Director, Risk Oversight - Group Benefits

Manulife; Southwestern Ontario; Hybrid; CAD 125,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental benefits

Long-term disability

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Job summary

Manulife is seeking a Director, Group Benefits Risk Oversight, to provide independent second-line risk oversight across Group Benefits and challenge the business on risk. You will collaborate with leaders across Disability, Health & Dental, Underwriting, Plan Administration, and Product to identify themes and systemic risks.

Lead oversight of risk assessments, issue management, third-party risk, operational resilience, and regulatory requirements while informing senior leaders.

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of relevant experience in Group Benefits.
• Relevant experience in insurance operations, risk management, audit, compliance, or a related discipline.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Risk Management, Accounting, or a related discipline.
• Strong knowledge of the Group Benefits business and operating environment, with experience in areas such as Disability, Health & Dental, Underwriting, Plan Administration, Product, or Operations.
• Ability to understand complex end-to-end business processes and identify how risks and issues in one area can have broader implications across Group Benefits.
• Strong understanding of operational risk, controls, governance, and issue management, with the ability to apply risk principles pragmatically within a complex business.
• Demonstrated ability to provide credible, constructive challenge and influence senior business and operational leaders.
• Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, including the ability to identify patterns, root causes, interconnected risks, and emerging themes from complex information.
• Ability to translate risk information into clear business implications and actionable insights for senior leadership.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing materials and recommendations for senior management and governance committees.

Responsibilities

• Provide independent second-line risk oversight and effective challenge across the Group Benefits business, leveraging a strong understanding of its products, operations, strategic priorities, customer commitments, and risk profile.
• Establish strong relationships with leaders and subject matter experts across all business functions.
• Identify and assess risks arising from Group Benefits operations and business practices, such as claims management, underwriting, plan setup and administration, customer and plan sponsor servicing, and third parties.
• Look across individual issues and business areas to identify systemic risks, recurring themes, common root causes, and opportunities to strengthen the overall Group Benefits control environment.
• Assess how strategic initiatives, business transformation, technology implementations, process changes, new products, and operating model decisions could change the Group Benefits risk profile.
• Provide oversight and challenge of Group Benefits risk and control self assessments, issue and corrective action management, change risk assessments, third-party risk assessments, operational resilience, and critical operations.
• Review and challenge the adequacy of controls and mitigation strategies, with particular focus on whether they address the underlying drivers of risk and produce sustainable business outcomes.
• Monitor emerging risks and trends that could affect Group Benefits, including changes in customer expectations, workforce and capability, technology and automation, fraud, regulatory expectations, third-party dependencies, and the broader benefits and insurance environment.
• Connect risk information across Group Benefits to provide senior leaders with a forward-looking view of concentrations, trends, vulnerabilities, and emerging concerns, rather than assessing issues solely in isolation.
• Provide clear and practical risk insights to Group Benefits senior leaders and governance committees, helping management understand both individual risks and their potential broader business implications.
• Partner constructively with first-line stakeholders to strengthen risk management practices while maintaining appropriate second-line independence and effective challenge.
• Support regulatory reviews, audits, investigations, and other governance activities affecting Group Benefits.
• Bring insights from Group Benefits into the broader Canada Segment Risk organization and contribute to the continued evolution of risk frameworks, methodologies, and reporting.

Skills

Risk oversight

Group Benefits

Stakeholder management

Regulatory knowledge

Risk governance

Operational resilience

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Archer

Job description

The Director, Group Benefits Risk Oversight, is responsible for providing independent second-line risk oversight and effective challenge to the Group Benefits business, with a strong focus on understanding the business, its operations, and the risks that could affect customers, plan sponsors, financial performance, regulatory obligations, and strategic objectives.

Reporting to Canada Segment Risk, you will work closely with leaders and teams across Group Benefits, such as Disability, Health and Dental, Underwriting, Plan Administration, Product, Distribution, and Transformation. The role requires someone who can look across these areas, identify themes and interconnected risks, and provide a broader risk perspective on how business decisions, operational challenges, and change initiatives could affect Group Benefits.

The successful candidate will combine strong knowledge of the Group Benefits business with risk management expertise, providing oversight across risk and control self assessments, issue management, change, third-party risk, operational resilience, and emerging risks.

Position Responsibilities

• Provide independent second-line risk oversight and effective challenge across the Group Benefits business, leveraging a strong understanding of its products, operations, strategic priorities, customer commitments, and risk profile.
• Establish strong relationships with leaders and subject matter experts across all business functions.
• Identify and assess risks arising from Group Benefits operations and business practices, such as claims management, underwriting, plan setup and administration, customer and plan sponsor servicing, and third parties.
• Look across individual issues and business areas to identify systemic risks, recurring themes, common root causes, and opportunities to strengthen the overall Group Benefits control environment.
• Assess how strategic initiatives, business transformation, technology implementations, process changes, new products, and operating model decisions could change the Group Benefits risk profile.
• Provide oversight and challenge of Group Benefits risk and control self assessments, issue and corrective action management, change risk assessments, third-party risk assessments, operational resilience, and critical operations.
• Review and challenge the adequacy of controls and mitigation strategies, with particular focus on whether they address the underlying drivers of risk and produce sustainable business outcomes.
• Monitor emerging risks and trends that could affect Group Benefits, including changes in customer expectations, workforce and capability, technology and automation, fraud, regulatory expectations, third-party dependencies, and the broader benefits and insurance environment.
• Connect risk information across Group Benefits to provide senior leaders with a forward-looking view of concentrations, trends, vulnerabilities, and emerging concerns, rather than assessing issues solely in isolation.
• Provide clear and practical risk insights to Group Benefits senior leaders and governance committees, helping management understand both individual risks and their potential broader business implications.
• Partner constructively with first-line stakeholders to strengthen risk management practices while maintaining appropriate second-line independence and effective challenge.
• Support regulatory reviews, audits, investigations, and other governance activities affecting Group Benefits.
• Bring insights from Group Benefits into the broader Canada Segment Risk organization and contribute to the continued evolution of risk frameworks, methodologies, and reporting.

