AVP Strategy - Intermediary, Product, Institutional

Manulife John Hancock; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife John Hancock is seeking an AVP, Strategy - Retail Intermediary, Product and Institutional within Global Wealth & Asset Management (GWAM). The role partners with the Head of GWAM Strategy and Transformation to shape growth, portfolio priorities and execution roadmaps across North America Intermediary, Global Product and Institutional.

You will lead strategy discussions, govern initiative pipelines, and translate strategic ambitions into actionable plans, working across distribution,

Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 years of experience in Strategy, Transformation, Corporate Development or Consulting.
• Wealth and asset management experience preferred.
• Ability to connect client, market, distribution, product, investment, financial and operational insights.

Responsibilities

• Frame the most consequential strategic choices with evidence-based recommendations.
• Lead development and refinement of an integrated strategy creating value for target clients and intermediary needs.
• Translate strategy into a sequenced roadmap with clear milestones and measures of success.
• Provide strategic leadership on product and capability portfolio decisions.
• Lead executive-ready strategic narratives for senior management and the Board.

Skills

Strategy development

Executive leadership

Change management

Stakeholder influence

Job description

Global Wealth & Asset Management (GWAM) is a key growth segment for Manulife, operating through Retail, Retirement and Institutional channels across North America, Asia and Europe. The business operates externally under the Manulife Investment Management brand and brings together distribution, product and public and private markets capabilities to help individual and institutional clients achieve their financial goals. Reporting to the Head of GWAM Strategy and Transformation, the AVP, Strategy - Retail Intermediary, Product and Institutional is a strategic partner to the relevant business leadership teams and a senior member of the GWAM Strategy team. The role drives the strategic plans for three executive leaders: to frame growth choices, sharpen portfolio and investment decisions and translate strategic ambition into an executable roadmap. The AVP will bring an independent, enterprise-wide perspective across North America Intermediary, Global Product and Institutional. Working across Distribution, Product, Investments, Finance and Transformation, the role will build confidence that strategic priorities are focused, appropriately resourced and capable of delivering measurable client, business and financial outcomes. This is an opportunity to shape choices across three interconnected mandates and see those choices through to tangible impact, while leading and developing strategy professionals.

Responsibilities

• Frame the most consequential strategic choices, bringing evidence-based recommendations on growth opportunities, competitive positioning, portfolio priorities and investment trade-offs to drive executive decisions.
• Lead the development and ongoing refinement of an integrated strategy that creates value to our target client segments and intermediary needs.
• Translate strategy into a sequenced roadmap with clear business outcomes, accountable owners, milestones and measures of success; test delivery capacity, resource requirements and execution readiness with business, regional and functional leaders.
• Provide strategic leadership on product and capability portfolio choices, including where to invest, build, partner, reposition, rationalize or exit.
• Identify opportunities to connect Intermediary / Institutional distribution with the product and investment agenda, including capability commercialization, channel expansion, strategic partnerships and shared enablement.
• Analyze industry dynamics, investor, advisor and institutional client needs, consultant and platform trends, competitor actions, product vehicles, pricing developments and emerging business models to identify opportunities, risks and implications for strategic choices.
• Partner with Transformation and business leaders to align the book of work with strategic priorities and recommend sequencing or reprioritization when capital, capacity or dependencies require trade-offs.
• Build execution confidence across business and functional teams by surfacing dependencies, resolving cross-functional barriers and escalating decisions when delivery, strategic alignment or expected outcomes are at risk.
• Lead prioritization and governance of strategic initiative pipelines, evaluating strategic fit, commercial potential, economics, resource requirements, dependencies and execution readiness.
• Work with Finance and business leaders to assess performance against strategic and financial outcomes, challenge underlying assumptions and recommend corrective action or strategic pivots when progress or expected benefits fall short.
• Maintain a practical view of strategic priorities, milestones, risks, dependencies and results, making trade-offs explicit and identifying where clearer accountability or a change in direction is required.
• Lead strategy discussions, decision sessions, leadership off-sites and annual planning processes across North America Intermediary, Global Product and Institutional.
• Lead executive-ready strategic narratives for senior management, the Manulife Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Directors, clearly articulating choices, trade-offs, progress and execution risks.
• Partner with business leaders and Communications to build understanding of strategic priorities, reinforce accountability and communicate progress against intended outcomes.
• Lead and develop strategy professionals, setting a high bar for analytical rigour, commercial judgment, collaboration and executive influence.

Key Attributes and Behaviours

• Minimum of 12 years of relevant, progressively senior experience in Strategy, Transformation, Corporate Development or Consulting, with strong wealth and asset management experience and a record of influencing senior business decisions and translating strategy into measurable results.
• Broad knowledge of intermediary and institutional distribution, investment products, product economics and public and private markets capabilities.
• Ability to connect client, market, distribution, product, investment, financial and operational insights