AVP, Strategy & Transformation

Manulife/John Hancock; Montreal; Hybrid; CAD 130,000 - 241,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Incentives

Health benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Disability insurance

Life/AD&D insurance

Adoption support

Wellness benefits

EAP

Pension plan

Share ownership plan

Financial education

Paid time off

Leaves of absence

Job summary

Manulife/John Hancock in Montreal, QC, is seeking an AVP, Strategy and Transformation to lead the Insurance Operations strategy and its highest-priority initiatives. You’ll connect enterprise priorities to the roadmap, drive governance, and enable disciplined execution across a focused transformation portfolio.

Reporting to the VP of Insurance Operations, you’ll align priorities, surface risks, and coach sponsors and delivery teams to realize intended benefits in a complex, global financial

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, strategy, finance, operations or a related discipline.
• Advanced degree or equivalent experience is an asset.
• Senior-level experience in strategy, transformation, operations or consulting in a large, complex organization.
• Ability to translate enterprise strategy into executable road maps with governance and measurable benefits.
• Strong business and financial acumen with executive communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and refresh Insurance Operations strategy, annual priorities and multi-year roadmap.
• Lead integrated business planning and strategic prioritization across objectives and investments.
• Translate strategic priorities into executable plans with milestones and decision points.
• Oversee high-priority transformation initiatives and validate scope, business cases and benefits.
• Maintain an enterprise view of portfolio health and escalate risks or reprioritize as needed.
• Provide evidence-based advisory to senior leaders on trends and opportunities.
• Lead governance, reporting and performance measures for the Insurance Operations roadmap.
• Develop and coach a high-performing strategy and transformation team.

Job description

Shape the future of Insurance Operations by turning strategy into action. As AVP, Strategy and Transformation, you will lead the development and execution of the Insurance Operations strategy and provide focused oversight of its highest-priority transformation initiatives—connecting strategic direction, integrated planning, governance, performance insights and change leadership to deliver measurable business outcomes. Reporting to the VP, Insurance Operations, you will serve as a trusted strategic partner to the leadership team, creating a clear line of sight from enterprise priorities to the Insurance Operations roadmap. You will enable disciplined execution across a focused portfolio of critical initiatives by aligning priorities, strengthening governance, surfacing risks and decisions, and helping leaders realize intended benefits—while initiative sponsors and delivery teams retain operational ownership.

Position Responsibilities

• Partner with the VP and leadership team to define and refresh the Insurance Operations strategy, annual priorities and multi-year roadmap in alignment with divisional and enterprise direction.
• Lead integrated business planning and strategic prioritization, aligning enterprise objectives, operational priorities, investments and transformation roadmaps.
• Translate strategic priorities into executable plans with clear outcomes, accountabilities, milestones, performance measures and decision points.
• Oversee a focused portfolio of high-priority transformation initiatives, partnering with business and delivery leaders to validate scope, business cases, dependencies and benefit-realization plans.
• Maintain an enterprise view of portfolio health, identifying cross-initiative risks, capacity constraints and opportunities for timely escalation, reprioritization and corrective action.
• Anticipate execution challenges, monitor customer, operational, technology, regulatory and industry trends, and provide evidence-based advice to senior leaders.
• Drive change leadership and stakeholder alignment across functions, geographies and value streams, ensuring strategic narratives and executive communications are clear, consistent and decision oriented.
• Lead and develop a high-performing strategy and transformation team, clarifying decision rights and fostering accountability, collaboration, inclusion, constructive challenge and continuous improvement.
• Own the Insurance Operations strategy and integrated transformation roadmap, including governance, reporting expectations and performance measures, subject to approval by the VP and applicable governance bodies.
• Recommend priorities, sequencing, resource trade-offs and corrective actions; elevate decisions beyond delegated authority and lead approved direct reports through objective setting, coaching, development and performance management.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in business, strategy, finance, operations or a related discipline; an advanced degree or equivalent experience is an asset. Significant senior-level experience in strategy, transformation, operations or consulting within a large, complex organization. Proven ability to translate enterprise strategy into executable road maps, strong governance, measurable outcomes and sustained business benefits. Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional initiatives, influencing senior stakeholders and driving alignment without direct authority. Strong business and financial acumen, executive communication skills, sound judgement and the ability to simplify complexity, manage risk and make decisions through ambiguity. Strategic, results-oriented and inclusive leader with strong change agility, constructive problem-solving and talent development capabilities; knowledge of insurance operations, customer journeys, technology-enabled transformation and relevant market or regulatory dynamics is an asset. Bilingualism (English and French) is an asset. If the successful candidate is in Québec, proficiency in both languages will be required to support clients from various provinces outside of Quebec.

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 [e-mail].

Referenced Salary Location Montreal, Quebec

Working Arrangement Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between $129,800.00 CAD - $241,200.00 CAD

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [e-mail] for the salary range for your location.

• 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 [e-mail] 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.

We're Manulife. And we’re on a mission to make decisions easier and lives better. Better is what drives us. It’s what inspires us to find new ways to support customers and colleagues in living longer and healthier lives. It’s the reason we’re dedicated to investing in digital innovation and industry-leading AI, and accelerating a sustainable and economically inclusive future.

Joining us means you’ll be empowered to learn and grow your career. We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words. And as part of our global team, you’ll help shape the future you want to see – and discover that better can take you anywhere you want to go.

We’re proud of our accomplishments and recognition. Recent awards include: 2026 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award Winner Manulife Named one of Forbes World’s Best Employers 2025 Financial Times World’s Best Employers Asia-Pacific 2026 We’ve been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers 2026 #1 Life Insurer for AI Maturity by Evident 2026

To receive our latest job opportunities directly to your inbox, create an account or sign in and navigate to the ‘Job Alerts’ section located in the top right corner of the page. From there, you can sign up to receive job alerts. Our ambition is to be the number one choice for customers. Learn more at https://www.manulife.com/.