Director, canada strategy

Société Financière Manuvie; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 145,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Société Financière Manuvie is seeking a Director, Canada Strategy to shape the organization’s long-term direction and guide senior leaders through critical priorities. You will blend enterprise perspective with structured problem solving to mobilize action across multiple business units.

You will lead strategic initiatives, develop business cases, and connect Canada Segment priorities with functional plans, while coaching a high‑performing team in a complex, matrixed environment.

Qualifications

• 8-10+ years in corporate strategy, business strategy, consulting, or transformation.
• Experience in financial services or top-tier consulting is preferred.
• Shaping enterprise or business-unit strategy across multiple functions or geographies.
• Strong financial acumen; develops business cases and evaluates value creation and risk.
• Ability to structure ambiguous problems, test hypotheses, synthesize evidence.
• Proven track record influencing senior stakeholders and delivering outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-priority cross-business strategic initiatives from definition to execution.
• Frame strategic choices on entry/exit/investment/partnership decisions and develop roadmaps.
• Develop fact-based recommendations using market analysis, scenarios, and stakeholders.
• Prepare executive/Board-ready materials clarifying issues and decisions.
• Coach and develop a high-performing strategy team and align enterprise priorities.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Structured problem solving

Executive communication

Influence / stakeholder management

Financial acumen

Team leadership

Education

University degree in Business/Finance/Economics

MBA or related graduate degree preferred

Job description

At Manulife Canada, the Strategy & Transformation team sits at the center of the organization, partnering closely with the Canada CEO and Segment leaders to shape and advance the company’s long-term direction.

We work across business lines and functions to translate Segment strategy into aligned priorities, maintain an integrated view of the strategic portfolio, shape high-impact initiatives, and improve the processes through which strategic and investment decisions are made.

Position Responsibilities:

As Director, Canada Strategy, you will help shape Manulife Canada’s strategy and advance its most critical priorities. You will combine enterprise perspective, structured problem solving, and constructive challenge to help senior leaders make clear choices and mobilize action.

This high-visibility role spans strategy reviews, strategic initiatives, and business and functional deep dives. The Director will act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and help connect Canada Segment priorities with business unit and functional plans.

This role is ideal for a strategy leader who has shaped enterprise or business-unit strategy in a complex organization or top-tier consulting environment and is equally comfortable developing strategy, facilitating executive decisions, and moving priority initiatives toward execution.

Strategic Initiatives and Enterprise Problem Solving

• Lead high-priority, cross-business strategic initiatives from problem definition through recommendation, mobilization, and transition to accountable execution owners.
• Frame and evaluate strategic choices, including where to enter, exit, invest, partner, acquire, simplify, or double down.
• Develop fact-based recommendations through structured problem solving, market and competitive analysis, financial assessment, scenario analysis, and stakeholder input.
• Develop business cases and implementation roadmaps, establish intended outcomes and success measures, and secure senior leadership alignment.
• Support partnership and M&A assessments, including strategic fit, value creation logic, key risks, and integration considerations, in collaboration with relevant subject-matter experts.

Business and Functional Deep Dives

• Lead periodic vertical and horizontal deep dives across businesses and functions, for example - Distribution, Technology, Operations, and other enterprise capabilities.
• Act as the Canada Segment’s thought and challenge partner to functions, testing strategic ambition, investment priorities, operating choices, and alignment with business needs.
• Identify cross-business opportunities, shared capabilities, and structural barriers that may not be visible within individual portfolios.
• Facilitate alignment across business and functional leaders where priorities, accountabilities, or investment choices are unclear.

Executive Advisory and Team Leadership

• Provide independent, forward-looking advice to senior executives and facilitate decisions on complex or ambiguous strategic topics.
• Develop concise executive and Board-ready materials that clarify the issue, choices, trade-offs, recommendation, and required decision.
• Build alignment across business units, functions, and enterprise partners through effective facilitation, influence, and constructive challenge.
• Lead and develop a high-performing, inclusive team with strong capabilities in strategic judgment, structured problem solving, executive communication, and delivery.
• Coach direct reports and peers, allocate resources to the highest-value priorities
• Strengthen the Strategy & Transformation team’s methods and capabilities - including via the adoption of AI, better operating rhythms, common approaches, etc.

Leadership Capabilities

• Strategic Judgment: Connect enterprise context, market evidence, economics, and execution realities to make clear recommendations.
• Structured Problem Solving: Break ambiguous issues into testable hypotheses, focused analyses, and practical choices.
• Influence and Constructive Challenge: Build credibility with senior leaders while testing assumptions and surfacing trade-offs.
• Executive Communication: Distill complex issues into concise, decision-oriented narratives and Board-ready materials.
• Enterprise Collaboration: Create alignment across business units and functions without relying on formal authority.
• Mobilization and Execution: Translate strategy into clear outcomes, accountabilities, success measures, and an executable path forward.
• Talent Development: Coach and develop high-performing strategy talent and raise the quality of thinking across the team.

