Senior Bilingual Human Resources Business Partner

Wawanesa Insurance; Toronto; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Wawanesa Insurance is seeking a Senior HRBP to act as a strategic advisor to senior leaders, shaping business strategy and culture through workforce, talent, and organizational solutions.

You will diagnose organizational needs, enable workforce planning, support leadership development, and drive enterprise HR programs in partnership with the People Team COEs.

Qualifications

• Degree in Business, Human Resources, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive HR experience, including Senior HRBP or advisory roles.
• Insurance industry experience preferred.
• Bilingualism in French/English is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted partnerships and translate business needs into HR solutions.
• Diagnose people and organizational challenges and advise leaders.
• Coach leaders on people management and policy alignment.
• Lead workforce and talent planning discussions with COEs.
• Identify leadership needs, monitor attrition, and surface insights.
• Champion enterprise talent programs like performance management and calibration.
• Assess structures and processes and recommend changes.
• Balance priorities across a complex portfolio and manage risks.
• Contribute to HR systems, processes, and efficiency improvements.
• Mentor and model enterprise-minded decision-making.

Skills

Relationship building

Strategic thinking

Leadership coaching

Workforce planning

Change management

Data analytics

Bilingualism (French/English)

Education

HR degree or related field

HR designation preferred

Job description

Job Information

Job ID: 10185

Employment Type: Existing Role

Work Environment: We offer a hybrid work environment that offers flexibility to our employees in balancing in-office (2 days per week OR 15 hours per week in a Wawanesa office) and remote work. You may work from any of the following locations: Winnipeg, MB; Toronto (North York).

Working Business Language: English

Salary: The salary offered for this role is estimated to be within the following range: $100,000 - $130,000.

Job Overview

The Senior HRBP serves as a strategic advisor to senior leaders, with accountability for shaping and enabling business strategy and culture through workforce, talent, and organizational solutions. This role leads complex people and organization initiatives by translating business priorities into integrated HR strategies, in partnership with the People Team Centers of Excellence (COE). This role works closely with senior leaders to diagnose organizational needs, facilitate workforce and talent planning discussions, and enable effective decision-making aligned with enterprise strategy and culture.

Job Responsibilities

• Build trusted partnerships to understand, identify, and prioritize business needs, providing business context and insight to HR to ensure people solutions are effectively tailored and delivered to meet business objectives.
• Act as a strategic advisor by diagnosing people and organizational challenges, facilitating informed decision-making, and providing clear, well-reasoned recommendations aligned with enterprise priorities and HR frameworks.
• Monitor trends in employment practices, workforce dynamics, and employee relations, and coach leaders on people management matters to enable timely, effective, and consistent handling of issues in alignment with company policies and processes.
• Facilitate workforce and talent planning discussions, including talent pipeline and succession planning, to support achievement of business goals through appropriate resourcing, development, and internal mobility, in partnership with COEs.
• Partner with senior leaders to identify leadership development needs and critical roles essential to achieving strategic objectives, monitor talent risks and attrition trends, and surface insights to support workforce readiness, performance, diversity, and inclusion.
• Champion and facilitate enterprise talent programs within the business, including performance management, calibration sessions, succession planning, and talent reviews, ensuring consistent application and meaningful outcomes aligned with business needs.
• Assess organizational structures, roles, and processes to identify opportunities to improve effectiveness and performance, and partner with leaders and COEs to recommend and support implementation of appropriate changes.
• Manage competing priorities across a complex portfolio by making informed trade-offs, sequencing work appropriately, and balancing business needs with enterprise direction and capacity.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of HR systems, processes, and practices by identifying opportunities informed by business feedback, industry best practices, and a focus on efficiency, productivity, and risk management.
• Build capability by coaching, mentoring, and role modeling effective business partnership, sound judgment, and enterprise-minded decision-making.

Qualifications

• Degree in Business, Human Resources, or a related field, or equivalent experience. HR designation preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive HR experience, including Senior HR Business Partner or comparable advisory experience supporting senior leaders in a complex organization. Insurance industry experience preferred.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence leaders through sound judgment, credibility, and business insight.
• Effectiveness in collaborating across functions and organizational levels, consistently prioritizing enterprise outcomes and shared accountability.
• Experience facilitating workforce planning, talent reviews, succession planning, and performance management processes.
• Strong capability to assess people and organizational issues and provide clear, practical recommendations aligned with enterprise frameworks and policies.
• Experience supporting organizational change and organizational effectiveness initiatives within the business.
• Solid knowledge of employment practices, employee relations, and regulatory requirements.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including use of workforce data and insights.
• Bilingualism (French/English) preferred.

Diversity Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

At Wawanesa, we are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and believe that our strength lies in the diversity of our people – this is supported by having a representative workforce. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, including racialized persons, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, gender‑diverse and neurodiverse individuals, and anyone who can contribute to the further diversification of thought and ideas. We aim to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all candidates. If you require accommodations during any stage of the recruitment process, please reach out in confidence to [e-mail].

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