Director, Talent Development (GRO) and Human Performance Enablement

Manulife John Hancock; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife John Hancock in Toronto seeks a seasoned leader to drive GRO Program & Human Performance Enablement. You will steer strategy, operating model, governance and delivery across global regions, ensuring reliable execution while modernizing the platform for the future.

You’ll lead GRO Program Managers, translate enterprise direction into actionable roadmaps, and partner with HR, Finance and Technology to align demand with sponsorship and delivery.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in talent management, HR programs, HR technology or early talent program management.
• 3+ years leading teams in relevant roles.
• Experience managing enterprise talent programs or HR technology platforms from launch through adoption, ideally skills, career or talent marketplace solutions (e.g., Workday, TechWolf or similar).
• Experience running large-scale early talent, graduate or rotational programs, including onboarding, orientation, rotations and program operations.
• Strong program and project management capabilities, including roadmaps, vendor management, budgets and cross-functional delivery.
• Working knowledge of job, skills and career architecture and how they connect to performance and talent decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to build, lead and coach high-performing teams of program managers.
• Data-driven mindset with ability to leverage analytics for decisions.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Own GRO global operating rhythm and ensure decisions, commitments, risks and dependencies are translated into disciplined execution.
• Lead GRO Program Managers and associated resources, setting clear priorities and capacity across global and regional commitments.
• Translate enterprise direction into a GRO portfolio roadmap and lead implementation of expansion across businesses, capabilities and regions.
• Build partnerships with business leaders, HR Partners, Talent COE, Finance, Technology and regional stakeholders to align demand and enable delivery.
• Maintain a defined portion of team capacity for priority Human Performance initiatives and oversee discovery, design, testing, pilots, and adoption.
• Use data and stakeholder feedback to identify improvements and report progress to leadership and governance forums.

Skills

Talent management

HR programs

HR technology

Early talent programs

Program leadership

Tools

Workday

TechWolf

Job description

GRO is a global workforce capability program that builds critical skills and accelerates early-career talent through structured development experiences. As Director, GRO Program & Human Performance Enablement, you will be accountable for the strategy execution, global operating model and performance of GRO across businesses and regions.

The majority of the role is focused on GRO leadership and delivery. A critical secondary component supports selected Human Performance priorities, applying the team's program, experimentation and change capabilities to help move new talent products and practices from concept to pilot and adoption. This is a role for a leader who can protect reliable program delivery while modernizing the platform for the future.

Report directly to the Leader of Human Performance Design & Architecture and serve as the accountable global leader for GRO strategy execution, operating model, governance, delivery and continuous improvement.

Translate enterprise direction into an integrated GRO plan, making recommendations on program design, global standards, investment, expansion, delivery capacity and measurable outcomes.

Lead GRO Program Managers and associated resources, establishing clear accountabilities across enterprise, regional and business delivery.

Own the global GRO operating rhythm and ensure decisions, commitments, risks and dependencies are translated into disciplined execution.

Contribute to a defined portfolio of Human Performance work, agreed with the leader and balanced against core GRO commitments.

Use GRO as a proving ground for selected skills-based, AI-enabled and human-performance practices where there is a clear benefit to participants and the enterprise.

How you’ll make an impact

• Be accountable for the end-to-end global operation of GRO, including annual planning, cohort and rotation design, onboarding and orientation, development programming, manager and participant engagement, talent reviews, conversion support, offboarding and alumni connection.
• Lead, coach and develop the GRO Program Managers and associated program resources. Set clear priorities, allocate capacity across global and regional commitments, strengthen program management capability and create an environment where the team can test, learn and improve while maintaining reliable delivery.
• Establish the common standards, playbooks and controls required for a consistent experience while enabling appropriate regional and business flexibility.
• Convert enterprise direction into a practical GRO portfolio roadmap. Assess business demand, workforce priorities, program readiness and delivery capacity; recommend where and how GRO should evolve; and lead the implementation of approved expansion across businesses, capabilities and regions.
• Run the global governance and operating rhythm for GRO, including portfolio reviews, risks, issues, dependencies, investment needs and decisions.
• Build strong partnerships with business leaders, HR Partners, Talent COE teams, Finance, Technology and regional stakeholders to align demand, secure sponsorship and enable delivery.
• Maintain a defined portion of team capacity that can deploy to priority Human Performance initiatives. Provide disciplined program leadership for discovery, design, testing, pilots, implementation and adoption, drawing on GRO as a practical environment to test and scale new approaches where appropriate.
• Use data and stakeholder feedback to identify improvements, inform recommendations and report progress and outcomes to the leadership team and governance forums.
• Lead coordinated change and communication across the GRO ecosystem so participants, managers, business sponsors and delivery partners understand the program, their accountabilities and what is changing. Ensure enterprise decisions are reflected consistently in local execution and stakeholder experience.

What you’ll bring to the team

• 10+ years of experience in talent management, HR programs, HR technology or early talent program management, including 3+ years leading teams.
• Proven experience managing enterprise talent programs or HR technology platforms from launch through adoption, ideally skills, career or talent marketplace solutions (e.g., Workday, TechWolf or similar).
• Experience running large-scale early talent, graduate or rotational programs, including onboarding, orientation, rotations and program operations.
• Strong program and project management capabilities, including roadmaps, vendor management, budgets and cross-functional delivery.
• Working knowledge of job, skills and career architecture and how they connect to performance and talent decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to build, lead and coach high-performing teams of program managers.
• Data-driven mindset, with experience…Desired…he……??
• Strong communication, presentation