Director of Product Innovation

Director of Product Innovation

Join our growing Global Asset Management (GAM) team at RBC! We are seeking a Director of Product Innovation to lead our efforts in expanding our product suite across asset classes and channels.

The Director of Product Innovation is a newly-created, senior role within RBC GAM's US Distribution business, established to drive the firm's product innovation agenda and ensure we are consistently bringing compelling, market-relevant investment solutions to market ahead of the competition.

This is a strategic, commercially driven role for someone who thrives on identifying and translating industry trends, client demand signals and competitive intelligence into a structured pipeline of new product opportunities for the US business.

The Director of Product Innovation will work closely with the client-facing teams across channels, IPMs and investment teams, and other key functional business partners across the global organization to ensure new product ideas are rigorously evaluated, efficiently progressed and successfully launched.

• Own the new product innovation agenda, proactively identifying, developing and championing new investment product opportunities across all asset classes and distribution channels
• Build and maintain a structured, living product pipeline, ensuring every idea in the pipeline has a clear owner, a defined timeline and a rigorous business case
• Act as the primary intake point for product ideas originating from the Institutional Portfolio Management (IPM) team, investment desks, Sales and Distribution leadership and senior management, evaluating each idea against strategic fit, market timing, commercial viability and operational feasibility
• Continuously monitor the competitive landscape, regulatory environment, industry flows and evolving client demand to identify compelling commercial opportunities and emerging trends
• Generate original product ideas independently, drawing on deep knowledge of the US asset management industry, distribution dynamics and the competitiveness of the existing product suite
• Play a leading role in the identification and through due diligence of potential inorganic product expansion ideas
• Challenge the status quo on the existing product suite, identifying strategies that are no longer competitively positioned and making the case for rationalisation where appropriate
• Develop compelling go-to-market strategies for newly approved products, working closely with Distribution, Marketing and the IPM team to ensure every launch is well-positioned, well-timed and well-supported
• Ensure new products are launched with the right vehicle structure for the right channel, drawing on deep expertise across mutual funds, active ETFs, interval funds, SMAs, CITs and sub-advisory structures
• Define the target client and channel strategy for each new product, with a clear view of where the opportunity is largest and how to sequence the distribution effort

• Represent the US Distribution business on various Funds Boards, New Product Committees and senior governance forums, presenting new product proposals with confidence and authority to senior internal and external stakeholders
• Own the preparation of all product governance materials, ensuring proposals are commercially robust, strategically coherent and clearly articulated
• Work closely with Legal, Compliance and other key stakeholders to navigate the approval process efficiently, building the proactive relationships needed to accelerate speed to market and eliminate potential bottlenecks

• Serve as the firm's primary subject matter expert on all potential US investment vehicle types, advising the IPM team, Distribution, Legal and Compliance on the optimal structure for new product ideas as they progress through the pipeline
• Stay ahead of regulatory and market developments that could create new vehicle opportunities or render existing structures less competitive
• Advise on pricing, share class architecture and fee positioning for new products, ensuring commercial competitiveness from day one

• Serve as the…