Manager / Senior Manager, AI Model Risk Governance, Standards & Enablement

manulife; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife is seeking an experienced Manager/Senior Manager to lead the AI Model Risk Governance, Frameworks & Standards and advance the enterprise AI risk program.

The role requires translating regulatory expectations into scalable governance, developing playbooks, and coordinating across business, technology, data science, legal, and compliance teams to enable responsible AI adoption.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant experience for Manager-level candidates.
• 10+ years for Senior Manager-level candidates.
• Experience in AI Governance, Model Risk Management, Data Science, Machine Learning, Technology Risk, Policy Development, Model Validation, or related disciplines.
• Experience developing policies, standards, governance frameworks, procedures, methodologies, or enterprise risk programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development, maintenance, and enhancement of AI Model Risk Management policies, standards, procedures, methodologies, and governance guidance.
• Translate evolving regulatory requirements, industry developments, and emerging AI risks into practical, risk-based governance requirements.
• Develop and maintain Line 2 oversight methodologies, challenge frameworks, assessment tools, templates, and governance playbooks.
• Establish governance requirements and risk management expectations for ML, Generative AI, foundation models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and Agentic AI solutions.
• Provide authoritative interpretation of AI model risk policies, standards, and governance requirements across the enterprise.
• Design and deliver AI model risk training, awareness programs, job aids, and stakeholder education materials.

Skills

AI governance

Policy development

Stakeholder management

Training & communications

Risk management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Python

SQL

R

Job description

Manulife is seeking an experienced Manager / Senior Manager, AI Model Risk Governance, Frameworks & Standards to lead the development and evolution of the enterprise AI Model Risk Management framework from an independent second-line perspective. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape how AI, Generative AI, and Agentic AI are governed across the organization by translating emerging risks, regulatory expectations, and industry practices into practical and scalable requirements. The successful candidate will combine strong AI and data science knowledge with exceptional policy development, stakeholder engagement, training, and communication skills to drive consistent and effective AI risk management. This role will play a key part in enabling the responsible adoption of AI while strengthening governance maturity across the enterprise.

Position Responsibilities

• Lead the development, maintenance, and enhancement of AI Model Risk Management policies, standards, procedures, methodologies, and governance guidance.
• Translate evolving regulatory requirements, industry developments, and emerging AI risks into practical, risk-based governance requirements.
• Develop and maintain Line 2 oversight methodologies, challenge frameworks, assessment tools, templates, and governance playbooks.
• Establish governance requirements and risk management expectations for machine learning, Generative AI, foundation models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and Agentic AI solutions.
• Provide authoritative interpretation of AI model risk policies, standards, and governance requirements across the enterprise.
• Design and deliver AI model risk training, awareness programs, job aids, and stakeholder education materials.
• Develop executive presentations, governance committee materials, briefing notes, and communications for senior leadership.
• Partner with business, technology, data science, legal, compliance, privacy, cybersecurity, validation, and risk teams to support consistent adoption of AI governance requirements.
• Support targeted oversight reviews, thematic assessments, and challenge activities requiring policy interpretation or technical expertise.
• Monitor emerging AI technologies, regulatory developments, and industry best practices to continuously enhance the framework.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant experience for Manager-level candidates or 10+ years for Senior Manager-level candidates.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Risk Management, Business, or a related discipline.
• Experience in AI Governance, Model Risk Management, Data Science, Machine Learning, Technology Risk, Policy Development, Model Validation, or related disciplines.
• Experience developing policies, standards, governance frameworks, procedures, methodologies, or enterprise risk programs.
• Experience working with AI and machine learning solutions within financial services or another highly regulated industry.
• Proven ability to develop executive communications, governance materials, training content, and stakeholder-facing guidance.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills.
• Bilingualism (English and French) is a strong asset. If the successful candidate is in Québec, proficiency in both languages will be required to support clients from various provinces outside of Quebec.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced understanding of AI Model Risk Management frameworks and model lifecycle governance.
• Experience designing governance requirements for Generative AI, large language models, foundation models, RAG, and Agentic AI.
• Practical familiarity with Python, SQL, R, machine learning workflows, or analytics environments.
• Experience translating regulatory requirements into enterprise-wide policies and governance standards.
• Experience developing training programs, learning materials, or organizational capability-building initiatives.
• Knowledge of AI-related regulatory expectations, responsible AI principles, technology risk, privacy, cybersecurity, and data governance frameworks.
• Experience supporting executive committees, governance forums, or board-level reporting.

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.

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

#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 s