Director, Risk

 About Futurpreneur

 Futurpreneur is a national non-profit organization that empowers diverse entrepreneurs, ages 18-39 to start, buy and grow their businesses in Canada, by providing loans with mentorship and resources.

Founded in 1996, we have helped more than 20,000 young entrepreneurs launch over 15,600 businesses, promoting entrepreneurship among Canadian youth as a critical pillar for strengthening the economy while generating employment opportunities, and fostering a sustainable future.

Futurpreneur is a founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance, the Canadian founding member of Youth Business International and the Canadian host of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW).  

Our Purpose (why we exist): To drive inclusive Canadian prosperity by fostering the success of young entrepreneurs

Our Mission (what we do every day to achieve our purpose): To empower diverse entrepreneurs ages 18-39 by providing loans with mentorship and resources to help them start and buy successful businesses that contribute to sustainable and inclusive economic prosperity, in their communities and across Canada.

Our Values (how we work – our core principles & commitments): We are mission-driven, collegial & collaborative, diverse & inclusive, and accountable & transparent.

Here's the opportunity: Bilingual Director, Risk & Compliance

As the bilingual Director, Risk & Compliance, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the quality and effectiveness of our loan adjudication and compliance process, with a lens on client success and supporting an optimal client experience. You will be responsible for leading and coaching a team of credit and compliance professionals, acting as a subject matter expert regarding the eligibility and viability of loan applications, in an environment of complicated, often principle-based criteria.

This is a hands-on role: leading the National Credit Adjudication (NCA) team while performing some loan adjudication and overseeing the compliance process, working closely with the Manager, National Credit Compliance. The role requires strong knowledge in credit, business structures, financial statement analysis, contracts, the financial and business regulatory environment and the identification and mitigation of fraud risks.  Reporting to the VP Client Service & Risk, you will also support new initiatives, data analytics, key stakeholder reporting, and our co-lend partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

This is a permanent, full-time position located in Toronto, Ontario. The incumbent will be working on our hybrid work model (minimum 2 days in the office per week).

What you will do:

Key stakeholder support and projects (40%)

• Work on reporting and analytics, providing insights from data regarding trends, support risk related analyses and other stakeholder reporting as required, recurring and ad-hoc
• Identify fraud risk and mitigation strategies, work with internal stakeholders to recommend and implement controls to safeguard the organization, while supporting the client experience
• Support the BDC relationship, including co-lend renewal and facilitating updates or enhancements to eligibility, providing data and insights to support same
• Responsible for eligibility overview training (onboarding) for new client facing and credit adjudication team members as required to drive consistency in our process and client experience
• Ensure credit adjudication team is updating our internal reference and training materials as required, such as the eligibility FAQ
• Lead, support and participate in process improvement initiatives within adjudication and compliance working closely with other stakeholders, including the VP Client Service & Risk, the Manager, National Credit Compliance and Client Services Regional Team Leads
• Support existing programs and the implementation of new initiatives, championing the adoption of system enhancements and modified workflow by all NCA and Compliance team members, working closely with other stakeholders and acting as a subject matter expert from the risk lens
• Support the adjudication and compliance process, also working closely with the Manager, National Credit Compliance
• Provide a level of expertise broadly to the organization, helping to guide on general matters including but not limited to eligibility, business legal structures, risk mitigation, and credit reporting
• Provide ongoing support to client relationship ("CRM") and business development ("BDM") teams, working closely with regional directors and team leads (RDS and RTL's) as required and with other internal stakeholders through feedback and coaching to drive higher quality applications
• Ensure that all credit, compliance and co-lend special policies and procedures are adhered to, as evidenced by internal controls and audit
• Support key stakeholder reporting relating to Risk, including but not limited to the performance and impact of our loan adjudication
• Escalate to the VP Client Service & Risk and to the BDC contact as required any business or applicant eligibility concerns
• Help drive more consistent and meaningful loan approval conditions that mitigate risk, and more proactive and efficient loan condition review to improve conversion timeline from approved to disbursed

Leadership, Coaching and Team Management (30%)

• Supervise, coach, and motivate the NCA and Compliance teams working closely with the Manager, National Credit Compliance, in the delivery of exceptional business results achieving or exceeding SLAs and results in line with the Risk annual business plan
• Collaborate with the Talent & Culture team and the VP Client Service & Risk for the development of role profiles, annual team business plans, and the recruitment and onboarding of new team members
• Conduct quarterly performance management reviews with team members, develop existing team members to advance their areas of expertise, identify learning and development opportunities, identify and address skills, process gaps or inconsistencies to ensure a high-performance team, highly engaged team
• Assist with client escalations working with the Client Services Team Leads and VP, Client Service & Risk as required
• Conduct regular team meetings, and 1:1s to foster ongoing communication providing coaching and guidance as needed and adoption of best practices
• Encourage employee participation in engagement surveys, create team action plan and support employee retention

