Manager, Program & Strategic Delivery

The Manager, Program & Strategic Delivery for Manulife Canada Operations plays a key role in supporting the execution of strategic initiatives and ensuring effective delivery across the portfolio. This role is responsible for driving portfolio transparency, enabling strong governance practices, and partnering with business and functional leaders to deliver high-impact projects aligned to operational and strategic priorities.

This position requires strong delivery discipline, analytical thinking, and the ability to influence stakeholders across multiple levels of the organization while operating in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.

Position Responsibilities:

Portfolio Delivery & Execution

• Support the execution of strategic initiatives by translating priorities into actionable project plans and deliverables.

• Monitor and manage portfolio performance across scope, schedule, budget, and risks.

• Identify delivery risks and issues, proactively escalating and driving resolution with stakeholders.

• Ensure alignment of project outcomes to defined business objectives and success metrics.

Portfolio Management, Reporting and Governance

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date portfolio reporting, including status, financials, dependencies, and outcomes.

• Establish integrated portfolio planning in collaboration with project delivery leads, and own executive-level governance reporting

• Support and enforce governance practices across the portfolio, ensuring adherence to enterprise standards and methodologies.

Financial & Resource Oversight

• Partner with finance and business teams to track and report on project financials, including budgets, forecasts, and benefits realization.

• Support budget planning and ongoing financial management for initiatives within the portfolio.

• Monitor resource capacity and utilization, identifying constraints and opportunities for optimization.

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leaders by translating complex program dynamics into clear executive narratives and decision-ready insights

• Support change management and business readiness activities across initiatives.

• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Required Qualifications:

• University degree or equivalent experience with 5-8+ years in project management, portfolio management, or strategy execution roles.

• Proven experience managing medium-to-large scale initiatives in a complex, matrixed organization.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize data into actionable insights.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders at multiple levels.

• Solid understanding of project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall, hybrid models).

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results under tight timelines.

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills without direct authority.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in financial services, insurance, or large-scale operations environments.

• Professional certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, or Agile certifications (e.g., Scrum, SAFe).

• Exposure to portfolio management tools and reporting platforms (e.g., Clarity, Planview, Power BI).

• Experience supporting governance forums and executive-level reporting.

• Background in consulting, operations transformation, or business process improvement.

When you join our team:

• We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.

• We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.

• As part of our global team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit https://www.manulife.com/en/about/our-story.html.

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 hr@manulife.com.

Referenced Salary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. 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. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact hr@manulife.com for the salary range for your location.

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 hr@manulife.com for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

We use data and analytics technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and automated processing tools, to analyze and process the information you provide to us or third parties in the application process. For more information, please refer to our personal information collection statement.