Director of Operations - Canada

Department: Transformation

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: CA - Ontario Description

As Director of Operations – Canada, you will be responsible for building, leading, and scaling CFC’s operational capability in the Canadian market. You will ensure that operational processes, controls, and teams enable sustainable growth, excellent service delivery, and strong regulatory and risk outcomes, while embedding CFC’s culture and ways of working locally. This role would be appointed at Director level and the successful candidate would be required to hold any relevant regulatory licences.

About the role

This is a brilliant opportunity to play a pivotal role in the growth of CFC’s Canadian business - you’ll be responsible for building the operational foundations that enable the team to grow sustainably, deliver excellent service, and operate with strong controls from day one. You’ll lead day-to-day operational activity in Canada, supporting underwriting efforts and ensuring processes are efficient, compliant, scalable, and aligned to both CFC’s global operating model and local regulatory requirements. Working closely with teams across distribution, finance, risk, compliance, technology, underwriting and the UK, you’ll help shape the way the Canadian business operates, from product and partner readiness through to process design, resourcing, change delivery and service improvement.

You’ll also take ownership of the practical and strategic requirements involved in establishing CFC’s local presence, including setting up the Toronto office, overseeing relevant vendor and third-party relationships, and acting as a key point of connection between Canadian colleagues and global teams. As the business grows, you’ll build, lead and develop a high-performing operations team, creating a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and customer focus. A key part of the role will be using operational MI, KPIs and insight to monitor performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and keep senior stakeholders informed.

You’ll support regulatory engagement, audits and reviews by ensuring accurate reporting, clear documentation and strong operational evidence, while also contributing to wider COO and global operations initiatives to share best practice and drive cross-region alignment. About you

Essential experience

Significant experience in an operations leadership role within insurance industry

Proven track record of building or scaling operational functions in a growing or international business.

Experience leading multi disciplinary teams and managing managers.

Strong background in process design, operational controls, and service delivery. Regulatory & Compliance Knowledge

Good understanding of insurance regulatory expectations and operational risk management.

Experience working with compliance and risk teams to embed effective controls and governance.

Familiarity with local regulatory or licensing environments in Canada (or ability to develop this quickly). Technical knowledge

Strong operational understanding of insurance lifecycle processes (e.g. underwriting support, policy administration, servicing, claims interaction).

Experience using operational MI, workflow tools, and reporting to drive performance and insight.

Comfortable partnering with technology teams on system implementation, change, and optimisation. Leadership & management capabilities

Clear, inclusive leadership style with the ability to build trust and accountability.

Strong stakeholder management skills, able to operate confidently with senior leaders and global teams.

Commercially minded, balancing control and efficiency with growth and customer outcomes.

Resilient and adaptable, with the ability to lead through change and ambiguity.