Senior Director, Payments

RBCx pursues big, bold ideas and leverages RBC's extensive experience, networks, and capital to help shape what's next. Our four pillars – Banking, Capital, Platform, and Ventures – combine to support tech businesses of all sizes and stages, making us the go-to backer of Canadian innovation. Our people are our most valuable assets, so we invest deeply in ensuring RBCx isn't just a place to work but a place to belong.

What is the opportunity?

The Senior Director, Payments provides horizontal product leadership across RBCx, helping portfolio businesses build, launch and scale foundational capabilities. This role combines portfolio strategy, hands-on product leadership and enterprise navigation, connecting the needs of portfolio businesses with enterprise capabilities, external partners and appropriate risk and control functions, while creating reusable solutions that accelerate growth across the portfolio.

What will you do?

Platform Strategy and Portfolio Enablement

• Set and evolve the platform product strategy and roadmap across the portfolio, with a focus on payments, identity, and other shared capabilities
• Translate venture-specific requirements into scalable platform capabilities, operating models and reusable patterns that reduce duplication and improve speed to market
• Support a diverse set of portfolio businesses with payment capabilities while adapting the level of engagement to each business's maturity, operating model and needs
• Develop clear business cases, roadmaps, success measures and executive recommendations for strategic platform investments
• Drive innovation that creates real value by identifying opportunities that strengthen RBC's market position and challenging conventional approaches to payments and fintech solutions

Leadership Across the Full Payments Mandate

• Define and drive the payments strategy across supported portfolio businesses, spanning money movement, funding, cards, acceptance, disbursements and related payment services
• Lead payments product discovery, solution design and delivery from concept through launch, stabilization and ongoing optimization
• Oversee the health, scalability and evolution of payment capabilities supporting meaningful transaction volume across the broader portfolio mandate
• Establish portfolio-level priorities and standards while ensuring individual products meet customer, commercial, operational and regulatory needs
• Provide payments advisory support to internal stakeholders and selected business clients, bringing practical expertise on product design, partners, economics, controls and scale
• Lead with clear purpose to help clients thrive by ensuring payment solutions deliver lasting impact and remain relentlessly focused on what matters most for our clients and communities

Payments Risk, Governance and Operational Resilience

• Own and continuously strengthen the payments risk and governance framework across supported products and initiatives
• Partner with Legal, Compliance, Privacy, AML, Fraud, Operational Risk, Third-Party Risk, Technology and Finance to navigate approvals and embed controls from the outset
• Maintain visibility into key payment risks, dependencies, incidents, regulatory obligations and remediation commitments; ensure clear ownership and timely escalation
• Promote strong payment operations, reconciliation, settlement, reporting, issue management and business continuity practices in partnership with product and operations teams
• Balance speed and innovation with the control expectations of a regulated financial institution
• Build trust through integrity and responsible risk management, addressing issues directly, following through on commitments, and reinforcing a strong culture of compliance and ethical conduct

Payments Partnerships and Enterprise Connectivity

• Lead strategic relationships with payment networks, processors, financial institutions, fintechs and technology partners, including commercial, product, delivery and performance discussions
• Represent the portfolio with enterprise payments, technology and control teams to secure alignment, remove blockers and connect businesses to relevant enterprise capabilities
• Shape partner strategy and selection, support commercial negotiations and ensure third-party performance, risk and roadmap alignment
• Build trusted senior-level relationships across the organization and the external payments ecosystem
• Win as OneRBC by making decisions that put RBC ahead of individual platforms or teams, working across boundaries and bringing the right people together to execute with excellence

Team and Product Leadership

• Lead, coach and develop a small team of product professionals, establishing clear accountabilities, priorities and development plans
• Create an inclusive, high-accountability culture that combines strategic thinking with strong execution and ownership
• Influence through a matrixed model, aligning executives, product teams, technology partners and control functions without relying solely on direct authority
• Communicate complex issues simply and provide transparent reporting on priorities, decisions, risks, outcomes and trade-offs
• Grow great people by attracting world-class talent, coaching them to deliver and lead at the highest level, and removing barriers to performance while holding high expectations
• Own it with a bias for action—manage resources with discipline, solve problems directly, and take responsibility for long-term performance and reputation while celebrating team wins

What do you need to succeed?

Must-have:

• 10+ years of progressive product management, payments, fintech, banking or platform experience, including meaningful leadership at a senior level
• Demonstrated success building, launching and scaling payment or platform products in a complex organization, high-growth environment or both
• Deep knowledge of the payments ecosystem, including payment rails, cards, processors, networks, partner models, economics, operations, risk and regulatory considerations
• Experience navigating enterprise governance and working effectively with technology, design, operations, finance and control partners
• Experience leading teams and influencing senior stakeholders across a highly matrixed organization

Nice to have:

• Experience working in a large matrixed organization with the ability to build relationships and grow influence
• Exposure to digital identity, AI-enabled products or venture/platform operating models
• Strong track record of building trusted senior-level relationships across the organization and external ecosystem
• Background in regulated financial services environments
• Experience managing competing priorities across multiple portfolio businesses

What's in it for you?

We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing, and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference to our communities, and achieving success that is mutual.

• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact
• Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team
• Opportunities to do challenging work

If you’re looking for more information about RBCx, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn. #RBCx

Job Skills

Additional Job Details

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

Our Employment Opportunities

At RBC, we are guided by living shared values of Client First, Integrity, Collaboration, Respect and Excellence and winning together as One RBC. We believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.

RBC is presently inviting candidates to apply for this existing vacancy. Applying to this posting allows you to express your interest in this current career opportunity at RBC. Qualified applicants may be contacted to review their resume in more detail.