Project Sponsor

Description:

The Project Sponsor is responsible for the strategy, project delivery, business value creation, and organizational adoption of Capital Markets modernization initiatives. They define the project scope, confirm the delivery model, and ensure the program remains aligned with Desjardins’ strategic priorities, investment themes, risk appetite, and value creation objectives for clients and members.

This role provides visible executive leadership to business units, technology, operations, and external partners to ensure decisions are made at the right level and at the right pace. The Project Sponsor is responsible for project delivery and value creation for the end client. They enable the implementation team to execute its work with clarity, authority, and appropriate organizational support. They resolve issues brought to their attention, arbitrate priorities, and approve key decisions related to scope, financing, roadmap, governance milestones, and go/no-go decisions.

In the context of capital markets modernization, the project sponsor must strike a balance between speed of execution, regulatory rigor, operational resilience, platform sustainability, and business user adoption. Ultimately, they are responsible for ensuring that the modernization is delivered on time and within budget.

Responsibilities:

• Act as the ultimate business lead for the initiative, accountable for strategic alignment, executive sponsorship, business outcomes, and profit realization.
  
• Promote the transformation vision and foster organizational adoption to ensure the initiative generates lasting changes to processes, behaviors, controls, and ways of working.
  
• Define and approve the business case, ambition, target outcomes, scope, roadmap, priorities, and key performance indicators (KPIs) in line with the portfolio's investment themes.
  
• Ensure effective alignment between business needs, impacts on the operating model, regulatory considerations, technology choices, and enterprise architecture direction
  
• Secure commitment from management and key stakeholders.
  
• Approve major decisions, including changes to scope, budget, schedule, priorities, governance milestones, procurement guidelines, and Go/No-Go recommendations.
  
• Remove organizational roadblocks, arbitrate cross-functional priorities, and support the delivery team when dependencies, capacity constraints, or competing mandates threaten project progress.
  
• Oversee benefits planning and tracking in collaboration with Finance and responsible business leaders, including financial, operational, regulatory, risk-related, and customer/user experience outcomes.
  

Skills:

• Demonstrated executive leadership, with the ability to build alignment, maintain momentum, and make timely decisions in complex environments.
  
• Strategic thinking and the ability to connect modernization initiatives to business priorities, business value creation, and the long-term evolution of the operating model.
  
• Strong governance discipline, including the ability to chair executive forums, manage escalations, and ensure clear accountability. Excellent influencing and stakeholder management skills.
  
• Benefits and performance-oriented, with an emphasis on measurable results rather than simply completing activities.
  
• Clear executive communication, including the ability to simplify complexity, frame decisions, and communicate risks transparently.
  

Required Knowledge and Skills:

• This is a senior-level role. A minimum of 15 years of relevant experience is required.
  
• Leadership and influence: Demonstrated ability to exercise strong leadership, communicate clearly and authoritatively with a wide range of stakeholders at all levels of the organization, and influence decisions in the best interests of Desjardins Capital Markets.
  
• Excellent understanding of Capital Markets activities, operating models, end-to-end (front-to-back) processes, products, control mechanisms, and the stakeholder ecosystem.
  
• Knowledge of modernization programs involving the evolution of legacy platforms, process redesign, data valuation and utilization, automation, and technological simplification.
  
• Understanding of project, program, portfolio, and investment governance mechanisms, including business case development, funding decisions, and phased-gate management.
  
• Familiarity with supplier selection processes, procurement governance, and partner accountability within large-scale transformation initiatives.
  
• Understanding of benefits management, including their definition, allocation, measurement, monitoring, and realization, both financial and non-financial.
  
• Bilingualism (French and English) is a significant asset.