Director, Enabling Functions - Planning & Performance

Wawanesa; Canada; Hybrid; CAD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

Generous vacation time

Personal days

Premium free benefits

Pension plan

Job summary

The Director, Enabling Functions at The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company coordinates and optimizes corporate and shared services that support Wawanesa’s business operations. Acting as a key liaison between business leaders and enterprise service partners, the role aligns priorities, resolves complex service issues, and drives consistent, effective operational support.

As a trusted advisor to the Senior Leadership Team, the Director translates strategic priorities into coordinated action,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Law, Business, Commerce, Finance, public Administration, or related field; an MBA or other advanced business education is an asset.
• 8–10 years of progressive leadership in business operations, corporate services, strategic planning, consulting, administration, program management, or related discipline.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives in a matrixed organization through influence.
• Strong understanding of governance, service delivery, budgeting, risk management, and operational planning.
• Excellent business acumen, judgement, relationship management, facilitation, negotiation, communication, and executive writing skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities with discretion and integrity.
• Experience supporting senior executives; travel or after-hours work may be required.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate between business leaders and enterprise partners across Compliance, Corporate Strategy, HR, IT, Legal, Risk and Regulatory, and Special Projects.
• Build strong working relationships to enable collaboration, service excellence, and timely issue resolution.
• Represent business requirements in enterprise planning and ensure operational needs are reflected in service priorities.
• Monitor service performance, coordinate escalation of complex issues, and identify opportunities to improve quality and efficiency.
• Develop and maintain service governance, operating practices, and reporting mechanisms.
• Support budgeting, forecasting, resource allocation and execution.
• Align priorities across functions and provide senior leadership with timely updates on progress and risks.
• Lead or coordinate cross-functional initiatives and special projects affecting operations.
• Prepare executive presentations, reports, and business cases; track decisions and actions.

Job description

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Director, Enabling Functions - Planning & Performance

Location: North York - Toronto, ON (Hybr, CA

Job ID:10308

Employment Type: New Role

Work Environment: We offer a hybrid work environment that offers flexibility to our employees in balancing in-office (2 days per week OR 15 hours per week in a Wawanesa office) and remote work. You may work from any of the following locations: Toronto (North York), ON

Working Business Language : English

Salary: At Wawanesa, salary is only one component of a holistic, comprehensive and competitive offering that we provide to our employees. In addition to salary, full-time and part-time permanent employees are eligible for an annual bonus plan, leave of absence top-up programs and provided with generous vacation time, personal days, premium free benefits and pension plan.

The salary offered for this role is determined with consideration to various factors, including but not limited to: your work location, local labour market conditions, external market salary data, internal pay equity and the knowledge, skills, experience and anticipated proficiency in the role. The salary offered is estimated to be within the following range: $140,000- $190,000. Candidates with salary expectations outside of the range are still encouraged to apply.

About The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company
Founded in 1896, The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company is one of Canada’s largest mutual insurers, 100% owned by its members, with more than $4.1 billion in annual revenue and $12.5 billion in assets. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Wawanesa is the parent company of Wawanesa Life, which provides life insurance solutions throughout Canada, and Western Financial Group, a leading national distributor of personal and business insurance. In March of 2026, Wawanesa entered into an agreement to acquire Everest Insurance Company of Canada to strengthen its commercial insurance capabilities and advance its long-term growth strategy.

Wawanesa proudly serves more than 1.8 million members and we are home to more than 3,000 employees across Canada. The company actively gives back to organizations that strengthen communities, donating more than $4 million annually to charitable organizations, including more than $2 million each year in support of people on the front lines of climate change. Learn more at wawanesa.com.

We are currently looking for dedicated, driven, and enthusiastic individuals who thrive in an environment that welcomes change and are looking for an opportunity for diverse experience and advancement on a growing team.

Job Overview

The Director, Enabling Functions coordinates and optimizes corporate and shared services that support Wawanesa’s business operations. Acting as a key liaison between business leaders and enterprise service partners, the role aligns priorities, resolves complex service issues, and drives consistent, effective operational support.
As a trusted advisor to the Senior Leadership Team, the Director translates strategic priorities into coordinated action, integrates operational and service performance insights, and supports informed decision-making, governance, organizational effectiveness, and continuous improvement. The role balances strategic planning and relationship management with hands-on execution.

Job Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of coordination between business leaders and enterprise partners across Compliance, Corporate Strategy and the Enterprise Project Management Office, Human Resources and Internal Communications, Technology, Legal, Risk and Regulatory, and Special Projects.
• Build strong working relationships across Wawanesa to enable collaboration, service excellence, and timely issue resolution.
• Represent business requirements in enterprise planning and ensure operational needs are reflected in service priorities and decisions.
• Monitor service performance, coordinate escalation and resolution of complex issues, and identify opportunities to improve quality, responsiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness.
• Develop and maintain service governance, operating practices, service expectations, and reporting mechanisms.
• Support strategic and operational planning, budgeting, forecasting, resource allocation, and execution.
• Align business priorities, enterprise initiatives, resources, timelines, and dependencies across functions.
• Monitor objectives and provide senior leadership with timely updates on progress, performance, risks, issues, and required decisions.
• Lead or coordinate cross-functional initiatives and special projects affecting Wawanesa’s operations.
• Provide objective analysis, operational insight, options, and recommendations to support executive decisions.
• Coordinate leadership meetings, planning sessions, governance forums, operational reviews, and follow-up activities.
• Prepare executive presentations, reports, briefing notes, correspondence, business cases, and Board or committee materials.
• Track decisions, commitments, and action items, reinforce accountability, and support timely execution.
• Integrate operational and support-function reporting to provide a clear view of organizational and service performance.
• Develop dashboards, measures, and performance indicators for service delivery, operational effectiveness, and strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Law, Business, Commerce, Finance, public Administration, or related field; an MBA or other advanced business education is an asset.
• Eight to ten years of progressive leadership experience in business operations, corporate services, strategic planning, consulting, administration, program management, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated success in a complex, matrixed organization and in leading cross-functional initiatives through influence.
• Strong understanding of corporate functions, service delivery, governance, risk management, budgeting, and operational planning.
• Excellent business acumen, judgement, relationship management, facilitation, negotiation, communication, and executive writing skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability, with a proven capacity to synthesize complex information and turn it into clear action.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, sensitive information, and time-critical deliverables with discretion, integrity, and attention to detail.
• Experience supporting senior executives and governance processes is an asset; flexibility to travel or work outside regular hours is required.

Diversity Equity, Inclusion& Belonging
At Wawanesa, we are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and believe that our strength lies in the diversity of our people – this is supported by having a representative workforce.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, including racialized persons, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, gender-diverse and neurodiverse individuals, and anyone who can contribute to the further diversification of thought and ideas.

We aim to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all candidates. If you require accommodations during any stage of the recruitment process, please reach out in confidence to [e-mail] .

Please note that the recruitment process this position may involve the use of AI tools to screen, assess, or select applicants. All final decisions are taken or reviewed by human recruiters and human hiring leaders in compliance with all applicable legislation.