Vice President, Strategic Partnerships

The AIR MILES Reward Program is one of Canada’s most recognized loyalty programs, with over 10 million active collector accounts, representing more than half of all Canadian households. AIR MILES collectors earn Reward Miles at more than 300 leading Canadian, global and online brands and at thousands of retail and service locations across the country. AIR MILES is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal (BMO). BMO is Canada’s oldest bank and the 8th largest in North America with more than 12 million customers globally. Position Overview: Provides organizational leadership to the sales team, developing and implementing a comprehensive business plan that will maximize growth and profitability of sales and service across the business. Accountable for achieving the strategic and financial objectives of partners while delivering on the financial targets for the AIR MILES Reward Program (AMRP). Within the context of the overall AIR MILES Strategy, this role leads the strategic direction to expand and grow Partners across high frequency spend categories. Establishes and updates the vision and plan to drive innovative solutions through offerings, products and services that align with the Partner’s objectives. This role holds relationships with senior executive Partners through a strong ability to consult, advise, influence, partner and sell loyalty solutions. Responsibilities:

• Contributes to setting the overall strategic coalition build and maintenance (5-year timeframe) providing insight/expertise to expand and grow Partner relationships.
• Develops and executes operational plans to achieve business objectives, tracking progress to forecast, and developing, communicating, delegating, and actively participating, in the implementation of actions necessary to correct internal and external issues affecting the ability of the team to meet annual business plan goals. Provides reliable forecasts
• Leads the negotiation of Partner contracts and renewals to ensure that Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are met by the program
• Leads projects for near-term and long-term opportunities for the portfolio of the AMRP – i.E., Grocer, Fuel, Pharmacy, etc.
• Identifies, develops, and implements cross region/coalition opportunities with internal stakeholders to identify, pursue, and deliver upon business development opportunities
• Develops and delivers on issuance and revenue targets as defined by AIR MILES strategic goals.
• Models the annual outlook for each individual Partner; leads quarterly forecasting and variance analysis and tracks the financial implications of ongoing activities.
• Develops the strategic imperatives for Partner’s participation in the AMRP; aligning Partner objectives with organizational objectives to create and enhance win-win scenarios.
• Encourages new and innovative ways to work with Partner teams to drive commercial value by identifying leads and threats while building recommendations for Partner teams to drive performance and address strategic business imperatives, via leveraging all available data.
• Oversees the development and execution of a robust business development and affiliate model strategy.
• Leverages AMRP data assets and digital reach to demonstrate value to potential partners.
• Assesses market potential and competitive landscape to elevate the competitive differentiation of AIR MILES.
• Creates and delivers to the market a compelling B2B value proposition and associated narrative
• Acts as an agent for change, pushing the boundaries to unlock innovations in partnership models.
• Acts as a thought leader for AIR MILES, elevating the organization’s position within the marketplace by showcasing value in a credible manner.
• Develop networks and actively foster those networks to create opportunities for Program expansion.
• Attends industry conferences and events to increase the visibility and credibility of the Program
• Maintains detailed knowledge of longer-term prospects to improve strategies in market.
• Assesses both the competition and market opportunities on a regular basis to identify strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. Makes recommendations to leadership team as appropriate.
• Maintains ongoing communications with leaders to identify marketplace opportunities and potential risks; escalates significant issues to leadership and stakeholders.
• Ensures the effective delivery of sales initiatives and programs by establishing the sales and service context and setting direction for subordinates, establishing goals, and setting limits.
• Reviews and monitors sales performance against plan to identify and address gaps, issues and best practices.
• Works effectively with colleagues and other stakeholders to ensure deal teams and strong working relationships effectively leverage sales and referral opportunities to improve share of wallet, acquire new Partners, retain existing Partners, and provide the full AMRP offering to Partners.
• Contributes personally to the business objectives through direct market intervention by way of joint sales calls, establishing a personal referral network and a variety of business development activities.
• Establishes and enhances the AMRP profile in the community by participating in worthwhile business and community activities and seeking out and creating opportunities to promote the products and services of AMRP.
• Ensures all new business conforms with Bank policies and other guidelines.
• Monitors controllable non-interest expenses and revenues to manage the team’s profitability to ensure targets are met or exceeded. Monitors and escalates aspects not under direct managerial control.
• Ensures identification and reporting of transactions or patterns of activity which are suspected to be related to money laundering.
• Sets appropriate context and establishes prescribed limits for direct reports, including setting an effective framework of policies and procedures for the work in the group.
• Establishes a two-way working relationship with direct reports to solicit their views on the working environment, potential changes affecting their work, continuous improvement opportunities, and revisions to the plan.
• Builds and sustains a team that can deliver the performance required for the group, including coaching and the creation and implementation of training and development plans.
• Within the mandate of this role, promotes and supports the Bank’s risk culture including ensuring employees understand their accountabilities for risk-taking activities, promoting an environment of open communication and effective challenge, and establishing the “tone from the top” through leading by example.
• Complies with the Bank’s Risk Appetite framework and ensures risk-taking activities remain within agreed limits and comply with all regulatory requirements.
• Role models driving simplicity and productivity enhancements for optimization across groups driving continuous improvement on key measures
• Activates our winning culture, aligned with Purpose. Ignites engagement by aligning our culture to our strategy and fueling exceptional execution
• Fosters diversity, equity and inclusion and creates an inclusive environment for all employees by eliminating barriers to inclusion
• Develops leaders, plans for succession, and fosters a high-performance culture
• Drives top talent acquisition and retention, developing organizational capabilities to drive competitive advantage
• Leads and mentors a team with diverse risk and business experience, skills, and orientation
• Leads, promotes, and reinforces the Bank’s Ambition; personally, role modelsOne Bank leadership; drives sustainable improvements in customer loyalty and business growth; adheres and supports enterprise customer experience and brand standards

• Post-secondary education, or relevant work experience
• 10 – 15 + years experience in sales and/or client services and a demonstrated history of successful business development activities including ability to network in external markets
• In-depth knowledge of the Canadian marketplace, a deep understanding of various business models, and an ability to influence decision-making across all layers of the organization.
• Strong understanding of the digital landscape and how this can be applied to differentiating AIR MILES, and our Partners, through personalization and loyalty marketing.
• Strategic thinking
• Commercial mindset
• Contract negotiation experience, through demonstrated track record of negotiating success
• Strong leadership capabilities – the ability to inspire and lead both directly and indirectly
• Excellent strategic judgment as it relates to partnering and negotiating
• Ability to build and execute against a long-term sales strategy
• Consultative/solution-based selling experience
• Analytical Thinking (Expert)
• Applied Innovation (In-depth)
• Business Valuation (In-depth)
• Change Leadership (In-depth)
• Managerial Leadership (In-depth)
• Negotiation (Expert)
• Relationship Management (Expert)
• Risk Management (Expert)
• Strategic Business Planning (In-depth)
• Sales & Service Management (In-depth)
• Coaching (In-depth)
• Networking (In-depth)