Head of Technology, Manulife Bank

Company 58 - Manulife Bank of Canada; Toronto; On-site; CAD 171,000 - 318,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a visionary leader for the role of VP, Technology. This pivotal position involves driving technology strategies to enhance customer experiences while ensuring compliance with industry regulations. The successful candidate will lead a high-performance team, managing key technology initiatives and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. If you have a strong background in digital banking and a passion for transformative change, this role offers an exciting opportunity to shape the future of banking technology.

Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Mental Health Support

Vision Insurance

Retirement Savings Plans

Paid Time Off

Employee Assistance Programs

Wellness Benefits

Qualifications

• 10+ years of leadership experience in technology strategy execution.
• Experience in leading high-performing teams in Digital Banking.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of large-scale technology solutions.
• Manage delivery of self-serve technology solutions ensuring compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Technology Strategy

Agile Development

Portfolio Management

Digital Banking

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Technology or Related Field

Master's Degree (Preferred)

Tools

Cloud Technologies

API Management

Data Strategy Tools

Job description

Join the leadership team of Manulife Bank as we make Canadians lives better by saving them money and time with their banking. We are seeking a dynamic and experienced leader to join our team as the VP, Technology, Manulife Bank.

Reporting to the CIO / COO, Canada Segment, and partnering closely with the CEO, Manulife Bank, this strategic leadership role will be responsible for driving the development and execution of technology strategies and roadmaps to support the overall business strategy and ambition to become a digital customer leader. The successful candidate will lead a high-caliber technology team, drive technology thought leadership, and manage financial resources to achieve our strategic goals. The successful candidate will establish an appropriate organization in support of agile development / delivery for all Manulife Bank initiatives ensuring compliance with required OFSI regulations and will provide ongoing “thought leadership” with technology solutions to enhance the customer experience.

We are seeking a leader who demonstrates a focus on exceptional change and measurable results. A collaborative, transparent leader who can communicate a vision and engage individuals to work towards objectives. This role requires a highly visible leader who can collaborate across the company, leveraging relationships and expertise to build trust, credibility and successful partnerships. The position is accountable for the management of key technologies that includes the following as scope :

• Full Product Development Lifecycle
• New Business Modernization Projects
• Bank core systems and surrounding capabilities
• Lead architecture, API and data strategy

Key Accountabilities

Strategic Technology Development

• Lead the development, testing, implementation and delivery of large-scale technology solutions that deliver value to customers and execute against the technology strategy to drive the Manulife Bank business goals – both strategic and operational with a key accountability to be able to balance a relentless commitment to strategic thinking with a relentless commitment to implementing to drive the technology strategy related to the Bank Strategy. Focus is on Business Leading Technology (e.g., cloud), as the theme to continuous development of strategic technology thinking.
• Alignment of Manulife Bank technology strategies with the fast-paced changes in our competitive industry segments.
• Timely and efficient deployment of business applications, adhering to Global Strategy standards and Business Unit specific technology Key Performance & Key Risk Indicators as well as Outcomes and Key Results (OKRs)
• Manage the delivery of self-serve technology solutions to ensure they are safe, sound and secure mitigating technical debt and lowering organizational risk
• Accountable for delivering all IT aspects of Bank Projects. Works with direct reports and partners to address emerging issues and delivery projects on time, on budget, and within scope.
• Act as a technology thought leader to the business to increase their understanding of emerging and available technologies to drive the business strategies efficiently and with a customer centric lens.
• As a catalyst for change, maintain relationships throughout Manulife to identify technical practices that can be adapted to the advantage of Manulife Bank Technology.
• Effective stakeholder management, including collaborating with internal and external Manulife Bank partners to drive and deliver enterprise grade solutions quickly and efficiently.

Operations and Compliance

• Oversee all aspects of technology for the Manulife Bank.
• Responsible for the delivery of a stable processing platform, which meets the required service levels of the business. This includes modernization of platforms as required.
• Ensure various components and applications of the platform are compliant within the regulatory framework for each of the applicable business functions.
• Partner closely with key risk stakeholders within the bank to ensure solutions meet industry risk practices (OSFI B-10 and Operational guidelines).
• Adhere to Global Standards, Compliance and Information Risk Management technology requirements.
• Establish operating and investment budgets that are consistent with short and long-term Manulife Bank financial goals. Deliver on Technology specific financial and Strategic Cost Management (SCM) targets.
• Drive an impactful culture that focuses on profitable growth while caring about the customer and each other.
• Inspire, coach, guide and actively engage employees, resulting in top quartile engagement scores.
• Manage performance, provide formal and informal feedback and coaching. Establish accountabilities and performance standards.
• Build talent capability and engage employees through focused career discussions and professional development opportunities.
• Demonstrate inclusive behaviors and provide opportunities to collaborate across teams.
• Foster an environment where employees share insights and generate ideas, to become more innovative and create new value for the customer in everything they do.

What we are looking for

• Minimum of 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in technology strategy execution for large scale organizations
• Previous experience leading high performing Product, UX, UI teams within Digital Banking with prior success building roadmaps to optimize digital customer experience.
• Demonstrated success in leading transformational changes within an engineering culture; an ability to navigate a complex, highly regulated, marketing focused, growth business.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement a technology strategy and tactics to drive business goals, in collaboration with external and internal partners.
• Ability to go into the weeds and whiteboard, plus an executive presence for high-level leadership conversations and presentations.
• Demonstrated success at senior cross-functional project delivery involving multiple technical teams, stakeholders, and business functions, including Risk.
• Strong Portfolio Management Skills, including the ability to manage multiple complex projects at the same time and under tight deadlines, operating in a cross-functional environment.
• Experience and understanding of OFSI and Bank Act. Experience in a federal regulatory environment an asset, and appreciation for evolving dynamics and trends related to a regulatory environment.
• Exposure and experience in such areas as agile, digital, emerging technologies, Bank Fintech, and Legacy (e.g., mainframe systems). Solid experience partnering with fintech and the nuances of these partnerships.

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Asia, Canada, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. At the end of 2022, we had $1.3 trillion (US$1.0 trillion) in assets under management and administration, including total invested assets of $0.4 trillion (US $0.3 trillion), and segregated funds net assets of $0.3 trillion (US$0.3 trillion). We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Salary & Benefits

The annual base salary for this role is listed below.

Primary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

171,200.00 CAD - $317,700.00 CAD

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact for the salary range for your location. 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. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

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 for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.