Chief Compliance Officer

at  Massey Henry

Massey Henry is pleased to support the recruitment for a Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) on behalf of Embark Student Corp. (“Embark”), one of the country’s leading providers of registered education savings plans (RESPs). For 50+ years, Embark has been sponsoring education savings plans and helping families plan for, manage, and thrive in post-secondary education.

THE INDIVIDUAL

The Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) is a seasoned executive with over 10 years of experience in compliance, legal, and regulatory roles, including a proven track record of overseeing and managing high-performing compliance teams.
The CCO brings extensive experience developing compliance policies and procedures within the financial services industry and possesses in-depth knowledge of Canadian compliance laws and regulations.
An agile, technologically savvy, and innovative leader, the CCO emphasizes continuous improvement in their approach, proactively seeking ways to automate compliance processes and enhance efficiency.
The CCO is both strategic and tactical in their approach, with a keen ability to manage competing priorities while working autonomously, and collaboratively, to fulfill key objectives. A skilled communicator and relationship builder, the CCO is able to quickly establish credibility across the organization, articulating complex ideas clearly and persuasively to key stakeholder groups, including the board and senior leadership team.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

Technical Skills and Experience

• 10+ years of experience in compliance, legal, and/or regulatory roles, including a minimum of 5 years of experience in senior management roles with responsibility for managing a compliance team.
• Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) designation under NI-31-103, section 3.14 is required.
• Extensive experience with reviewing securities regulations (and other regulatory publications) and summarizing that into clear, concise, and plain language, providing guidance to impacted stakeholders.
• Extensive experience drafting policies and procedures within the financial services industry.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to ensure that various stakeholders (e.g. subject matter experts) within departments across the organization complete the required impact assessments and other downstream work required to address regulatory changes and/or policy updates within stated timelines.
• Demonstrated exposure to and a nuanced understanding of the internal audit function, including experience with audit processes and frameworks.
• Strong organization and records management skills.
• In-depth knowledge of Canadian compliance laws and regulations and a nuanced understanding of the requirements for designing compliant processes.
• Successful completion of the Registered Education Savings Plan Dealers Association of Canada (RESPDAC) Scholarship Plan Dealer Sales Representative Proficiency Course, Branch Manager Course, and corporate product knowledge training courses.
• Completion of or ability to complete other related securities industry courses, such as the Chief Compliance Officers Qualifying Examination, Canadian Securities Course and Officers, and the Partners & Directors Course.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in law, business administration, or a related field.
• Master’s degree preferred.

Personal Attributes

• Life-long Learner: Committed to life-long learning and performance driven.
• Customer-Centric: Recognizes customers as the most important stakeholders.
• Analytical and Strategic: Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to analyze processes and practices to identify gaps and areas for improvement.
• High Emotional Intelligence: Navigates interpersonal relationships with sensitivity and awareness and listens to diverse perspective with an empathetic attitude, effectively managing conflict and building strong, positive relationships.
• Innovative: Embraces new ideas, technologies, change, and challenges, continuously seeking ways to improve processes and deliver value to the organization and its members.
• Integrity: Possesses high ethical standards and integrity and inspires trust and accountability across the organization.
• Organized: Strong time management skills and the ability to simultaneously manage multiple competing priorities.
• Excellent Communicator: Articulates ideas clearly and persuasively, both verbally and in writing, to inspire and align teams.
• Collaborative: Works well with others, encouraging teamwork and open communication to achieve collective goals and deliver value.
• Driven by Excellence: Holds themselves and their teams to high standards, consistently striving for outstanding performance and results.

Specific responsibilities of the Chief Compliance Officer include:

Strategic Leadership:

• In collaboration with the senior leadership team, drive the execution of Embark’s purpose, vision, and strategic objectives, ensuring alignment with long-term goals and short-term targets.
• Support the CRLO and other members of the Leadership Team in the identification, planning and execution of strategic and operational initiatives for the organization, ensuring compliance with all laws, regulations, and the organization’s policies and procedures.
• Lead the Compliance team to success, aligning team goals with the organization’s strategic vision.

Compliance and Regulatory Leadership:

• Oversee all compliance functions, key risk indicators, and service levels within the Compliance Division, as assigned.
• Assist and support the CRLO and other senior leaders within the Assurance department in other functional areas as required, including enterprise risk management, internal audit, data analytics, supervisory investigations, regulatory audits, inquiries and special projects, as directed.
• Respond to regulatory inquiries, lead regulatory audit processes, and respond to written regulatory requests.
• Provide assurance to senior leaders and the Board of Directors (“Board”) that effective and efficient compliance policies and procedures are in place, well understood and respected by all employees, and that Embark is complying with all applicable regulatory and legal requirements.
• Act as the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (“MLRO”) for Embark.
• Develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive compliance program to achieve compliance with applicable regulations that reflects Embark’s unique characteristics.
• Ensure compliance for marketing content across all mediums, sales practices, and account opening materials.
• Monitor changes to regulatory requirements and identify gaps or weaknesses in compliance policies and procedures, and processes, providing recommendations for revisions to effectively mitigate such gaps.
• Analyze compliance processes to identify potential procedural or efficiency gaps, supporting an environment of continuous improvement and innovation.
• Support governance matters, including the Independent Review Committee, in the development of operational and strategic plans.
• Manage regulatory filings and ensure proper record-keeping and documentation retention.
• Advise the CRLO of potentially significant instances of non-compliant activities in a timely and prudent manner.
• As required, serve as the compliance subject matter expert for key corporate initiatives and projects across the organization.
• As required, communicate with and manage challenging compliance matters with regulators.

Growth and Expansion:

• Support business activities in existing products and services and new opportunities in areas of growth, contributing to the organization’s overall growth and transformation.

Collaboration and Team Leadership:

• Provide hands-on and strategic leadership to the compliance team, in the areas of audit, supervision, registration.
• Provide timely and effective feedback and support, consistent with compliance policies and directives.
• Actively engage with the senior leadership team to align on strategic priorities and drive cohesive execution of initiatives.

Innovation and Process Improvement:

• Drive innovation within the organization, identifying opportunities for process improvement and automation to enhance efficiency and drive value.
• Oversee the management of process improvements, ensuring that changes are effectively implemented and deliver measurable results.