Job Description

We are banking at another level.

Choosing BDC as your employer means working in a healthy, inclusive, and skilled workplace that puts forward the best conditions to bring together unique teams where employees are empowered to act. It also means being at the centre of ambitious economic and financial projects to see further and to do things differently, to fuel the success of Canadian entrepreneurs.

Choosing BDC as your employer also means:

• Flexible and competitive benefits, including an Employee Savings and Investment Plan where BDC matches part of your voluntary contributions, a Defined Benefit Pension Plan, a $750 wellness and health care spending account, to name a few
• In addition to paid vacation each year, five personal days, sick days as necessary, and our offices are closed from December 25 to January 1
• A hybrid work model that truly balances work and personal life
• Opportunities for learning, training and development, and much more...

Explore the BDC Way in our Culture Book

POSITION OVERVIEW

Reporting to the VP, Technology Architecture & Application Services, the Assistant Vice President (AVP), Application Services leads BDC's software engineering organization and provides the engineering capabilities, platforms, and talent required to deliver technology solutions that power our business and digital transformation.

You'll provide strategic leadership to software development, quality assurance, and engineering management teams — building high-performing groups, modernizing our technology, and championing a culture of innovation and operational excellence.

You'll be accountable for the engineering excellence, reliability, security and continuous evolution of BDC's application portfolio. Through modern engineering practices, platforms, tools and technical leadership, you'll enable Product Management and Delivery teams to successfully deliver business value across the organization.

This is a pivotal role at a pivotal time: our technology organization is transforming to modernize platforms, accelerate delivery, and harness emerging technologies like AI. We're looking for a leader who can inspire teams, drive change, and deliver large-scale modernization.

CHALLENGES TO BE MET

• Champion engineering excellence – Elevate standards across software development through modern methodologies, automation, DevSecOps, and lifecycle management. Track quality, reliability, security, developer productivity, and technical debt reduction.
• Drive modernization – Lead cloud adoption, platform modernization, and technology refresh initiatives while keeping the application portfolio secure, scalable, and resilient.
• Advance platform engineering & AI – Evolve development toolchains, CI/CD, and self-service capabilities to elevate the developer experience. Lead the responsible adoption of AI-enabled software engineering and generative AI to boost delivery and efficiency.
• Build and grow talent – Recruit, mentor, and retain top technical leaders. Shape organizational design, succession planning, and career paths, and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, inclusion, and learning.
• Set the engineering strategy & enable delivery excellence
• Define the vision and direction for Application Services, partnering with business, product, and delivery leaders to align roadmaps, priorities, and capacity. Strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of delivery functions by providing modern engineering practices, platforms, tooling, automation, and technical talent that improve delivery predictability, quality, speed, and business value. Manage budgets, workforce plans, and external engineering capacity
• Manage partners & ensure compliance – Build strong relationships with stakeholders and strategic vendors, support procurement and contract negotiations, and champion secure-by-design practices that meet security, resilience, and regulatory requirements.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, IT, or a related field (Master's an asset).
• 10+ years of progressive leadership in software engineering, application development, or technology delivery.
• Experience leading large technology organizations (100+ professionals, including consultants) through managers and senior leaders.
• Proven success driving application modernization, cloud transformation, and engineering capability improvements.
• Strong grasp of modern engineering practices — Agile, DevSecOps, CI/CD, automation, cloud-native, and platform engineering — plus familiarity with AI-enabled software development.
• Experience managing complex vendor ecosystems and strategic partnerships.
• Strong business acumen and a track record of influencing senior executives and cross-functional teams.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills.
• Bilingualism (English and French) is essential.

Proudly one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers and one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, we are committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible environment where all employees can thrive and feel empowered to bring their whole selves to work. If you require an accommodation to complete your application, please do not hesitate to contact us at accessibility@bdc.ca.

While we appreciate all applications, we advise that only the candidates selected to participate in the recruitment process will be contacted.