Manager, Data Operations

At CI, we see a great place to work as one that is a safe place for everyone to have a voice, where people are empowered to take ownership over meaningful work, where there is an opportunity to grow through stretching themselves, where they can work on innovative products and projects, and where employees are supported and engaged in doing so.

CI Financial is seeking a Manager, Data Operations to join our Data, AI & Analytics (DNA) team. In this role, you will be accountable for the reliability, scalability, and operational excellence of enterprise data platforms and pipelines, ensuring that data products are delivered consistently, securely, and at scale.

You will lead a team of Data Operations engineers and developers, establish operational standards, and partner closely with Data Engineering, Analytics, Governance, and Technology teams to embed production-grade data operations, CI/CD practices, and monitoring across the enterprise data ecosystem.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Data Platform Operations & Reliability

• Own the day-to-day operational health of enterprise data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, orchestration tools, CI/CD pipelines, BI platforms).
• Enforce change management and release controls for production data systems.
• Ensure high availability, performance, and reliability of data pipelines and analytical workloads.
• Establish and track SLAs, SLOs, and operational KPIs for data services.

Data Operations & CI/CD Leadership

• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of Data Operations and CI/CD practices for data pipelines, transformations, and platform changes.
• Enforce change management and release controls for production data systems.
• Standardize deployment, rollback, and release management processes for data assets.
• Ensure automation-first approaches across testing, deployment, and monitoring.

Monitoring, Incident & Problem Management

• Implement proactive monitoring, alerting, and observability for data pipelines and platforms.
• Lead incident response, root-cause analysis, and post-incident reviews for data-related outages or quality issues.
• Drive continuous improvement to reduce operational risk and manual intervention.

Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Data Operations engineers and developers.
• Set clear priorities, performance expectations, and development plans.
• Foster a culture of operational excellence, accountability, and continuous learning.

Data Quality, Testing & Controls

• Enforce change management and release controls for production data systems.
• Partner with Data Engineering and Analytics teams to embed data quality checks, validation, and automated testing into pipelines.
• Ensure operational controls align with data governance, security, and compliance requirements.
• Support audit, risk, and regulatory inquiries related to data operations.

Architecture & Platform Optimization

• Collaborate with data engineering and architecture team to design scalable, cost-efficient, and resilient data platform architectures.
• Coordinate data refreshes and environment management for non-production environments (e.g., TST/UAT).
• Drive performance tuning, cost optimization, and capacity planning for Snowflake and related platforms.
• Evaluate and onboard new tooling to enhance Data Operations maturity.

Documentation & Operational Standards

• Establish and maintain operational runbooks, standards, and documentation for platforms, pipelines, and processes.
• Ensure transparency and knowledge sharing across teams.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner with Data Engineering, Analytics, Governance, Security, and Technology teams to align on priorities and delivery.
• Act as the primary operational point of contact for data platform reliability and service health.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• 7+ years of experience in data engineering, Data Operations, or platform operations, with at least 2+ years in a leadership or management role.
• Strong hands-on experience with Snowflake as an enterprise data platform, including performance optimization and cost management.
• Proven experience implementing CI/CD pipelines and operational best practices for data workflows.
• Experience with orchestration tools (e.g., AWS Managed Service for Apache Airflow or similar).
• Proficiency in SQL and Python, with the ability to guide technical design and review solutions.
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native data operations.
• Experience with monitoring, alerting, and observability tools for data platforms.
• Solid understanding of data security, privacy, and regulatory requirements.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in asset management, wealth management, or financial services environments.
• Experience operating data platforms at enterprise scale with multiple downstream consumers.
• Familiarity with modern data tooling (e.g., Snowflake, DBT, Openflow, AWS Services, Airflow).
• Experience partnering with Data Governance and risk teams.
• Snowflake or cloud platform certifications.

This opportunity is for an existing vacancy with the company. The anticipated base salary range for this position is $69,500 - $119,500. Exact salary depends on several factors such as experience, skills, education, and budget. Salary range may vary based on geographic location. In addition to base salary, this position is eligible for participation in a bonus program. In addition, The Company offers a variety of benefits to eligible employees, including health insurance coverage, wellness programs, life and disability insurance, retirement savings plans, paid leave programs, education-related programs, paid holidays and vacation time, and many others. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company.

This role follows our in‑office work model and requires employees to be onsite four days per week to support collaboration and business needs.

CI Financial is an independent company offering global wealth management and asset management advisory services through diverse financial services firms. Since 1965, we have consistently anticipated and responded to the changing needs of investors. We are driven by a commitment to provide individuals and institutions with the highest-quality investments and advice. Our commitment to the highest levels of performance means that whatever their position, CI employees must be comfortable in a fast-paced environment that will stretch them to tap into their highest potential. Employees with a healthy dose of ambition, a desire to commit to a curious mindset for continuous learning, and a willingness to go the extra mile thrive at CI.

A Supportive Environment for Success

We offer an in-office environment, competitive benefits, and a supportive workplace to help our employees thrive both personally and professionally.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Modern HQ location within walking distance from Union Station
• Training Reimbursement
• Paid Professional Designations
• Employee Savings Plan (ESP)
• Corporate Discount Program
• Enhanced group benefits
• Parental Leave Top–up program
• Paid time off for Volunteering

We are focused on building a diverse and inclusive workforce. If you are excited about this role and are not confident you meet all the qualification requirements, we encourage you to apply to investigate the opportunity further.