Operational Risk & Controls Lead

Manulife/John Hancock; Southwestern Ontario; Híbrido; CAD 85.000 - 135.000; Jornada completa

Ventajas ofrecidas por este puesto de trabajo

Health, dental, mental health, vision

Retirement savings plans and pension

Paid time off and holidays

Descripción de la vacante

Manulife/John Hancock in Waterloo, Ontario seeks an Operational Risk and Controls Lead to partner with business leaders to strengthen the control environment across Insurance Operations and Distributor Services. The role focuses on identifying risks, supporting audits, and driving remediation.

Ideal candidate has 5–7 years in financial services with deep knowledge of insurance servicing, policy administration, and risk governance. Hybrid work setup with strong collaboration across departments.

Formación

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, risk management or related field.
• 5–7 years in Insurance Operations, Distributor Services or financial services.
• Understanding of insurance servicing, policy administration, claims and distributor operations.
• Experience identifying and improving operational risks, controls, and remediation.
• Experience supporting audits, regulatory reviews and action plans.
• Demonstrated leadership, coaching, and development of employees.
• Experience with business transformation, process improvement or tech initiatives.

Responsabilidades

• Identify, assess, and manage operational risks across Insurance Ops and Distributor Services.
• Support risk assessments for key business processes and collaborate with risk partners.
• Assist audits, regulatory reviews, and remediation activities with evidence collection.
• Monitor effectiveness of key controls and recommend improvements.
• Maintain risk, process, and control inventories with current documentation.
• Perform root cause analysis of incidents and drive sustainable remediation.
• Engage with Compliance, Legal, Technology, Finance and Risk stakeholders.
• Provide timely delivery of Corrective Action Plans and track closures.
• Promote accountability and risk awareness across the business.

Conocimientos

Operational risk management

Risk assessment

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Regulatory & audit readiness

Stakeholder management

Communication

Bilingual (English/French) asset

Educación

Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance/Risk Management

Herramientas

Archer

Descripción del empleo

The Insurance Operations & Distributor Services team is seeking an experienced, analytical, and collaborative leader to join our team as Operational Risk and Controls Lead. In this role, you will partner directly with operational leaders and risk partners to strengthen the control environment across core Insurance and Distributor Service processes. You will help identify and mitigate operational risks, support regulatory and audit readiness, drive continuous improvement, and ensure key controls remain effective as the business evolves. The successful candidate will bring strong operational knowledge, a deep understanding of insurance and service processes, and a proven ability to translate risk and control concepts into practical business solutions that improve customer, operational, and business outcomes.

Position Responsibilities

• Partner with business leaders to identify, assess, and manage operational risks across Insurance Operations and Distributor Services.
• In collaboration with Line 1b, support risk and control assessments (RCSAs) for all Insurance Ops and Distributor Services parent business processes.
• Support audit, regulatory, and compliance reviews, including coordination of evidence, management responses, and corrective action plans.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of key controls and recommend improvements to strengthen the control environment.
• Maintain risk, process, and control inventories and ensure supporting documentation remains accurate and current.
• Conduct root cause analysis for operational incidents, errors, and control failures and drive sustainable remediation actions.
• Support audit and regulatory engagements, including evidence collection, management responses, and remediation activities.
• Analyze operational, quality, risk, and performance metrics to identify emerging trends, issues, and opportunities for improvement.
• Support the timely delivery of Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), including tracking, reporting, challenge, and closure validation.
• In collaboration with the Ops leaders, promote a culture of accountability, risk awareness, and continuous improvement across the business.
• Build strong partnerships with Operations, Compliance, Legal, Technology, Finance, and Risk stakeholders to support effective business outcomes.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Risk Management, or a related discipline.
• 5-7 years of experience in Insurance Operations, Distributor Services or a related financial services environment.
• Strong understanding of insurance servicing, policy administration, claims, distributor operations, and customer service processes.
• Experience identifying and improving operational risks, controls, quality processes, and business outcomes.
• Experience supporting audits, regulatory reviews, issue remediation, and corrective action planning.
• Demonstrated leadership experience, including coaching and developing employees.
• Experience supporting business transformation, process improvement, or technology implementation initiatives.
• Knowledge of risk management practices, control frameworks, and governance processes within financial services.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Archer or other Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) platforms is an asset.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end insurance and distributor service processes.
• Ability to identify risks, control gaps, and operational improvement opportunities.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and root cause analysis skills.
• Ability to simplify complex information and communicate effectively with all levels of management.
• Strong stakeholder management, facilitation, and relationship-building capabilities.
• Ability to challenge constructively and influence decision-making.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong critical thinking, professional skepticism, and sound judgment.
• Self-motivated with a continuous improvement mindset and a focus on delivering results.
• 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.

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 serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law. It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process. All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies. To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact [e-mail].

Referenced Salary

Location CAN, Ontario, Waterloo, 500 King Street North

Working Arrangement Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between $85,300.00 CAD - $135,300.00 CAD. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. 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. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [e-mail] for the salary range for your location.

Benefits and Perks

• 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 [e-mail] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

We use data and analytics technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and automated processing tools, to analyze and process the information you provide to us or third parties in the application process. For more information, please refer to our personal information collection statement.

Our Mission and Values

We're Manulife. And we’re on a mission to make decisions easier and lives better. Better is what drives us. It’s what inspires us to find new ways to support customers and colleagues in living longer and healthier lives. It’s the reason we’re dedicated to investing in digital innovation and industry-leading AI, and accelerating a sustainable and economically inclusive future.

Recent Awards

• 2026 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award Winner
• Manulife Named one of Forbes World’s Best Employers 2025
• Financial Times World’s Best Employers Asia-Pacific 2026
• We’ve been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers 2026 #1 Life Insurer for AI Maturity by Evident 2026

Our ambition is to be the number one choice for customers. Learn more at https://www.manulife.com/.