Director, Stress Testing

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 670,000 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 six million members. Together we have over $125 billion in combined assets under management and administration, with a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. Our customers have named our EQ Bank digital platform (eqbank.ca) one of the top banks in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks list since 2021. 

The Work

Reporting to the Sr. Director, Head of Portfolio Strategy and Analytics in the department of Enterprise Risk Management, and the incumbent will be responsible for overseeing the implementation, development, and enhancement in both modelling and reporting with respect to Stress Testing, as well as supporting the quantification of ICAAP Pillar II risks.

This position will execute on the delivery in the following areas:

Stress Testing – Lead the end-to-end execution of the Stress Testing program as well as advance the enterprise in the use of Stress Testing for decision making and risk management purposes.

ICAAP – Support the quantification of ICAAP Pillar 2 components, such as Concentration Risk and Risk Diversification.

The role will further support Risk Management in all aspects of the enterprise-wide risk management program for the identification and assessment of risks throughout the organization. 

Core Parts Of The Role Would Br T

• Promote the use of Stress Testing to support decision making and risk management within the organization:
• Communicate the current economic conditions and plausible stress scenarios to Sr. Management and stakeholders regularly,
• Communicate Stress Testing outcomes (Quarterly, ad-hoc, OSFI) to Sr. Management and stakeholders,
• Work with Sr. Management to derive Risk Limits per product, sub-product offerings, using stress testing,
• Coordinate with Finance to provide scenarios, credit provisions, aligning with budget forecast projections,
• Support BAU stress testing for the Board.




• Lead the development and identification of stress scenarios and risk factors across different risk types:
• Develop stress scenarios, aligning with Sr. Management forward looking view
• Work with business lines to assess stress conditions, identified respective risk factors, and tailored to respective portfolios
• Develop econometric models that connect risk factors and stress scenarios such that their relationship agrees with business intuition, historical observations, and Sr. Management forward looking view,
• Communicate the quantification of stress and factor scenarios with stakeholders.




• Lead the integration of the enterprise-wide Stress Testing program across risk types:
• Ensure the comprehensiveness of risk assessment (risk registry),
• Ensure the use of consistent risk measures across risk types,
• Lead the end-to-end implementation of the Credit Risk stress testing program,
• Coordinate and support the development and quantification of non-Credit Risk stress testing program,
• Lead and coordinate the calculation of the integrated Stress Testing.




• Lead and coordinate the communication of the enterprise-wide stress testing program to Validation and stakeholders.




• Support the quantification of the ICAAP Pillar 2 Risks and promote the use of EC for credit decision:
• Lead the development of methodologies for Concentration Risk and Risk Diversification,
• Promote the use-case of EC for Credit Lending purpose through Pricing (RAROC, optimization, etc.)




• Lead and support the development of the Team’s core function while mentoring and assisting in staff’s professional growth

Let's Talk About You!

• 10+ years of professional experience in model development, validation, or risk management roles in the banking, consulting, or financial industry.
• Advanced knowledge and experience in econometrics, risk modelling, statistics, stress testing, and time series analysis.
• PhD or master in in quantitative field such as an Engineering, Math, Economics or Statistics; CFA and FRM preferred.
• Experience leading enterprise initiatives with successful execution and delivery.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as excellent presentation skills with ability to conduct presentations comfortably to senior and executive management.
• Ability to pro-actively identify and solve problems and escalate issues through the proper governance protocols and channels.
• Expert in developing risk models using R or Python
• High attention to detail, ability to review and recommend actions to solve business problems.
• Strong organization, time management and multi-tasking skills; managing multiple deadlines at one time.
• Strong analytical ability for portfolio monitoring and stress testing.
• Expert understanding of A-IRB, ICAAP, and IFRS-9 models.
• Hands-on and detail-oriented reporting of risk numbers to senior management.
• Effectively manage and mentor junior team members; lead by example and align each team members’ focus into a single cohesive vision.

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!