We are a leading financial services provider committed to making decisions easier and lives better for our customers and colleagues around the world. From our environmental initiatives to our community investments, we lead with values throughout our business. To help us stand out, we help you step up, because when colleagues are healthy, respected and meaningfully challenged, we all thrive. Discover how you can grow your career, make impact and drive real change with our Winning Team today.

Job Description

The Group Benefits Operations team is recruiting a Director, Operations Strategy & Transformation to support the back office transformation strategy for the Manulife Group Benefits business in Canada.

The Director is critical to the execution of strategic initiatives aligned to the Operations and Group Benefits strategy. They will be responsible for partnering across our operation teams, geographies and value streams to ensure strategic objectives achieve intended outcomes. They will be accountable for chief of staff duties and to the success of strategic outcomes through the direct oversight, leadership and delivery of initiatives. This resource must partner with senior leaders across the organization to achieve results. They champion the strategic goals of the Group Benefits and Operations and influence direction.

The Director may lead small teams through projects to drive strategic, change and transformation initiatives.

How will you create impact?

Strategy implementation and transformation

Accountable for the delivery of strategic projects end-to-end . Manage small, medium and large sized initiatives with strategic impact on business ensuring business benefits are realized including:

• Develop and manage an integrated plan for the initiative, ensuring key metrics and success criteria is developed and align to key priorities
• Lead activities such as milestone and impact planning reviews and approvals, budget planning and management
• Drive actions and decisions
• Communicate and present considered key insights to senior management audiences/stakeholders that assist in the understanding of the overall health and preformation of the assigned initiative(s)
• Drive and monitor the execution of initiatives; provide transparency of key milestones, risks and progress and drive accountability of various functions for delivery of agreed plans to timelines. Track strategic initiatives to ensure they are delivering the benefits defined in the business cases and financial plan.
• Communicate and drive decision implementation by key stakeholders. Identify when early trade-offs are needed and be able to influence decision makers to make difficult decisions. Create alignment and momentum within the organization to transition to execution teams and drive the mandate.

Maintain chief of staff duties , including the overall day-to-day operations of the broader team, working closely with management on prioritizing business strategies, providing recommendations to senior management on improvements, developing presentations and business cases, determining the best way to track performance and keep teams on track towards their goals Lead monthly business reviews for senior management, including power point decks, key performance metrics reporting and analyses Lead and facilitate processes to bring together teams in the development or refreshing of annual strategies, including quarterly Group Benefits Operations Leadership Team offsites Support the development and implementation of the Strategic Planning Process as needed. Develop, motivate, mentor and challenge the team (direct and indirect) Act as a change agent to build awareness and vision

What motivates you?

• You obsess about customers, listen, engage, and act for their benefit.
• You think big, with curiosity to discover ways to use your agile mindset and enable business outcomes.
• You thrive in teams and enjoy getting things done together.
• You take ownership and build solutions, focusing on what matters.
• You do what is right, work with integrity and speak up.
• You share your humanity, helping us build a diverse and inclusive work environment for everyone.

What we are looking for

• Strong analytical capabilities, very comfortable with quantitative & financial analysis. High level of conceptual skills and an ability to operate strategically
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leadership team members individually and collectively, and get recommendations approved and implemented
• Regarded as a realistic and practical individual, and is respected for ability to deliver
• Exceptional PowerPoint and storytelling skills
• Excellent facilitator and communicator s
• Change management/ambiguity: ability to work in a fast-paced environment with incomplete information, but continue to push tasks through based on known information, common sense and asking the right questions
• Detail oriented: important to pay extra attention to detail to ensure the highest quality of work is submitted to senior management for their review
• Research, analysis and problem solving: strong problem solving abilities by identifying issues, taking a logical approach to finding an answer based on research and sound analysis
• Project management: ability to drive projects to execution by developing deliverables timelines and effectively managing stakeholders
• Strong business acumen, customer and market focus; proven strategic thinking and execution skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in diverse environments and cultures
• Prior experience in top tier management consulting, investment banking or similar strategy roles is an asset
• 10 years combined education and experience in a strategy function within large multi-national corporation, ideally in the Financial Services industry

What can we offer:

• A competitive salary and benefits packages.
• We offer a growth trajectory that extends upward and outward, encouraging you to follow your passions and learn new skills!
• A focus on growing your career path with us.
• Flexible work policies and strong work-life balance.
• Professional development and leadership opportunities.

Our commitment:

• Values-first culture
  We lead with our Values every day and bring them to life together.
• Boundless opportunity
  We build opportunities to learn and grow at every career stage.
• Continuous innovation!
  We invite you to help redefine the future of financial services.
• Delivering the promise of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  We foster an inclusive workplace where everyone thrives.
• Championing Corporate Citizenship
  We build a business that benefits all partners and has a positive social and environmental impact.

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Asia, Canada, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. At the end of 2022, we had $1.3 trillion (US$1.0 trillion) in assets under management and administration, including total invested assets of $0.4 trillion (US $0.3 trillion), and segregated funds net assets of $0.3 trillion (US$0.3 trillion). We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife /John Hancock , we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour , ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law.

It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process . All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies . To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact recruitment@manulife.com .

The annual base salary for this role is listed below.

Salary range is expected to be between

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact recruitment@manulife.com for the salary range for your location. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact recruitment@manulife.com for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.