Head of Default Operations

Final date to receive applications:

01/29/2026

Address:

100 King Street West

Job Family Group:

Customer Shared Services

Director of Recoveries and Default Management

Focus:
Canadian Retail and Small Business Products within BMO

Role Purpose

Provides leadership and strategic oversight for Recoveries and Default Management, ensuring effective management of internal recovery operations, third-party collection agencies, law firms, debt sale programs, foreclosure processes, insolvency workflows, and hardship solutions. This role is critical in driving recovery performance, maintaining compliance, and safeguarding the Bank's interests while delivering customer-centric solutions for clients in financial hardship.

Key Responsibilities

Business Operations

• Oversees the full recoveries lifecycle, including internal recovery teams, external Collection agencies, and law firms.
• Manages the debt sale program, ensuring optimal pricing, compliance, and execution.
• Leads the end-to-end insolvency process, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and adherence to regulatory requirements.
• Oversees the Loss Mitigation Team, responsible for hardship programs and client assistance strategies.
• Manages the Bank's foreclosure program, ensuring compliance with legal requirements and minimizing reputational and financial risk.
• Maintains deep knowledge of recovery strategies, insolvency practices, foreclosure regulations, and industry trends; integrates insights into operational decisions. (active learning)
• Acts as the primary contact for internal/external stakeholders, including regulators, regarding recoveries and default management.
• Identifies emerging trends in recoveries, insolvency, foreclosure, and legal collections to inform strategic decisions.
• Networks with industry contacts to gather competitive insights and best practices.

Execution Excellence

• Champions strong, collaborative relationships across agencies, law firms, and internal teams to ensure seamless alignment with business priorities.
• Develops and defines business requirements for analytics and reporting frameworks to evaluate recovery effectiveness and assess vendor performance.
• Designs and directs operational programs, frameworks, and tools for vendor oversight, insolvency management, foreclosure handling, and hardship solutions.
• Reviews and adapts existing programs; develops new capabilities to enhance recovery outcomes and compliance.
• Ensures programs are executed effectively to meet financial and operational goals.

Leadership and People Management

• Provides leadership to internal recovery teams, debt sale specialists, insolvency process managers, foreclosure specialists, and hardship solution teams.
• Empowers senior leaders with actionable tools and strategies to enhance oversight and optimize agency and law firm performance.
• Develops and executes strategies to build competencies for vendor management, insolvency handling, foreclosure processes, and hardship support.
• Leads change management initiatives related to vendor transitions, regulatory updates, and process improvements.
• Oversees design and implementation of training and tools for internal teams to manage third-party relationships effectively.
• Harnesses performance data and advanced analytics to uncover improvement opportunities, optimize vendor outcomes, and refine recovery workflows.
• Champion a culture of compliance and oversight to adhere to policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements throughout recovery processes.

Qualifications

• Typically 9+ years of relevant experience and post-secondary degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Expert knowledge of credit, recoveries, insolvency processes, foreclosure management, and legal collections.
• Strong process management background, from an environment requiring extreme attention to detail, particularly for insolvency and foreclosure workflows.
• In-depth understanding of federal, provincial, and local laws pertaining to recoveries and collections.
• Strong negotiation skills as it relates to reviewing, securing and managing third-party vendor relationships.
• Seasoned expert with extensive industry knowledge and thought leadership in recoveries and vendor management.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to influence and lead strategic initiatives across multiple teams and external partners.

Core Competencies

1. Strategic Leadership

• Competency:
  
  Ability to set vision and direction for recoveries and default management across internal teams and external vendors.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Develops and executes strategies for recoveries, insolvency, foreclosure, and hardship programs.
  • Aligns operational plans with enterprise objectives and regulatory requirements.
  • Influences senior leadership decisions through data-driven insights.

2. Vendor & Partner Management

• Competency:
  
  Expertise in managing third-party collection agencies, law firms, and debt buyers.
• Behavioral Indicators:
  • Negotiates contracts and monitors vendor…