Due diligence of applications (30%)

Direct the thorough analysis and decisioning of client applications, which includes:

• Assess the viability of the application as a whole, based on the borrower(s), business plan and cash flow projection details
• Assess the eligibility of both the applicant(s), and of the business activity(ies)
• Assess the eligibility of credit (ensuring that applications comply with the Credit Decision Matrix, which includes the Business Risk Predictor "BRP")
• Ensure compliance standards are met for all documents, with adherence to all Risk policies and procedures
• Analyze credit bureau reports
• Assess cash flow statements for reasonableness and accuracy in relationship to the business plan assumptions
• Leverage reporting and other tools to identify and mitigate fraud risk relating to client applications
• For tailored initiatives, ensure that they comply with the specific program requirements, program offering and alternative credit matrix and lending thresholds
• Ensure that applications also comply with the applicable BDC eligibility criteria (according to program) regarding the borrower(s) and the business for BDC co-lend applicants
• Follow up with appropriate team members for clarification/additional information requirements as needed
• Decision client applications and determine loan approval conditions
• Review and decision loan approval conditions, supporting the Manager, National Credit Compliance and the compliance team in the review and approval of same
• Continuously scan the business and regulatory environment as part of the application viability review, goal is to ensure customer businesses have met the barriers to entry and will have a reasonable chance of success
• Ensure compliance with the BDC ID verification and existence of entity requirements
• Recommend changes or enhancements to Futurpreneur's adjudication process where greater consistency and/or efficiency may be gained while maintaining quality, and to mitigate losses as required
• Communicate clearly to the CRM team all credit decisions, to ensure the message accurately conveys both "what" the decision is and "why" the decision was made
• Respond to inquiries and decision client applications within established SLAs

What you bring:

• Relevant experience may include education with a focus in Finance, Business Administration or a closely related field or equivalent hands-on career experience
• Eight (8) years or more experience in a financial services or similar role with a focus on credit analysis and adjudication, compliance, reporting and analytics
• Experience with risk and compliance data analytics tools and reporting, identifying trends and providing insights
• Bilingualism in French & English (spoken & written) is an asset
• Clear and confident communicator, skilled at engaging and connecting with diverse audiences
• Collaborative and adaptable team player, bringing a proactive, solutions-focused mindset
• Strong organizational skills, able to balance multiple priorities effectively in a dynamic hybrid work environment
• Demonstrate curiosity and a growth mindset, embracing and championing change
• Demonstrated experience of leading and coaching teams 
• Experience with change leadership 
• Good working knowledge of the Canadian business and regulatory landscape
• Demonstrated experience with data analysis and reporting
• Intermediate to strong Microsoft Office skills, including Excel (e.g managing multiple spreadsheets and pivot tables)
• Strong financial statement analysis skills (e.g demonstrated ability in reading and interpreting Financial Statements)
• Some experience in reading and interpreting business plans
• Demonstrated experience working with a client relationship management system
• Demonstrated experience in supporting internal and external client needs
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment
• Ability to make decisions on the basis of detailed and dynamic criteria
• Ability to make consistent decisions based on similar cases
• Alignment with Futurpreneur's values and commitment to the mission/purpose of the organization
• Be a role model for Futurpreneur's organizational culture by creating a positive impact at every touchpoint with people

HOW TO APPLY:

Qualified candidates are invited to submit their resume and cover letter by March 6, 2026. This opportunity is open to both internal and external candidates, and applications may be considered until the role is filled.

Note: Futurpreneur only uses AI to assist in the initial assessment of applications, and all applications are still reviewed by a member of the recruitment team.

What we offer:

At Futurpreneur, we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package designed to support your well-being, professional growth, and work-life balance.   

Our package includes a fair base salary, extensive health and dental benefits, and a supportive, flexible work environment.    

We embrace a hybrid work model with flexible hours, a work-from-abroad policy, and generous time off—including paid vacation, personal days, summer hours and a end of December office closure.   

We are dedicated to ensuring fair, competitive, and transparent compensation. Salaries are regularly reviewed and benchmarked to uphold internal equity and reflect our values. The starting salary for this role is $130,000 per annum and is set at this amount.   

To prioritize health and wellness, we provide comprehensive health and dental coverage, a health spending account, mental wellness support, and a RRSP matching program. We also invest in learning and development through a learning allowance, a coaching program, and access to an e-learning platform.  

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