Required Qualifications:

• 8-10+ years of progressively senior experience in corporate strategy, business strategy, management consulting, corporate development, transformation, or a related field.
• Experience in financial services and/or a top-tier consulting firm strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience shaping enterprise or business-unit strategy across multiple businesses, functions, or geographies.
• Strong financial acumen, including experience developing business cases, assessing investment choices, and evaluating value creation and risk.
• Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous problems, develop and test hypotheses, synthesize quantitative and qualitative evidence, and translate analysis into practical recommendations.
• Strong track record of influencing senior stakeholders, facilitating difficult decisions, and delivering measurable outcomes in complex, matrixed environments.
• Experience with strategic planning, portfolio prioritization, operating model assessment, transformation, and benefits realization.
• People leadership experience, including coaching and developing high-performing teams.
• University degree in Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
• MBA, equivalent graduate degree, or relevant professional designation preferred.

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.

Le poste annoncé correspond à une vacance existante.

À propos de Manuvie et de John Hancock

La Société Financière Manuvie est un chef de file mondial des services financiers qui aide les gens à prendre leurs décisions plus facilement et à vivre mieux. Pour en apprendre plus à notre sujet, rendez vous à l’adresse www.manuvie.com.

Manuvie est un employeur qui souscrit au principe de l’égalité d’accès à l’emploi

Chez Manulife/John Hancock nous valorisons notre diversité. Nous nous efforçons d’attirer, de perfectionner et de maintenir une main d'oeuvre qui est aussi diversifiée que nos clients, et de favoriser la création d’un milieu de travail inclusif qui met à profit la diversité de nos employés et les compétences de chacun. Nous nous engageons à assurer un recrutement, une fidélisation, une promotion et une rémunération équitables, et nous administrons toutes nos pratiques et tous nos programmes sans discrimination en raison de la race, de l’ascendance, du lieu d’origine, de la couleur, de l’origine ethnique, de la citoyenneté, de la religion ou des convictions religieuses, du genre (y compris grossesse et affection liée à une grossesse), de l’orientation sexuelle, des caractéristiques génétiques, du statut d’ancien combattant, de l’identité de genre, de l’expression de genre, de l’âge, de l’état matrimonial, de la situation de famille, d’une invalidité ou de tout autre motif protégé par la loi applicable.

Nous nous sommes donné comme priorité d’éliminer les obstacles à l’accès égalitaire à l’emploi. C’est pourquoi un représentant des Ressources humaines collaborera avec les candidats qui demandent accommodement raisonnable pendant le recrutement. Tous les renseignements communiqués pendant le processus de demande d'accommodement seront stockés et utilisés conformément aux lois et aux politiques applicables de Manuvie. Pour demander une mesure d’accommodement raisonnable dans le cadre du recrutement, écrivez à [e-mail].

Région de référence du salaire

Toronto, Ontario

Modalités de travail

Hybride

L’échelle salariale devrait se situer entre

$145,130.00 CAD - $195,130.00 CAD

Les employés ont également la possibilité de participer à des programmes incitatifs et de recevoir une rémunération liée à la performance de l’entreprise et des individus. Le salaire réel variera selon les conditions du marché local, la région géographique et les facteurs propres au poste, tels que les connaissances, les compétences, les qualifications, l’expérience et la formation. Si vous postulez à ce poste en dehors de votre lieu principal, veuillez contacter [e-mail] pour connaître la fourchette salariale applicable à votre région.

Manuvie offre aux employés admissibles une vaste gamme d’avantages sociaux personnalisables, notamment une assurance soins médicaux, soins dentaires, santé mentale, soins de la vue, invalidité de courte et de longue durée, assurance vie et assurance DMA, assurance adoption, de maternité de substitution et de soins médicaux non urgents ainsi que des programmes d’aide aux employés et leur famille. Nous proposons également aux employés admissibles différents régimes d’épargne-retraite (y compris des régimes de rente et un programme international d’actionnariat assortie de cotisations patronales de contrepartie) ainsi que des ressources en matière d’éducation et de conseils financiers. Notre généreux programme de congés rémunérés au Canada comprend les jours fériés, les congés annuels, les congés personnels et les congés de maladie, et nous offrons toute la gamme des congés autorisés prévus par la loi. Si vous posez votre candidature à ce poste aux États-Unis, veuillez écrire à [e-mail] pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements sur les dispositions relatives aux congés rémunérés spécifiques aux États-Unis.

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