The Opportunity
My client, a growing Calgary-based commercial mortgage brokerage and investment dealer, is seeking an experienced Operations and Office Manager to lead its daily business, administrative and office operations.
This hands-on leadership position requires someone who takes initiative, anticipates problems and follows responsibilities through to completion. The successful candidate will proactively improve workflows, support employees, strengthen internal processes and ensure operational and regulatory responsibilities are properly managed.
The primary focus is operations and office management. Preference will be given to candidates with experience in financial services, risk management, regulatory compliance, internal controls, audit or governance.
The successful candidate does not need to be an expert in every regulatory area. However, they must recognize risks, maintain reliable records and controls, keep current with regulatory developments and present practical, well-considered recommendations to the Managing Partner and Chief Compliance Officer.
Key ResponsibilitiesOperations and Office Management
- Proactively oversee daily business, administrative and office operations.
- Establish clear workflows, responsibilities, approval levels and deadlines.
- Monitor open tasks and ensure commitments are completed.
- Identify bottlenecks, duplicated work, service gaps and inefficiencies.
- Recommend and implement practical operational improvements.
- Develop and maintain policies, procedures, checklists and tracking systems.
- Improve the use of business and mortgage-administration systems.
- Identify opportunities to strengthen automation, reporting and system functionality.
- Manage office supplies, equipment, facilities and service providers.
- Maintain organized and secure electronic and physical filing systems.
- Manage document retention, access controls and secure disposal.
- Track contracts, insurance, licences, renewals and corporate deadlines.
- Prepare regular operational reports and recommendations for leadership.
People Leadership
- Provide daily leadership, direction and support to employees.
- Clarify roles, responsibilities and performance expectations.
- Identify gaps, overlaps and inefficiencies in team workflows.
- Develop cross-training plans to improve coverage and continuity.
- Establish structured staff, leadership and compliance meetings.
- Ensure decisions and action items are documented and completed.
- Support recruitment, onboarding, training and performance management.
- Coordinate vacation schedules, employee availability and office coverage.
- Promote a positive and respectful workplace while implementing and enforcing new policies, procedures and regulatory requirements.
- Address routine employee concerns and escalate significant workplace or performance issues.
Executive Financial and Governance Support
- Support the Managing Partner and Chief Compliance Officer.
- Coordinate leadership, partner, committee and Board meetings.
- Prepare agendas, reports, presentations and supporting materials.
- Monitor leadership and Board-directed action items.
- Assist with corporate records, resolutions, contracts and governance documentation.
- Coordinate information requested by legal counsel, auditors, accountants and regulators.
- Work with the accounting team to ensure financial documents are complete and submitted on time.
- Support trust-fund, payment and cash-control procedures.
- Monitor vendor contracts, expenses, renewals and service expectations.
- Work with insurers and advisors to assess coverage, costs and emerging risks.
- Assist with budgeting and operational reporting.
Client and Stakeholder Service
- Maintain professional communication with borrowers, investors and business partners.
- Coordinate requests and ensure they are assigned appropriately.
- Proactively monitor outstanding documents and service commitments.
- Maintain an inventory of borrower and investor documentation.
- Recommend improvements and greater consistency in client-facing documents.
- Help resolve routine operational and service concerns.
- Escalate significant client, investor, regulatory or reputational concerns.
- Support approved business-development and investor-service initiatives.
Risk Compliance and Internal Controls
- Proactively identify operational, financial, regulatory, privacy, cybersecurity and reputational risks.
- Maintain a calendar for regulatory filings, audits, licences, insurance, contracts and corporate deadlines.
- Maintain and advance organizational policies and procedures.
- Monitor bulletins and requirements issued by the Alberta Securities Commission, other provincial securities regulators, RECA and FINTRAC.
- Assess regulatory developments and recommend required policy, training or operational changes.
- Support requirements applicable to a commercial mortgage brokerage and investment dealer.
- Support AML and Anti-Terrorist Financing obligations under FINTRAC and the PCMLTFA.
- Maintain compliance manuals, policies, logs, checklists and supporting records.
- Support KYC, Customer Due Diligence, beneficial-ownership and source-of-funds documentation.
- Review borrower, investor, underwriting and funding files for completeness.
- Maintain risk registers, issue logs and corrective-action trackers.
- Identify control weaknesses and recommend corrective action.
- Follow up on audit findings and confirm required improvements are completed.
- Support regulatory audits, examinations and information requests.
- Coordinate privacy, cybersecurity and vendor-risk activities.
- Escalate significant concerns to the Managing Partner and Chief Compliance Officer.
- Work with legal counsel, auditors, regulators and external compliance professionals.
Qualifications
- At least five years of progressively responsible experience in operations management, office management, business administration or a comparable role.
- Experience supervising employees or coordinating an administrative team.
- Experience developing or improving policies, procedures and workflows.
- Demonstrated ability to identify problems and recommend practical solutions.
- Strong organizational, documentation and follow-up abilities.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong judgement and discretion when handling confidential information.
- Ability to work independently without waiting for detailed instructions.
- Ability to balance operational, employee, client and regulatory requirements.
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and related business systems.
- A diploma or degree in business administration, operations, finance, accounting, risk management or a related discipline is preferred.
Preferred Experience
Preference will be given to candidates with experience in:
- Commercial mortgage brokerage, private lending or investment dealing
- Banking, investments or another regulated financial-services environment
- Alberta Securities Commission or provincial securities requirements
- RECA mortgage brokerage requirements
- AML, FINTRAC, KYC or Customer Due Diligence
- Internal controls, audits or regulatory examinations
- Trust-fund or cash-control procedures
- Policy and procedure development
- Privacy, cybersecurity or information governance
- Corporate governance or Board administration
- Risk registers and corrective-action tracking
The Ideal Candidate
You are proactive, highly organized and comfortable taking ownership without waiting to be told where to look or what to do.
You anticipate operational needs, identify emerging risks and recommend solutions before a problem or regulatory failure occurs. Your recommendations are researched, practical and ready for leadership to evaluate.
You work well in a close-knit team and build positive relationships with employees. You can balance a friendly workplace with the responsibility to supervise performance and implement and enforce regulatory, policy and procedural requirements.
Compensation Time Off and Benefits
- Annual salary of $80,000–$95,000, based on experience and qualifications
- Three weeks of paid vacation annually
- Paid statutory holidays
- Health and dental benefits after the three-month probationary period
- Support for approved professional development
How to Apply
Please submit your résumé and a brief cover letter describing:
- Your experience managing business and office operations
- An operational process you proactively improved
- Your experience leading employees and implementing new procedures
- Your experience in financial services, risk management, compliance, audit or internal controls
- Why this combined operations and compliance-focused position interests you
We thank all applicants for their interest. Only candidates selected for the next stage will be contacted.
