Innovation Strategy Lead

Address:

We are seeking a forward-thinking Innovation Strategy Lead to guide enterprise transformation through Insure AI, Agentic AI, technology innovation, and modernization across our Institutional, Retail, and Advisory business lines. This role is key to strengthening proactive innovation, delivering measurable business performance, and ensuring sustainability of results.

The ideal candidate will bring insurance industry expertise, strong strategic capabilities, and a proven ability to build and communicate enterprise-aligned roadmaps that drive ROI, secure funding, and support long-term transformation. This role also serves as a Strategic Program Lead within the transformation office, synthesizing insights, managing dashboards, and aligning cross-functional initiatives.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Communications and Executive Engagement

• Develop and deliver strategic presentations, executive updates, and transformation communications.
• Maintain dashboards and reporting frameworks to track progress, performance, and alignment across initiatives.
• Create and manage communication strategies that engage stakeholders and support enterprise-wide alignment.

Enterprise Alignment and Program Leadership

• Serve as a coordination point across Institutional innovation tech and AI workstreams.
• Ensure strategic alignment and integration of innovation efforts across departments and programs.
• Lead cross-functional workshops, governance forums, and planning sessions.

Innovation Strategy and Business Case Development

• Design and manage a practical innovation roadmap that integrates Insure AI, Agentic AI, technology modernization, and emerging capabilities.
• Identify high-impact opportunities and develop business cases with clear ROI, feasibility, and funding strategies.
• Conduct financial modeling and insurance-specific analysis to support investment decisions and transformation prioritization.
• Ensure initiatives are designed for long-term sustainability and measurable business outcomes.

Insure AI, Agentic AI and Tech Modernization Leadership

• Lead identification, evaluation, and implementation of Insure AI and Agentic AI use cases across insurance business lines.
• Collaborate with internal teams, external innovation and AI hubs, and Insurtech partners to support solution development and scaling.
• Monitor technology trends and translate them into actionable strategies that modernize legacy systems and enhance operational efficiency.
• Explore goal-driven autonomous agents for workflow orchestration, advisor enablement, and customer engagement.

Contracting, Procurement and Partner Management

• Support procurement and contracting processes for innovation partnerships, vendors, and consultants.
• Negotiate and manage strategic relationships to ensure delivery and value realization.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 8+ years of experience in insurance, consulting, digital transformation, or innovation strategy roles.
• Proven success in leading enterprise-wide transformation or innovation programs.
• Strong financial and quantitative skills, including business case modeling, ROI analysis, and performance metrics.
• Solid understanding of AI technologies, Insure AI applications, Agentic AI principles (autonomous agents, planning algorithms, reasoning frameworks), and tech modernization strategies.
• Excellent communication, strategic thinking, and stakeholder engagement skills.

PREFERRED BACKGROUND

• Former consultant with insurance transformation experience.
• Experience in Insurtech, AI innovation, or digital product strategy.
• Familiarity with Canadian life insurance and wealth management sectors.
• Experience with procurement, vendor management, and strategic partnerships.
• Exposure to LLM-based agent architectures, orchestration frameworks and multi-agent collaboration systems.

The above represents BMO Financial Group’s pay range and type.

Salaries will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and qualifications for the role, and may include a commission structure. Salaries for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on number of hours regularly worked. For commission roles, the salary listed above represents BMO Financial Group’s expected target for the first year in this position.

BMO Financial Group’s total compensation package will vary based on the pay type of the position and may include performance-based incentives, discretionary bonuses, as well as other perks and rewards. BMO also offers health insurance, tuition reimbursement, accident and life insurance, and retirement savings plans. To view more details of our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.bmo.com/global/en/Total-Rewards

About Us

At BMO we are driven by a shared Purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. It calls on us to create lasting, positive change for our customers, our communities and our people. By working together, innovating and pushing boundaries, we transform lives and businesses, and power economic growth around the world.

As a member of the BMO team you are valued, respected and heard, and you have more ways to grow and make an impact. We strive to help you make an impact from day one – for yourself and our customers. We’ll support you with the tools and resources you need to reach new milestones, as you help our customers reach theirs. From in-depth training and coaching, to manager support and network-building opportunities, we’ll help you gain valuable experience, and broaden your skillset.

To find out more visit us at https://jobs.bmo.com/ca/en.

BMO is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By learning from each other’s differences, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. To request accommodation, please contact your recruiter.

Note to Recruiters: BMO does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. Any unsolicited resumes sent to BMO, directly or indirectly, will be considered BMO property. BMO will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. A recruiting agency must first have a valid, written and fully executed agency agreement contract for service to submit resumes.