Required Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of relevant experience in Group Benefits.
• Relevant experience in insurance operations, risk management, audit, compliance, or a related discipline.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Risk Management, Accounting, or a related discipline.
• Strong knowledge of the Group Benefits business and operating environment, with experience in areas such as Disability, Health & Dental, Underwriting, Plan Administration, Product, or Operations.
• Ability to understand complex end-to-end business processes and identify how risks and issues in one area can have broader implications across Group Benefits.
• Strong understanding of operational risk, controls, governance, and issue management, with the ability to apply risk principles pragmatically within a complex business.
• Demonstrated ability to provide credible, constructive challenge and influence senior business and operational leaders.
• Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, including the ability to identify patterns, root causes, interconnected risks, and emerging themes from complex information.
• Ability to translate risk information into clear business implications and actionable insights for senior leadership.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing materials and recommendations for senior management and governance committees.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience within Group Benefits.
• Experience supporting or overseeing complex insurance operations with significant customer, financial, regulatory, and operational risk.
• Experience with major business transformations, technology implementations, operating model changes, or strategic initiatives within insurance or financial services.
• Experience identifying systemic issues or risk themes across multiple business processes or functions.
• Professional designation such as CPA, CIA, CRMA, CRM, or an equivalent risk, audit, or insurance designation.
• Experience within a federally regulated Canadian financial institution.
• Familiarity with GRC platforms such as Archer.
• Knowledge of regulatory expectations relating to operational risk, third-party risk, operational resilience, and risk governance.
• 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.

#LI-Hybrid

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

Acerca de Manulife y John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation es un importante proveedor internacional de servicios financieros que ayuda a las personas a tomar decisiones de una manera más fácil y a vivir mejor. Para obtener más información acerca de nosotros, visite http://www.manulife.com .

Manulife es un empleador que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades

En Manulife/John Hancock, valoramos nuestra diversidad. Nos esforzamos por atraer, formar y retener una fuerza laboral tan diversa como los clientes a los que prestamos servicios, y para fomentar un entorno laboral inclusivo en el que se aprovechen las fortalezas de las culturas y las personas. Estamos comprometidos con la equidad en las contrataciones, la retención de talento, el ascenso y la remuneración, y administramos todas nuestras prácticas y programas sin discriminación por motivos de raza, ascendencia, lugar de origen, color, origen étnico, ciudadanía, religión o creencias religiosas, credo, sexo (incluyendo el embarazo y las afecciones relacionadas con este), orientación sexual, características genéticas, condición de veterano, identidad de género, expresión de género, edad, estado civil, estatus familiar, discapacidad, o cualquier otro aspecto protegido por la ley vigente.

Nuestra prioridad es eliminar las barreras para garantizar la igualdad de acceso al empleo. Un representante de Recursos Humanos trabajará con los solicitantes que requieran una adaptación razonable durante el proceso de solicitud. Toda la información que se haya compartido durante el proceso de solicitud de adaptación se almacenará y utilizará de manera congruente con las leyes y las políticas de Manulife/John Hancock correspondientes. Para solicitar una adaptación razonable en el proceso de solicitud, envíenos un mensaje a [e-mail] .

Referenced Salary Location

Toronto, Ontario

Modalidades de Trabajo

Híbrido

Salary range is expected to be between

$125,100.00 CAD - $175,100.00 CAD

Los empleados también tienen la oportunidad de participar en programas de incentivos y recibir una compensación vinculada al rendimiento empresarial e individual. El salario real variará según las condiciones del mercado local, la geografía y factores relacionados con el puesto como conocimientos, habilidades, requerimientos, experiencia y educación/formación. Si solicitas este puesto fuera de tu ubicación principal, por favor escríbenos a [e-mail] para conocer el rango salarial correspondiente a tu ubicación.

Manulife ofrece a los empleados aptos una amplia variedad de beneficios personalizables, entre ellos, beneficios de salud, odontológicos, de salud mental, oftalmológicos, por discapacidad a corto y a largo plazo, cobertura de seguro de vida y por muerte accidental y desmembramiento, adopción/subrogación y bienestar, y planes de asistencia al empleado/familiar. También ofrecemos a los empleados admisibles varios planes de ahorro para la jubilación (incluidos planes de pensiones y un plan mundial de propiedad de acciones con contribuciones equivalentes del empleador) y recursos de asesoramiento y educación financiera. Nuestro generoso programa de tiempo libre remunerado en Canadá incluye feriados, vacaciones, días personales y días por enfermedad, y ofrecemos la gama completa de ausencia laboral reglamentaria. Si se está postulando para este puesto en los EE. UU., póngase en contacto con [e-mail] para obtener más información sobre las disposiciones relativas al tiempo libre remunerado específicas de EE. UU.

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