People & AI Governance Program Director

What is the opportunity?

Joining the Data Science & AI Solutions team in HR, you will own the end-to-end execution and operationalization of the People & AI Governance “front door” for People AI solutions. You will establish the guidelines, templates, and standardized workflows that ensure consistent, scalable onboarding of People AI use cases. In this role, you will be accountable for building and running a repeatable intake-to-approval workflow, standardizing evidence requirements and risk assessments, and maintaining practical guidance that helps teams move efficiently while meeting risk, compliance, and employee trust expectations.

What will you do?

• Manage the centralized intake process end-to-end, ensuring all People AI use cases are captured consistently, assessed early for risk tiering, and routed to the appropriate governance path.
• Maintain and optimize intake artifacts, including intake forms, triage criteria, risk-tiering rubrics, backlog sequencing, and reporting.
• Develop and continuously improve a risk assessment playbook and checklist to standardize evidence requirements across privacy, legal, fairness, model risk, security, and operational controls.
• Coordinate across cross-functional stakeholders to ensure the review workflow is practical, repeatable, and “audit-ready” for priority use cases, vendor solutions, and internal builds.
• Produce and maintain clear First Line of Defense (1LoD) guidelines for the responsible use of People Data in AI, defining prohibited use cases and required guardrails.
• Translate enterprise policy and risk requirements into actionable templates, "how-to" guidance, and enablement sessions for product teams and delivery squads.
• Drive program execution by managing the delivery plan, timelines, meeting cadences, and cross-functional dependencies (e.g., HR IT, vendors, change management).
• Coordinate governance submissions, ensuring the readiness of evidence packs for oversight review, and produce consistent reporting on intake volume, cycle times, and milestones.

What do you need to succeed?

Must Have

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Computer Science, Human Resources, or a related field.
• 5+ years of practical experience in Program or Project Management, specifically successfully delivering complex, cross-functional data or technology initiatives.
• Proven hands-on experience in data governance, AI governance, IT risk management, or compliance within a large, matrixed enterprise.
• Demonstrated experience designing, building, and operationalizing standardized workflows, risk assessment playbooks, or centralized intake processes from scratch.
• Experience leading and coordinating cross-functional stakeholder groups to reach consensus (Note: Direct people management of a team is not required, but experience managing programs via influence without direct authority is essential).

Nice to Have

• Previous experience working within an HR/People function or deep familiarity with HR data systems and privacy regulations.
• Working knowledge of current and emerging AI regulations, bias/fairness frameworks, and responsible AI principles.
• Relevant professional certifications in Project/Program Management (e.g., PMP, Agile) or Risk/Data Privacy (e.g., CRISC, CIPP).
• Prior experience operating within a First Line of Defense (1LoD) risk management model in a highly regulated industry.

What’s in it for you?

We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing, and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference to our communities, and achieving success that is mutual.

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation, commissions, and stock where applicable
• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities
• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact

Job Skills

Business Oriented, Communication, Decision Making, Long Term Planning, Organizational Change Management, Program Management, Project Administration, Results-Oriented, Time Management

Additional Job Details

180 WELLINGTON ST W:TORONTOTorontoCanada37.5Full timeHUMAN RESOURCES & BMCCRegularSalaried2026-03-032026-03-17

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

Inclusion and Equal Opportunity Employment

At RBC, we believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.

RBC is presently inviting candidates to apply for this existing vacancy. Applying to this posting allows you to express your interest in this current career opportunity at RBC. Qualified applicants may be contacted to review their resume in more detail.