Director, GWAM Marketing Expenses

Manulife/John Hancock; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 125,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife/John Hancock in Toronto requires a Director-level finance leader to drive the expense FP&A agenda for the GWAM Marketing Segment. You will partner with Retail, Retirement, Institutional and Shared Services leaders to provide guidance on forecast, budgeting, and investment decisions, balancing growth and cost discipline.

You will lead teams, influence executives, and contribute to governance on significant investments and productivity initiatives within a complex financial services

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive finance experience with FP&A and business partnering.
• Experience supporting large business units or P&L within financial services.
• Ability to influence senior leaders through insights and advisory relationships.
• Experience leading forecasting, planning, expense management, and reporting.
• Experience managing and developing high-performing teams.
• Undergraduate degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or related field.
• CPA, CFA, MBA or equivalent professional designation preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end expense FP&A agenda for the Marketing Function in GWAM Segment, including forecasting, planning, risks and opportunities, management reporting, and executive presentations.
• Serve as the primary finance business partner to GWAM Business Unit leaders across Retail, Retirement, Institutional, and Shared Services.
• Provide proactive financial guidance, insights, and recommendations to support strategic, operational, and investment decisions.
• Improve forecast accuracy, transparency, and predictability through strong financial analysis, business engagement, and disciplined planning processes.
• Partner with Business Unit leadership teams to identify productivity opportunities, optimize expense performance, and support achievement of financial targets.

Skills

Finance leadership

FP&A

Business partnering

Forecasting

Expense management

Performance reporting

Executive stakeholder mgmt

Team leadership

Financial services

Strategic advisory

Education

Undergraduate degree in Finance

Professional designation preferred

Job description

The Director, Marketing Expenses - GWAM Segment

The Director, Marketing Expenses - GWAM Segment is a senior finance leader responsible for providing strategic financial leadership, advisory, and oversight across the GWAM Marketing Segment. This role leads the FP&A function supporting GWAM's major business units, acting as the primary finance business partner to GWAM Business Unit leadership teams. The role is focused on enabling superior financial performance, forecast predictability, expense discipline, and decision support while helping business leaders balance growth, productivity, investment priorities, and affordability objectives. The successful candidate will build strong partnerships across the GWAM Segment, leveraging data-driven insights to influence strategic decisions, optimize expenses, and support enterprise transformation initiatives.

Position Responsibilities:

Strategic FP&A Leadership & Business Partnership (≈50%) Lead the end-to-end expense FP&A agenda for the Marketing Function in GWAM Segment, including forecasting, planning, risks and opportunities, management reporting, and executive presentations. Serve as the primary finance business partner to GWAM Business Unit leaders across Retail, Retirement, Institutional, and Shared Services. Provide proactive financial guidance, insights, and recommendations to support strategic, operational, and investment decisions. Improve forecast accuracy, transparency, and predictability through strong financial analysis, business engagement, and disciplined planning processes. Partner with Business Unit leadership teams to identify productivity opportunities, optimize expense performance, and support achievement of financial targets. Support executive discussions related to growth initiatives, business cases, operating expense management, workforce planning, and investment prioritization. Collaborate closely with Group Finance, Global Functions Finance, and other partners to ensure alignment across planning and reporting activities.

Expense Management, Governance & Decision Support (≈25%) Provide financial oversight and challenge across Marketing Function in GWAM Segment operating expenses, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and affordability targets. Lead expense reviews, variance analysis, and root-cause assessments to identify emerging risks and opportunities. Support governance and approval processes for significant investments, productivity initiatives, organization changes, and business cases. Ensure expenditures are managed in accordance with enterprise financial policies, governance standards, and control requirements. Deliver timely and actionable insights to support business performance discussions and leadership decision-making.

Process Excellence, Automation & Transformation (≈15%) Advance the FP&A agenda through process simplification, automation, and enhanced analytics. Improve the efficiency, scalability, and effectiveness of planning, forecasting, and management reporting processes. Leverage data, tools, and self-service reporting capabilities to provide enhanced business insights and decision support. Support broader Finance Transformation initiatives and implement best practices to modernize FP&A capabilities.

Finance Leadership & Operating Model Excellence (≈10%) Contribute to the evolution of the Expense FP&A operating model, driving consistency, accountability, and execution excellence across the finance. Act as a trusted advisor to senior Finance leaders on expense management strategies, forecasting methodologies, and performance improvement opportunities. Foster collaboration across Segment Finance, Corporate Functions, and Enterprise FP&A teams to drive aligned outcomes and insights.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive Finance experience with deep expertise in FP&A, business partnering, and executive stakeholder management.
• Experience supporting large business units, segments, or P&L organizations within financial services or similarly complex environments.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and drive business decisions through financial insights and trusted advisory relationships.
• Demonstrated experience leading forecasting, planning, expense management, and performance reporting processes.
• Strong track record of driving process improvement, transformation, and operational excellence initiatives.
• Experience managing and developing high-performing teams.
• Undergraduate degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or a related field.
• CPA, CFA, MBA, or equivalent professional designation preferred.

Critical Capabilities:

• Strategic mindset with the ability to connect financial performance, business strategy, growth objectives, and expense management.
• Exceptional relationship-building and influencing skills, with the ability to partner effectively with senior executives and business leaders.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to translate complex financial data into actionable business insights.
• Excellent communication, executive presentation, and financial storytelling capabilities.
• Proven ability to balance long-term strategic priorities with short-term operational execution.
• High degree of judgment, accountability, and governance orientation.
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills with a passion for continuous improvement and modern FP&A practices.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple priorities and stakeholder requirements.

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 #LI-Hybrid

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 $125,100.00 CAD - $175,100.00 CAD

Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [e-mail] for the salary range for your location.

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.

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Mission & Vision

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