Senior Growth Marketing Manager – Onboarding, Retention & Expansion

Manulife; Southwestern Ontario; Hybrid; CAD 86,000 - 156,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading insurance provider in Ontario is seeking an experienced Senior Marketing Manager to develop and lead strategies that enhance customer relationships and drive retention. This role combines strategic vision and proactive execution across multi-channel marketing efforts. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience in marketing within the insurance or financial sectors, strong analytical and stakeholder management skills, and a passion for customer lifecycle management.

Benefits

Health, dental, and mental health benefits

Employee assistance plans

Retirement savings plans

Generous paid time off

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive marketing experience focused on customer retention.
• Strong focus on customer lifecycle management in the insurance or financial industry.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute retention and expansion marketing strategies.
• Monitor industry trends, competitive activity to inform strategies.
• Oversee a high-performing team of marketing professionals.

Skills

Customer retention

Marketing strategy

Digital marketing channels

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business

MBA preferred

Tools

CRM platforms

Marketing automation tools

Job description

Manulife is a leading provider of tailored insurance solutions, driven by our innovative Affinity Marketing Team. We are seeking an experienced and results-driven Senior Marketing Manager to lead strategies that deepen customer relationships, drive retention, and unlock expansion opportunities. This role combines strategic vision with hands-on execution, ensuring that our marketing initiatives deliver measurable impact on customer lifetime value and overall revenue goals.

Strategic Leadership & Planning

• Demonstrate an ownership mindset by taking full responsibility for outcomes, balancing strategic vision with practical execution to drive sustainable growth.

• Define and lead the retention and expansion marketing strategy aligned with business objectives and customer needs.

• Develop long-term marketing plans and frameworks to enhance customer loyalty, reduce churn, and increase cross-sell/upsell opportunities.

• Represent marketing in executive meetings, delivering performance insights and strategic recommendations.

• Monitor industry trends, competitive activity, and emerging technologies to inform strategy.

• Partner with cross-functional teams to grow and optimize post-purchase strategies to improve KPIs such as activation, retention, and multi-product penetration.

Campaign Development & Execution

• Design and execute multi-channel campaigns (email, web, direct mail, content, etc.) focused on retention and expansion.

• Develop and implement strategic frameworks and roadmaps for customer lifecycle initiatives.

• Collaborate closely with various internal segment teams, as well as inter-department partners to execute strategic growth initiatives.

• Leverage customer segmentation and behavioral insights to deliver the right message at the right time.

• Align marketing efforts with sales objectives to ensure that campaigns, content, and messaging resonate with prospects and enhance all consumer communications.

• Lead and serve as the primary marketing point of contact for a high-impact Group Benefits cross-sell program, ensuring alignment and seamless execution across Group and Affinity leadership, account and customer support teams, the Canada Segment Data Office, and Salesforce stakeholders.

• Oversee lifecycle communication strategy and campaign readiness, ensuring all data logic, research inputs, and stakeholder approvals are secured prior to launch to drive performance and customer engagement.

Performance Measurement & Optimization

• Establish KPIs and measurement frameworks for retention and expansion initiatives.

• Analyze campaign performance and related KPIs, multi-product penetration, retention and churn rates to optimize strategies.

• Identify the most efficient and impactful opportunities through constant testing and optimization, improving engagement and conversion metrics.

• Manage the retention & expansion marketing budget, ensuring accuracy, while efficiently allocating and reforecasting funds for maximum ROI/ROAS and strategic impact.

• Own the design and execution of customer research initiatives, including surveys, onboarding feedback, and Voice of Customer programs, in partnership with cross-functional teams to generate actionable insights, inform strategic frameworks, and drive optimizations that enhance customer experience and improve NPS.

• Identify and address gaps in retention reporting to enhance data accuracy and insights.

• Provide recommendations for communication strategies and segmentation, leveraging insights from business performance, LTV, and ROI.

Team & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Oversee a lean, high-performing team of marketing professionals, providing strategic direction, mentorship, and performance management, fostering a culture of innovation and accountability.

• Collaborate with senior leaders across marketing, sales, analytics, and product to make data-driven optimizations to address marketing challenges affecting business goals and improve customer lifetime value.

• Foster strong cross-functional relationships, managing multiple stakeholders towards common goals and ensuring projects are delivered with executional excellence.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive marketing experience, with a strong focus on customer retention, loyalty, and customer lifecycle management in the insurance or financial industry.

• Expertise in digital and traditional marketing channels, CRM platforms, marketing automation tools, and email journey production.

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or related field; MBA preferred.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated success in leading and managing high-performing marketing teams.

• Proven ability to develop and execute data-driven marketing strategies that drive measurable business outcomes.

• Strong analytical skills with experience in advanced reporting and performance optimization.

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with experience influencing at senior levels.

• Strong business acumen with a demonstrated ability to align customer retention and expansion strategies with strategic roadmaps and overall marketing and sales strategy.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, matrixed environment and manage multiple priorities.

• Comfortable navigating fragmented and disparate data sources.

• Deep analytical expertise and robust understanding of marketing and business functions.

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, 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

Toronto, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$86,250.00 CAD - $155,250.00 CAD

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [e-mail] 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 [e-mail] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.