Vice President, Information Technology

Job description

**Who We Are** For over 30 years, our entrepreneurial mindset and strategic vision have fueled our growth into one of Canada’s largest and most successful REITs. Our retail-focused and mixed-use portfolio reflects our commitment to creating vibrant community spaces where people want to shop, live, work, and play. We take pride in our strong legacy while continuously adapting, innovating, and investing in the future. We’re proud to be recognized as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures, Canada’s Greenest Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, and a Greater Toronto Top Employer. At RioCan, we believe our people are our greatest strength. We foster a welcoming, inclusive culture where employees can connect authentically, grow continuously, and bring their whole selves to work. Here, you’ll find opportunities to learn, lead, and make an impact every day. ### **Purpose of the Position** Reporting to the SLT leadership, the Vice President, Information Technology is accountable for the stability, security, scalability and performance of RioCan's technology environment. The role provides the foundational technology capabilities that enable enterprise operations across infrastructure, cybersecurity, workplace technology, enterprise applications, vendor relationships and technology risk management ensuring systems are secure, resilient, cost effective and aligned with business objectives. Equally, this is an opportunity to further strengthen technology's role as a strategic partner to the business, building on a solid operational foundation and deepening alignment between technology priorities and enterprise objectives. The Vice President will lead with influence, communicate technology in business language and ensure the technology ecosystem supports growth, operational excellence and innovation while balancing risk, reliability and cost. ### KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: **Technology Strategy & Architecture** - Develop and execute RioCan's technology strategy and roadmap, ensuring technology investments support long-term business objectives - Maintain a scalable, modern and resilient technology architecture built on the organization’s cloud platform - Identify opportunities to simplify and rationalize the application landscape - Evaluate emerging technologies that improve operational effectiveness and the employee experience - Align the work of IT with business priorities through a clear scorecard and a three- to five-year plan **Infrastructure & Operations** - Own enterprise infrastructure, networks, cloud platforms, workplace technology and end-user computing - Ensure high levels of system availability, reliability and performance - Establish operational standards and service management practices - Drive continuous improvement of technology services and support - Ensure business continuity and disaster recovery of enterprise IT systems are maintained and tested, in partnership with the functions that own the broader BCP mandate **Cybersecurity & Technology Risk** - Lead RioCan's cybersecurity model, protecting company systems, data and users from internal and external threats - Oversee identity and access management, security monitoring, incident response and technology controls, including the maturation of multi-factor authentication and single sign-on - Manage the outsourced security partnership and hold it to leading practice, staying ahead of sector peers - Ensure alignment with regulatory, privacy and risk management requirements, partnering with enterprise risk, legal and compliance on technology-related risks **Enterprise Applications** - Oversee enterprise platforms including property operations, leasing, People and Culture, construction and workplace technologies - Own the technology delivery of the enterprise property management platform and the activation of additional modules, partnering with the business on how capability is adopted and used - Ensure systems are reliable, integrated and aligned with business requirements, reducing reliance on spreadsheet-based processes - Support business leaders in maximizing value from technology investments **Service Delivery & Employee Experience** - Transform service desk delivery as the most visible face of technology to the business into a highly responsive, measurable, service-oriented function - Establish service levels, reporting and a feedback loop that demonstrably improve end-user satisfaction - Strengthen communication and transparency between IT and the business, building understanding of what technology is delivering and why **Vendor & Partner Management** - Develop and manage strategic relationships with technology vendors and service providers, including outsourced application development and managed security partners - Negotiate contracts and service-level agreements and monitor vendor performance and accountability - Ensure technology investments deliver expected value and outcomes **Digital Enablement & Modernization** - Partner with business leaders to deliver technology solutions that improve productivity and efficiency, and support enterprise automation initiatives - Identify opportunities to streamline processes through technology - Lead application lifecycle planning and modernization efforts in collaboration with the appropriate business partners - Enable safe, well-governed adoption of AI and productivity tooling across the enterprise, in partnership with the data and analytics function **Leadership** - Lead and develop a high-performing technology organization - Foster a culture of accountability, service excellence, innovation and continuous improvement - Build strong succession and talent development plans, establishing and evolving the team over time - Act as a trusted advisor to the senior leadership team on technology opportunities and risks - Build a network of technology leaders, industry peers and professional associations outside the organization, and stay current on emerging technologies, standards and leading practices ### SUCCESS FACTORS: **Key Success Measures – First 12 to 24 Months** - Strong system uptime and service reliability - Improved technology service levels and end-user satisfaction - Reduced cybersecurity risk exposure - Successful execution of technology modernization initiatives - Effective vendor management and cost optimization - Stable and scalable platforms supporting business growth - Enhanced resilience, continuity and disaster recovery capabilities - Clear alignment between technology investments and business priorities ### QUALIFICATIONS: **Required** - 10+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, including leading enterprise IT for a mid-sized to large organization - Experience leading enterprise infrastructure, cybersecurity and applications environments, with proven success managing complex technology ecosystems - Strong understanding of cloud technologies, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity and IT operations - Track record of technology transformation and modernization while balancing the need for operational continuity - Strong vendor management and outsourcing experience, including negotiation of contracts and service levels - Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with business leaders and executive teams, and to communicate technology issues in business language - Track record of building and leading high-performing technical teams **Preferred** - Experience partnering with analytics, finance and business leaders in a matrixed environment - Experience in real estate, REIT or other asset-intensive, operationally complex environments; candidates from outside real estate are equally welcome - Familiarity with recognized security control frameworks and the roadmap required to mature between them - Experience enabling enterprise adoption of cloud productivity, AI and business intelligence tooling - A reputation for operational excellence and disciplined execution **Education** - Bachelor's degree is required; an advanced degree is highly preferred