Associate Director, Basel Compliance

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 370,000 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 5 million members. Together we have over $100 billion in combined assets under management and administration, with a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. Our EQ Bank platform ( eqbank.ca ) has been named the top Schedule I Bank in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks 2023, 2022, and 2021 lists.
The Work
This position is responsible for providing subject matter expertise (SME) on establishing compliance with minimum qualifying criteria established by the Office of the Superintendent Financial Institutions, Canada (“OSFI”) to adopt the Advanced Internal Ratings Based (AIRB) approach to calculating regulatory capital. In addition, the position will guide overall compliance to Basel regulatory directives and coordinate with stakeholders to actively track and update EQB’s Senior Management on impacts of emerging Basel regulations.
The incumbent will be responsible for supporting the Sr. Director, Risk Governance (“SDRG”) in providing oversight for the Bank’s AIRB Implementation Program (the “Program”) in accordance with OSFI Capital Adequacy Requirements (CAR) guidelines and senior management expectations. In addition, the incumbent will provide regulatory capital guidance based on OSFI’s CAR and institute appropriate governance, processes and controls as required to enable the Bank to meet minimum AIRB requirements and support the Bank’s full application to OSFI for the adoption of AIRB for Credit Risk, and ongoing Basel operations post-approval.
Core Parts Of The Role Would Be

• Communicate effectively with Basel Program team members to ensure that Basel compliance processes are carried out consistently in accordance with the agreed program timelines.
• Participate in the evolution of the overall Basel Compliance framework to align with best practices and regulatory standards.
• Develop, maintain, and enhance the Basel Compliance Framework to ensure minimum AIRB requirements are met at the outset and on an ongoing basis.
• Provide subject matter expertise and guidance on AIRB requirements.
• Educate the broader team and conduct ongoing Basel Compliance training to foster effective compliance.
• Provide timely guidance and mentoring to members of the Basel Compliance and Risk Governance teams.
• Interpret regulatory capital requirements and provide direction on the development of detailed business and data requirements to meet AIRB standards.
• Ensure timely identification and appropriate escalation of decisions, risks, issues, and actions.
• Collect supporting documentation,
• Design, develop, document, and implement processes for identifying and validating existing regulatory compliance gaps and related gap closure action plans.
• Identify appropriate training opportunities or external courses to improve staff effectiveness.
• Coordinate the completion of self-assessments,
• Team Management (20%)
• Support the preparation of the AIRB application package:
• Manage compliance gaps and coordinate corresponding approvals from business stream leads and program sponsors.
• Identify and make recommendations to SDRG and VP-ERM on staffing resource requirements needed to adequately execute key strategic compliance objectives of the team.
• Basel Compliance SME (80%):
• Support internal and external audit related to the AIRB Program.

Lets talk about you!

• Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as excellent presentation skills with ability to conduct presentations comfortably to senior and executive management.
• Knowledge of industry best-practices on self-assessments against regulatory capital model guidelines.
• Extensive knowledge of OSFI capital adequacy requirements.
• 10+ years of experience in Risk Management, Policy, Compliance, Law or Bank Regulation and/or a PhD/master’s degree in mathematical finance, financial engineering, statistics, econometrics or other relevant postgraduate degree;
• Ability to pro-actively identify and solve problems, and escalate issues through the proper governance protocols and channels.
• Strong leadership and people management skills to lead a team to enhance the Bank’s regulatory capital compliance practices.

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, personal days and even a moving day
🖥 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!