge ourselves and our teams to creatively transform what’s possible in banking. Our team is made up of inquisitive and agile minds that find smarter ways of doing things. If you’re not afraid of taking on big challenges and redefining the future, you belong with us. You’ll get to work with people who will encourage you to reach new heights. We like to keep things fun, ask questions and learn together.

We are a big (and growing!) family. Overall we serve more than 670,000 people across Canada through Equitable Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank™, and have been around for more than 50 years. Equitable Bank's wholly-owned subsidiary, Concentra Bank, supports credit unions across Canada that serve more than six million members. Together we have over $125 billion in combined assets under management and administration, with a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. Our customers have named our EQ Bank digital platform (eqbank.ca) one of the top banks in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks list since 2021. 

The Work

Reporting to the Group product manager, Digital Banking and working alongside senior management, the Senior Product Manager is responsible for devising strategies and launching agile initiatives to develop Equitable Bank’s enterprise-wide customer data platform. Leveraging an ability to organize and motivate teams within an incremental delivery environment, she/he will work with Product lines, Bank Stakeholders and Software Developers to translate customer journey directives into actionable backlog deliverables, and follow through to completion.

The Core Responsibilities Of The Job:

• Assisting in development of strategy and roadmaps for service functionality in all channels, including financial/experience justification, overall design and customer experience
• Deliver new products and features in digital channels
• Assist in the running of the customer data platform and services day-to-day, ensuring their availability to customers
• Maintaining industry and competitive awareness
• Supporting the team in delivering a leading, intimate customer experience in the digital channel
• Managing various vendor relationships
• Play a leadership role in the Scrum team to ensure that capabilities are in-scope, on-time and of high quality
• Translate directives and customer needs into backlog items. Serve as the primary source of external information for the Scrum teams, offering clear definitions of the targeted capability, the intended value to the customer and functional/non-functional requirements
• Assist in the development of product roadmaps. Author, refine and approve backlog items, with clearly articulated acceptance criteria
• Manage and prioritize backlog contents, ensuring sufficient depth of groomed items for development consumption and commitment
• Drive the delivery of business value, communicate progress, elicit feedback and enable stakeholder reviews for validation in the process
• Review QA test plans to align with acceptance criteria, facilitate testing and review of early builds for adherence to functional requirements
• Manage engagement with bank stakeholders and effectively communicate product release contents and expected product capabilities/customer journey
• Identify and manage business activities (operating model, training, communications, etc.) required to support agile initiatives
• Facilitate problem solving on a day-today basis as required, working closely with development on implementation challenges
• Coach team members and help with their development/desired outcomes as required

Let's Talk About You!

• Education: Post-Secondary Degree in Commerce, Management, Economics, Finance, Engineering, Computer Science, etc.
• MBA or other graduate degree a plus and/or
• 10+ years of Canadian Financial Institution experience leading data platforms, data services and online banking channels (or equivalent experience) in a role such as Application Manager, Channel Manager, and Product Manager
• Familiarity and expertise with consumer technology
• Experience with core banking systems
• Experience in working closely with technology teams in all aspects of SDLC (requirements, development, testing), including vendor teams
• Understanding of and experience in employee workflow processes and associated ticketing processes and systems used to deliver change
• Understanding of workplace collaboration tools to achieve efficiency
• Understanding of Canadian banking regulatory context
• Proven track record of delivering customer-facing service enhancements on a large scale
• Familiarity with user experience & design principles, specifically for digital interactions
• Strong attention to detail
• Proven ability to initiate and execute projects
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Project management experience
• Previous work experience with significant accountabilities relating but not limited to:
• Product management and product development
• Leading IT and business teams
• Influencing senior executive decisions
• Enthusiastic, thorough, inclusive and results-oriented; ability and desire to help others thrive in a dynamic team-oriented environment
• Deep passion in first class customer experiences, innovation and delivering software
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to communicate on a broad spectrum (from deep technical discussions to high level executive vision)
• Work experience in facilitation and fact-based problem solving to resolve complex issues and drive actionable outcomes
• Experience in a technology company or top-tier technology consulting firm

What we offer [For full-time permanent roles]

💰 Competitive discretionary bonus 

✨ Market leading RRSP match program

🩺 Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits

📝 Employee Share Purchase Plan

👶🏽 Maternity/Parental top-up while you care for your little one

🏝 Generous vacation policy and personal days 

🖥 Virtual events to connect with your fellow colleagues

🎓 Annual professional development allowance and a comprehensive Career Development program

💛 A fulfilling opportunity to join one of the top FinTechs and help create a new kind of banking experience

The incumbent will be working hybrid and in office time will be spent working from Equitable Bank’s additional office space located at 351 King Street East, Toronto, ON.

Equitable Bank is deeply committed to inclusion. Our organization is stronger and our employees thrive when we honour and celebrate everyone’s diverse experiences and perspectives. In tandem with that commitment, we support and encourage our staff to grow not just in their career path, but personally as well. 

We commit to providing a barrier-free recruitment process and work environment for all applicants. Please let us know of any accommodations needed so that you can bring your best self to the application process and beyond. All candidates considered for hire must successfully pass a criminal background check and credit check to qualify for hire. While we appreciate your interest in applying, an Equitable recruiter will only contact leading candidates whose skills and qualifications closely match the requirements of the position.

We can’t wait to get to know you!