Bank of Montreal

Director - Compliance Program Governance

Bank of Montreal$121K — $211K *
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years experience in Compliance, Risk Management, Governance, Audit, or Regulatory Affairs
  • Post-secondary degree or equivalent experience
  • Deep understanding of compliance frameworks and risk management
  • Proven leadership in governance and assurance functions
  • Strong communication and project leadership skills
  • Ability to navigate rapidly changing regulatory environments

Responsibilities

  • Oversee governance of centralized compliance activities
  • Establish program standards and control methodologies
  • Conduct quality assurance reviews and compliance assessments
  • Develop and manage compliance metrics for reporting
  • Anticipate regulatory changes to adapt governance frameworks
  • Foster a risk-aware culture within the organization
  • Lead and mentor teams to build collaborative networks

Benefits

  • Health insurance and life insurance coverage
  • Tuition reimbursement for further education
  • Retirement savings plans with employer matching
  • Performance-based incentives and discretionary bonuses
  • Opportunities for professional development and career advancement
Full Job Description

Application Deadline:

08/23/2026

Address:

100 King Street West

Job Family Group:

Audit, Risk & Compliance

The Director, Compliance Program Governance is responsible for providing strategic leadership, governance, oversight, and continuous improvement for the Enterprise Compliance Program (ECP). The role leads centralized governance activities including program reporting, quality assurance, controls oversight, training, program assessments, and strategy.

The Director ensures the compliance programs continues to operate effectively and remains aligned with regulatory expectations. The role operates at an enterprise-wide level and functions as a senior specialist and thought leader. The role collaborates closely with other risk leaders in enterprise risk. The role is positioned within Legal and Regulatory Compliance (LRC) and reports to the Head, Enterprise Compliance Programs.

Program Governance, Quality Assurance & Controls

  • Oversees governance and execution of centralized compliance program activities.

  • Establishes and maintains applicable program standards, procedures, operating models, controls, and methodologies.

  • Leads independent quality assurance reviews and organizes data for compliance effectiveness assessments

  • As directed, establishes and reinforces centralized controls supporting compliance programs and governance processes.

  • Identifies opportunities to strengthen governance, improve data quality, streamline processes, and enhance regulatory compliance capabilities.

  • Conducts and/or effectively challenges compliance assessments to improve control environments.

  • May performs and/or oversees monitoring and testing activities to evaluate the effectiveness of compliance controls.

  • Supports root cause analysis and remediation activities arising from control failures, audit findings, regulatory concerns, and compliance issues.

Enterprise Reporting

  • Leads development and oversight of compliance metrics included executive, management, committee, and board reporting

  • Reviews, analyzes, and reports insights on regulatory risk using compliance data, metrics, key risk indicators, and effectiveness assessments.

  • Establishes governance over compliance reporting processes, methodologies, and data quality controls.

  • Reports compliance program effectiveness and regulatory risk trends to senior management and governance committees.

  • Identifies, assesses, escalates, and monitors regulatory risks and compliance issues for timely resolution

Leadership and People Management

  • Fosters a culture aligned to BMO's purpose, values, strategy, and Winning Culture behaviours by role modeling expected leadership behaviours.

  • Maintains strong networks internally and externally to identify industry trends, benchmarks, and best practices.

  • May consult to or serve on enterprise governance committees and leadership forums.

  • Anticipates future regulatory and industry developments and drives proactive changes to governance frameworks and compliance programs.

  • Ensures alignment between values and behaviours that foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

  • Builds highly collaborative and interdependent teams that partner across functions and operating groups to create value for stakeholders.

  • Attracts, develops, retains, and enables top talent through coaching, mentorship, succession planning, and career development.

  • Recognizes and rewards performance, addresses development opportunities, and manages performance improvement where required.

  • Creates an environment of continuous learning, innovation, engagement, and operational excellence.

  • Promotes a strong risk and compliance culture across the organization.

  • Advises and influences senior leaders regarding regulatory risks associated with business decisions, strategic initiatives, transformation activities, and emerging regulatory developments.

Required Qualifications​

  • Typically 10+ years of relevant experience in Compliance, Risk Management, Governance, Audit, Regulatory Affairs, or related disciplines.

  • Post-secondary degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.

  • Extensive knowledge of regulatory compliance frameworks, risk management practices, governance principles, and enterprise compliance programs.

  • Experience leading enterprise reporting, quality assurance, controls oversight, governance, or compliance program functions.

  • Exceptional communication, relationship management, critical thinking, and project leadership skills.

  • Ability to operate effectively in highly regulated and rapidly changing environments.

Preferred Qualifications

  • CRCM, CAMS, CCEP, CIA, CISA, or equivalent professional certification.

  • Strong knowledge of regulatory expectations applicable to financial services organizations.

  • Experience supporting regulatory examinations, audits, and enterprise compliance programs.

  • Experience with Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) technology platforms and data analytics solutions.

    The Director, Compliance Program Governance is responsible for providing strategic leadership, governance, oversight, and continuous improvement for the Enterprise Compliance Program (ECP). The role leads centralized governance activities including program reporting, quality assurance, controls oversight, training, program assessments, and strategy.

Salary:

$121,600.00 - $211,800.00

Pay Type:

Salaried

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: 

About Bank of Montreal

The Bank of Montreal is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. It provides a wide range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking products and services. The bank had revenues of CAD 23.6 billion in 2020.
Learn more about Bank of Montreal
Size
45,454 employees
Market Cap
$60.9 billion
Industry
Founded
1817
5 Year Trend
+9.1%
NASDAQ

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