Director, Industry Relations, Global Payments

Director of Industry Relations

The Director of Industry Relations will lead strategic engagement with key financial market infrastructures (FMIs), including SWIFT, Payments Canada, and the Bank of Canada, with a strong focus on cybersecurity risk, operational resilience, and regulatory alignment. The role requires deep understanding of Canadian financial market infrastructure, SWIFT messaging and connectivity standards, and emerging cyber threats across the global payment's ecosystem.

This role acts as the senior liaison between the organization and external partners, ensuring effective representation in industry committees, forums, and crisis response initiatives, while advancing enterprise-wide understanding of systemic and operational risks.

Key Responsibilities:

• Represent the organization in industry committees and working groups in Canada (e.g., SWIFT CNMG and CNUG forums, Payments Canada advisory councils, BoC FMI forums).
• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with Canadian FMIs, SWIFT, and peer institutions to influence risk mitigation strategies and infrastructure evolution.
• Represent and act as the single point of contact for all FMIs that TDS is a direct or indirect participant.

FMI Policy & Strategic Direction:

• Guide internal understanding of the evolving FMI landscape in Canada, including modernization of payments systems (e.g., Lynx, RTR) and related regulatory expectations.
• Work with internal stakeholders (e.g., operations, cyber risk, treasury, technology) to ensure preparedness and alignment with FMI and SWIFT compliance mandates.
• Track and inform internal strategy based on changes in FMI rulebooks, SWIFT Customer Security Program (CSP) standards, and BoC expectations.

Cybersecurity & Risk Oversight:

• Provide thought leadership on systemic cyber risk issues affecting FMIs, particularly those related to SWIFT and clearing & settlement systems.
• Monitor and assess cyber risk developments from global bodies (e.g., FS-ISAC, FSB, CPMI-IOSCO) and translate implications for internal stakeholders.
• Lead internal response planning for FMI-related cyber incidents (including SWIFT-related disruptions or market-wide cyber events).

Regulatory & Compliance Coordination:

• Serve as the point of contact for FMI-related regulatory inquiries or audits concerning SWIFT compliance, cyber resilience, or operational continuity.
• Ensure internal policies reflect industry best practices for FMI risk management and cyber resilience.

Payments Modernization:

• Consult on CA-Global strategic approach (focusing on ISO readiness and industry mandates) to Payments business and tech teams.
• Contact point for all industry initiatives across global FMIs communicate to GPDS team.

Job Requirements:

• Require extensive experience and deep knowledge and expertise on SWIFT capabilities/services in the various sectors that TD could capitalize to be fully engaged and be an influential industry participant and/or partner, e.g., Banking, Capital Markets, Corporates, Market Infrastructures, and SWIFT Standards.
• In depth knowledge of industry, regulatory, and compliance spaces in order to manage the Operational, Regulatory, Financial, and Reputational risks.
• Ability to develop strong business relationships with internal partners and stakeholders to elicit necessary information to provide value-added service.
• Confident with strong communication skills and the ability to articulate complex issues in a simple and concise manner with external partners, i.e., industry's Subject Matter Experts.
• Proven ability to make an impact and mobilize change mindset with internal and external partners.
• Effectively lead and direct stakeholders to assess and resolve issues under tight timeline.
• Excellent presentation skills with a demonstrated ability to develop meaningful and succinct presentations to positively influence strategy and decisions.
• Exceptional problem-solving capabilities and an ability to collect and analyze data and provide insights.
• Sound analytical skills with the ability to problem solve and 'think outside of the box'.
• Highly motivated individual with a proven track record to deliver results.

Education & Experience:

Undergraduate degree required.

10+ years relevant experience.

Payment Product & Capability Domain Knowledge:

• Substantial knowledge of SWIFT messages and ISO20022.
• Deep understanding of payment systems and methods such as Canada Lynx, US CHIPS, and FedWire, etc.
• Familiarity with regulatory reporting such as EFTR Fintrac, sanction screening, fraud detection, anti-money laundering (AML), compliance reporting.
• Familiarity with various accounts (Nostro, Vostro, Corporate Customer), and integration of payments services with correspondent account processing, an asset.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Consulting and/or strategy experience preferred, demonstrating problem-solving, analytical thinking, and effective stakeholder management.
• Tier 1 bank or financial institution experience preferred.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and independently, exercising sound judgment.