Director - Compliance Program Governance

08/23/2026

Address:

100 King Street West

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.

$121,600.00 - $211,800.00

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: https://jobs.bmo.com/global/en/Total-Rewards

About Us

At BMO we are driven by a shared Purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. It calls on us to create lasting, positive change for our customers, our communities and our people. By working together, innovating and pushing boundaries, we transform lives and businesses, and power economic growth around the world.

As a member of the BMO team you are valued, respected and heard, and you have more ways to grow and make an impact. We strive to help you make an impact from day one – for yourself and our customers. We’ll support you with the tools and resources you need to reach new milestones, as you help our customers reach theirs. From in-depth training and coaching, to manager support and network-building opportunities, we’ll help you gain valuable experience, and broaden your skillset.

To find out more visit us at https://jobs.bmo.com/ca/en.

BMO is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By learning from each other’s differences, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. To request accommodation, please contact your recruiter.

Note to Recruiters: BMO does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. Any unsolicited resumes sent to BMO, directly or indirectly, will be considered BMO property. BMO will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. A recruiting agency must first have a valid, written and fully executed agency agreement contract for service to submit resumes.