AVP, Global People Services (Pathways)

Manulife/John Hancock; Southwestern Ontario; On-site; CAD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife/John Hancock is seeking a senior leader to set the global strategy for colleague pathways, overseeing onboarding, job changes, transfers, leaves, exits, and organizational changes. The role focuses on compliant, experience-led delivery with high-touch oversight for executive, confidential, and business-critical transactions.

The EVP, GPS-Pathways will balance enterprise standards with local requirements, drive digital enhancements, and create scalable playbooks and processes across

Responsibilities

• Set global strategy for colleague pathways across GPS.
• Define the Pathways operating model, service standards, and decision rights.
• Account for local legal, regulatory, and cultural requirements in global workflows.
• Identify opportunities to improve service via digital capabilities and best practices.
• Lead high-risk, high-volume transitions with accuracy, timeliness, and compliance.
• Establish escalation and governance for executive, VIP, confidential, and urgent cases.

Job description

The AVP, Global People Services (GPS) - Pathways sets the global strategy, operating model, and service vision for colleague lifecycle moments, including onboarding, job changes, transfers, leaves, exits, organizational change, M&A, and other complex events. This global leader ensures accurate, consistent, compliant, and experience-led delivery while balancing enterprise standards with local requirements. The role improves colleague experience, efficiency, controls, and service resilience, with high-touch oversight for executive, confidential, and business-critical transactions.

Key Accountabilities

• Set the global strategy for colleague pathways
• Define the global Pathways strategy, roadmap, operating model, service standards, and decision rights.
• Establish a scalable enterprise approach for colleague lifecycle events while accommodating local legal, regulatory, and cultural requirements.
• Anticipate workforce needs and identify opportunities to improve service through digital capabilities and leading practices.
• Own global pathway service delivery Lead global delivery of high-volume, complex, and high-risk colleague transitions with accuracy, timeliness, care, and compliance.
• Set process standards and escalation models that enable consistent regional execution.
• Coordinate delivery across People & Comms, Payroll, Benefits, Mobility, Legal, Employee Relations, People Technology, People Partners, and business leaders.
• Manage service risks, capacity constraints, process gaps, and downstream impacts while building accountability and continuous improvement.
• Lead exceptional and VIP service delivery Establish differentiated service and governance for executive, VIP, confidential, urgent, and business-critical cases.
• Oversee sensitive transitions and escalations requiring discretion, speed, accuracy, and senior judgment.
• Define clear criteria for high-touch handling, stakeholder visibility, and executive escalation.
• Exercise executive-level decision-making and influence Make sound decisions in complex situations, balancing policy, colleague experience, risk, and business needs.
• Advise and influence senior stakeholders on pathway strategy, priorities, dependencies, risks, and actions.
• Resolve cross-functional ownership and accountability issues and represent GPS in senior enterprise forums.
• Build trusted relationships through transparency, judgment, and dependable delivery.
• Simplify, standardize, and scale transition processes through digital, automation, and AI Build a digital-first mindset that challenges the team to solve service needs with technology, automation, and AI before adding manual work or capacity.
• Simplify and standardize processes to reduce variation, handoffs, rework, escalations, and inconsistent colleague experiences.
• Accelerate adoption of digital tools, workflow automation, self-service, analytics, and AI capabilities to improve quality, speed, scale, and operational efficiency.
• Create scalable global playbooks, intake and routing models