Director, Engineering - Operations Automation

Manulife Financial; Toronto; On-site; CAD 113,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Retirement savings plan

Vision

Disability insurance

Life and AD&D insurance

Retirement savings plans

Pension with employer matching

Holidays

Vacation

Sick days

Paid time off provisions

Job summary

Manulife Financial Corporation seeks a Director of Engineering, Operations AI Automation to lead AI-powered automation across Wealth and Asset Management Technology. You will drive scalable, secure, compliant AI solutions through collaboration with technology, product, data science, and business teams.

The role emphasizes strategic delivery, executive-level reporting, and continuous improvement within a hybrid-work environment in Toronto.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of technology leadership experience in enterprise delivery.
• 3+ years delivering AI, ML, or intelligent automation solutions.
• Strong understanding of financial services operations, risk, and governance.
• Hands-on software engineering background guiding architecture and decisions.
• Experience with cloud architecture and modern software engineering practices.
• Proven ability to deliver enterprise-scale AI and automation platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of engineers for AI and automation solutions.
• Partner with business, product, data science, and tech stakeholders to identify automation opportunities.
• Drive delivery from concept to production with scalability and security.
• Develop roadmaps, sprint plans, staffing, and support models (L1–L3).
• Ensure security, privacy, observability, governance, and auditability of solutions.
• Champion Agile, DevOps, and continuous improvement practices.
• Provide executive visibility into delivery progress and outcomes.
• Stay abreast of AI/automation trends and innovations.

Skills

Leadership

AI/Automation delivery

Cloud architecture

Stakeholder management

Regulatory compliance

Software engineering

Executive communication

Vendor relations

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Science or Engineering

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Azure

Kubernetes

Power Platform

LLMs

NoSQL

LLMs

Job description

Director of Engineering, Operations AI Automation

About the Role

We are seeking a visionary, results-driven Director of Engineering, Operations AI Automation to lead the design, delivery, and scaling of transformative AI-powered solutions within Wealth and Asset Management Technology.

In this strategic leadership role, you will drive high-impact automation initiatives that improve operational efficiency, accelerate time-to-market, enhance customer experiences, and deliver measurable business value. Working across technology, product, data science, and business teams, you will lead the end-to-end execution of AI solutions that are scalable, secure, compliant, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of AI-enabled operations within a leading global financial services organization.

What You'll Do

• Lead and develop a team of engineers responsible for building and delivering AI and intelligent automation solutions across multiple business areas.
• Partner with business leaders, product teams, data scientists, and technology stakeholders to identify and deliver strategic automation opportunities.
• Drive solution delivery from concept through production, ensuring scalability, performance, maintainability, and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and manage delivery roadmaps, sprint plans, staffing strategies, and operational support models (L1, L2, and L3).
• Ensure solutions meet financial services requirements for security, privacy, observability, governance, and auditability.
• Champion Agile delivery, DevOps practices, and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Provide executive-level visibility into delivery progress, risks, business outcomes, and investment value.
• Stay current on emerging AI, automation, and financial technology trends, bringing innovative ideas to the organization.

What You’ll Bring

• 10+ years of technology leadership experience, including leading complex enterprise delivery initiatives.
• 3+ years of experience delivering AI, machine learning, or intelligent automation solutions.
• Strong understanding of financial services operations, regulatory requirements, risk management, and governance.
• Hands-on software engineering background with the ability to guide architecture and technical decision-making.
• Proven success delivering enterprise-scale AI and automation platforms leveraging technologies such as LLMs, Azure, Power Platform, Decisions.com, Kubernetes, NoSQL databases, Application Gateways, and related technologies.
• Experience with cloud architecture, enterprise integration, and modern software engineering practices.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills, including experience influencing executive audiences.
• Success leading cross-functional, matrixed teams and managing strategic vendor relationships.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.

Why Join Us

• Lead AI transformation initiatives that are reshaping operations across a global financial services organization.
• Drive strategic programs that create meaningful business impact through innovation and automation.
• Collaborate with talented technology, product, and business leaders in a highly collaborative environment.
• Build and scale modern AI capabilities that improve experiences for customers, advisors, and employees.
• Make a lasting impact while working on some of the organization’s most exciting and innovative technology initiatives.

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

Toronto, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$113,260.00 CAD - $210,340.00 CAD

• health
• dental
• mental health
• vision
• short- and long-term disability
• life and AD&D insurance coverage
• adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits
• employee/family assistance plans
• retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions)
• financial education and counseling resources
• holidays
• vacation
• personal
• sick days
• statutory leaves of absence
• U.S.-specific paid time off provisions

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.