Massey Henry is pleased to once again support Questrade Financial Group (“QFG”) — this time in the recruitment of a Chief Credit Risk Officer (“CCRO”) for Questbank .
About Questrade Financial Group
Questrade Financial Group (“QFG”) is an award-winning digital challenger to traditional banks – changing the Canadian financial services industry and empowering Canadians by giving them better, more affordable ways to take control of their financial future.
QFG is the parent company of Questrade Inc. (“Questrade”), Questrade Wealth Management Inc., Community Trust Company (“CTC” or “Community Trust”), ThinkInsure, Zolo, and Flexiti.
Through its companies, QFG provides mortgages, insurance, real estate, securities and foreign currency investment, professionally managed investment portfolios, and financial services to Canadians, with the objective of helping them become much more financially successful and secure.
Products & Services
QFG has continuously expanded its services and products to meet the evolving needs of Canadians, offering various financial products and services through its companies and affiliates, including:
- Deposits and loans
- Investment portfolios
- Insurance
- Real estate
- Securities and foreign currency investment
- Mortgages
Vision
We care deeply about helping Canadians become far more financially successful and secure.
Mission
To revolutionize financial services for the benefit of Canadians by providing the most innovative and cost-efficient financial services online.
Establishment of Questbank
In line with QFG’s mission to ensure Canadians can take more control over their financial wellbeing, the organization is in the process of preparing its subsidiary, Community Trust Company (“Community Trust”), for its evolution and expansion in the Canadian retail banking sector — launching a new Schedule I bank.
The Opportunity
As Community Trust prepares for its evolution and expansion into the Canadian retail banking sector, the organization is seeking a Chief Credit Risk Officer (“CCRO”) to lead all strategic and day-to-day credit risk functions of QFG’s future Bank entity, Questbank.
Reporting to the Chief Risk Officer (“CRO”), the Chief Credit Risk Officer (“CCRO”) leads the enterprise credit risk strategy and assessment across the Bank’s lines of business. This dedicated role ensures that the credit quality of loans remains within the Bank’s defined risk appetite.
The CCRO is responsible for the Bank's credit risk strategy, specifically for the Bank's residential loan portfolio and ancillary products containing credit risk. The CCRO must continuously assess and report on controls and processes to ensure full compliance with lending policy and applicable regulatory requirements (e.g., OSFI Guideline B-20).
The CCRO provides strategic guidance in refining and structuring lending proposals, ensuring alignment with financial return and risk parameters. They oversee the efficient and timely underwriting of new mortgages and unsecured credit products in compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies, while continuously monitoring market trends across real estate, mortgage, and unsecured lending keeping Senior Management and the Board apprised.
Key Responsibilities
Lending Operations & Oversight
- Ensure the soundness and integrity of credit granting on a transactional basis to keep the credit quality of loans within risk appetite targets.
- Provide appropriate guidance in fine-tuning and structuring specific lending proposals with consideration of financial return and risk parameters.
- Ensure that new mortgages and unsecured credit products are underwritten in an efficient and timely manner within regulatory requirements and defined policies.
- Continuously monitor the real estate, mortgage, and unsecured lending environment, assessing trends and impacts through reporting to Senior Management and the Board.
- Review the development of new credit products and processes, providing recommendations for adjudication.
- Oversee appraisals and enforce the Company’s appraisal processes for origination and portfolio management.
- Act as Chair of the Credit Risk Committee and attend as a member or guest at other management committees.
- Provide recommendations regarding the level of credit limits and approval limits for account management.
- Oversee regulatory (OSFI) credit-related audits and reviews and resulting actions arising.
- Improve operational effectiveness by identifying, recommending, and implementing best practice procedures.
- Escalate trends to Senior Management and recommend courses of action with respect to individual loan or portfolio level matters.
Credit Risk Frameworks & Strategy
- Assist the Chief Risk Officer in the development and review of credit frameworks and policies.
- Ensure that sound credit risk measurement and monitoring frameworks are developed and implemented throughout the group.
- Constantly assess the credit risk management framework to identify and address gaps to ensure ongoing compliance with standards.
- Contribute proactively to various risk related initiatives, including stress testing, IFRS 9, and ICAAP, especially concerning credit measurement and data management.
- Contribute to system implementation projects in the credit risk space by providing requirements and design inputs.
- Coordinate with Finance to understand potential exposure, reserves, and losses, and identify appropriate next steps and actions.
- Participate in model development and review forums for risk quantification, monitoring, and reporting.
Risk Culture & Collaboration
- Provide coaching, training, and support to the credit underwriting teams, including appraising credit capabilities and identifying training needs.
- Contribute to the effectiveness of the lending teams by providing input to performance evaluations and identifying high potential employees.
- Work as a liaison with Risk Management, Compliance, and Internal Audit functions to own and perform activities such as RCSA, new initiative risk assessments, risk appetite, and issues management.
- Assist in the preparation and presentation of the information pack for the CTC Board and Risk Review Committee.
- Cultivate and drive risk and compliance culture within the function and the organization.
- Participate in internal working groups or external industry specialist groups as required on ad hoc subjects related to credit and real estate matters, regulatory standards, and other areas of subject matter expertise.
The Individual
The Chief Credit Risk Officer (CCRO) is a seasoned executive with over 15 years of progressive experience in banking and lending, with a strong emphasis on credit risk management. Their background spans both trust companies and banks, equipping them with a nuanced understanding of diverse financial institutions.
The CCRO adopts a continuously evaluative approach and excels in navigating complex, build-focused financial environments. They actively foster trusted relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, including regulators, to support strategic growth and operational integrity.
A confident and articulate leader, the CCRO balances curiosity with sound judgment. They bring deep expertise in managing credit risk measurement and modeling frameworks, ensuring these are effectively developed, implemented, and embraced across the Bank and its stakeholders.
Key Qualifications
Technical Skills and Experience
- Experienced understanding of Basel guidelines and evolving regulatory guidelines.
- Extensive knowledge of, and experience with, lending policies and procedures, credit culture and procedures, and general banking practices and regulations.
- Extensive working knowledge of the commercial and residential credit adjudication controls to meet risk oversight standards
- Extensive experience in credit policy and adjudication
- Strong knowledge of modeling
Education
- Post Secondary degree in Business or Finance; CFA, MBA, or CPA, CA designation is preferred.
Personal Attributes
- Must be a strong communicator with the ability to provide confidence when speaking to management, the Board, and regulators.
- A well-defined sense of diplomacy, including solid negotiation, conflict resolution, and people management skills.
- Effective attention to detail and a high degree of accuracy.
- Sound analytical thinking, planning, prioritization, and execution skills.
- Strong team player who motivates others to achieve group success.
- Highly collaborative with other teams, to optimize credit strategy and risk management.
- Use open communication and collaboration to solve problems and manage deliverables.
