Global People Services AVP — Pathways & Transformation

Manulife; Southwestern Ontario; Hybrid; CAD 130,000 - 241,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Mental health benefits

Paid time off & holidays

Pension/retirement plan

Employee stock plan

Job summary

Manulife is seeking an AVP, Global People Services (GPS) – Pathways to lead the global Pathways strategy, operating model, and service vision for colleague lifecycle events. The role oversees onboarding, job changes, transfers, leaves, and complex transitions with a focus on accuracy, compliance, and exceptional service.

You will drive digital, automation, and AI initiatives to simplify processes, scale delivery, and improve the colleague experience across a global matrix.

Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience in global HR operations, colleague lifecycle administration, shared services, service delivery, or HR transformation in a complex organization.
• Proven ability to set strategy, design operating models, standardize global processes, lead transformation, and deliver scalable outcomes.
• Strong knowledge of lifecycle events and their colleague data, payroll, benefits, technology, compliance, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Demonstrated discretion and judgment in executive, confidential, sensitive, and high-risk matters.
• Strong executive presence, stakeholder influence, communication, and decision-making in a global matrix.
• Experience using technology, automation, metrics, colleague insights, and controls to improve service while maintaining delivery stability and data integrity.

Responsibilities

• Set the global Pathways strategy, roadmap, operating model, service standards, and decision rights.
• Establish scalable enterprise approach for colleague lifecycle events while accommodating local legal, regulatory, and cultural requirements.
• Anticipate workforce needs and identify opportunities to improve service through digital capabilities and leading practices.
• Lead global delivery of high-volume, complex, and high-risk colleague transitions with accuracy, timeliness, care, and compliance.
• Set process standards and escalation models that enable consistent regional execution.
• Coordinate delivery across People & Comms, Payroll, Benefits, Mobility, Legal, Employee Relations, People Technology, People Partners, and business leaders.
• Manage service risks, capacity constraints, process gaps, and downstream impacts while building accountability and continuous improvement.
• Establish differentiated service and governance for executive, VIP, confidential, urgent, and business-critical cases.
• Oversee sensitive transitions and escalations requiring discretion, speed, accuracy, and senior judgment.
• Define clear criteria for high-touch handling, stakeholder visibility, and executive escalation.
• Make sound decisions in complex situations, balancing policy, colleague experience, risk, and business needs.
• Advise and influence senior stakeholders on pathway strategy, priorities, dependencies, risks, and actions.
• Resolve cross-functional ownership and accountability issues and represent GPS in senior enterprise forums.
• Build trusted relationships through transparency, judgment, and dependable delivery.
• Build a digital-first mindset that challenges the team to solve service needs with technology, automation, and AI before adding manual work or capacity.
• Simplify and standardize processes to reduce variation, handoffs, rework, escalations, and inconsistent colleague experiences.
• Accelerate adoption of digital tools, workflow automation, self-service, analytics, and AI capabilities to improve quality, speed, scale, and operational efficiency.
• Create scalable global playbooks, intake and routing models, controls, and quality standards designed for automated and digitally enabled delivery.
• Embed continuous improvement by using data, root-cause analysis, colleague feedback, and performance insights to identify, prioritize, and measure technology-enabled improvements.
• Lead transformation of lifecycle operations
• Build an integrated, digitally enabled global model that improves colleague experience, resilience, efficiency, and automation.
• Lead teams through transformation while maintaining delivery stability, stakeholder readiness, and adoption.
• Establish dashboards and performance routines that give senior leaders visibility into priorities, capacity, risks, and outcomes.
• Develop global talent and a culture of ownership, learning, and service excellence.

Skills

Global HR leadership

Strategy setting

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive presence

Discretion and judgment

Job description

Manulife is seeking an AVP, Global People Services (GPS) – Pathways to lead the global Pathways strategy, operating model, and service vision for colleague lifecycle events. The role oversees onboarding, job changes, transfers, leaves, and complex transitions with a focus on accuracy, compliance, and exceptional service.

You will drive digital, automation, and AI initiatives to simplify processes, scale delivery, and improve the colleague experience across a global matrix.