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What the market looks like

We've tracked 40 senior-level intelligent automation postings across Canada in the last six months, with concentrated hiring in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. Compensation for executive-level operational excellence roles typically lands between $130K and $200K, with the strongest candidates bringing 10+ years of operational or engineering leadership alongside hands-on experience scaling automation programs across manufacturing, financial services, or enterprise IT environments. These leaders balance strategic program vision with technical credibility — they speak fluently about RPA, process mining, and AI-driven workflow optimization, and they've shipped measurable results: cost reductions, cycle-time improvements, and sustainable automation governance models.

Job responsibilities

Own the end-to-end intelligent automation strategy, from process discovery and ROI modeling through deployment and continuous optimization across the enterprise.
Lead cross-functional automation teams — spanning operations, IT, and business units — to identify, prioritize, and execute high-impact use cases that drive cost reduction and operational velocity.
Build and embed automation governance frameworks, including process mining pipelines, bot performance monitoring, and escalation protocols to ensure quality and compliance at scale.
Partner with finance and business leadership to model automation economics, track program KPIs, and communicate ROI and risk mitigation to the executive team.
Drive capability development: design and deliver training programs, mentor emerging automation leads, and build internal CoEs or shared service models as the program matures.
Evaluate and integrate AI, machine learning, and advanced RPA platforms; architect the technology stack and vendor relationships to support multi-year automation roadmaps.
Identify and mitigate automation risks — workforce transition planning, data security in bot environments, regulatory compliance — and design change management programs to sustain adoption.

Candidate requirements

10+ years of operations, engineering, or business transformation leadership, with a minimum of 5 years directly building and scaling intelligent automation programs (RPA, process mining, workflow automation, or adjacent disciplines).
Demonstrated success delivering measurable automation outcomes — cost savings, process cycle-time reductions, or productivity gains — and the ability to articulate technical and financial trade-offs to senior stakeholders.
Technical fluency in RPA platforms (UiPath, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, or equivalent), process mining tools, and bot lifecycle management; hands-on experience preferred over purely advisory roles.
Track record building and leading technical or cross-functional teams, establishing governance frameworks, and scaling processes repeatably across large enterprises or complex organizational structures.
Strong executive communication: ability to translate automation complexity into business value, influence without direct authority, and navigate board-level and CFO-level conversations on program ROI and risk.
Experience in at least two of the following sectors: financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, IT services, or large-scale technology operations.

VP, Operational Excellence