Senior Strategy Leader – Retail Intermediary & Product Growth

Manulife; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 130,000 - 241,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife’s Global Wealth & Asset Management (GWAM) is seeking an AVP, Strategy – Retail Intermediary, Product and Institutional to partner with senior leaders and drive the strategic roadmap across North America Intermediary, Global Product and Institutional. The role shapes growth choices, portfolio priorities and execution plans with cross-functional teams.

Reporting to the Head of GWAM Strategy and Transformation, this position requires 12+ years in strategy/consulting with wealth and asset

Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 years of relevant, progressively senior experience in Strategy, Transformation, Corporate Development or Consulting, with strong wealth and asset management experience and a record of influencing senior business decisions and translating strategy into measurable results.
• Broad knowledge of intermediary and institutional distribution, investment products, product economics and public and private markets capabilities.
• Ability to connect client, market, distribution, product, investment, financial and operational insights and translate them into clear strategic choices and practical recommendations.
• Ability to operate independently in ambiguity, identify the questions that matter and mobilize expertise across organizational boundaries.
• Sound judgment under pressure, with the ability to address difficult issues, resolve competing priorities and escape with clear options and recommendations.
• Executive presence and credibility to serve as a trusted partner to senior leaders, constructively challenge established thinking and build alignment without relying on formal authority.
• Strong execution judgment, including the ability to assess roadmap feasibility, delivery capacity, dependencies and business readiness while maintaining focus on outcomes rather than activity.
• Ability to form and defend an independent, evidence-based point of view on consequential business questions, while adapting recommendations as facts change.
• Understanding of the business, financial and people impacts of change, with the ability to help leaders navigate trade-offs, strengthen readiness and sustain commitment to delivery.
• Results-oriented leadership, with the discipline to prioritize across initiatives, make trade-offs explicit, drive accountability and develop practical solutions where blueprints do not exist.
• Outstanding communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to articulate complex business problems and recommendations in clear, simple and impactful language.
• Proven ability to lead and develop teams directly and mobilize senior cross-functional partners through influence across businesses and functions.

Responsibilities

• Frame the most consequential strategic choices, bringing evidence-based recommendations on growth opportunities, competitive positioning, portfolio priorities and investment trade-offs to drive executive decisions.
• Lead the development and ongoing refinement of an integrated strategy that creates value to our target client segments and intermediary needs.
• Translate strategy into a sequenced roadmap with clear business outcomes, accountable owners, milestones and measures of success; test delivery capacity, resource requirements and execution readiness with business, regional and functional leaders.
• Provide strategic leadership on product and capability portfolio choices, including where to invest, build, partner, reposition, rationalize or exit.
• Identify opportunities to connect Intermediary / Institutional distribution with the product and investment agenda, including capability commercialization, channel expansion, strategic partnerships and shared enablement.
• Analyze industry dynamics, investor, advisor and institutional client needs, consultant and platform trends, competitor actions, product vehicles, pricing developments and emerging business models to identify opportunities, risks and implications for strategic choices.
• Partner with Transformation and business leaders to align the book of work with strategic priorities and recommend sequencing or reprioritization when capital, capacity or dependencies require trade-offs.
• Build execution confidence across business and functional teams by surfacing dependencies, resolving cross-functional barriers and escalating decisions when delivery, strategic alignment or expected outcomes are at risk.
• Lead prioritization and governance of strategic initiative pipelines, evaluating strategic fit, commercial potential, economics, resource requirements, dependencies and execution readiness.
• Work with Finance and business leaders to assess performance against strategic and financial outcomes, challenge underlying assumptions and recommend corrective action or strategic pivots when progress or expected benefits fall short.
• Maintain a practical view of strategic priorities, milestones, risks, dependencies and results, making trade-offs explicit and identifying where clearer accountability or a change in direction is required.
• Lead strategy discussions, decision sessions, leadership off-sites and annual planning processes across North America Intermediary, Global Product and Institutional.
• Lead executive-ready strategic narratives for senior management, the Manulife Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Directors, clearly articulating choices, trade-offs, progress and execution risks.
• Partner with business leaders and Communications to build understanding of strategic priorities, reinforce accountability and communicate progress against intended outcomes.
• Lead and develop strategy professionals, setting a high bar for analytical rigour, commercial judgment, collaboration and executive influence.

Skills

Strategy leadership

Transformation

Corporate development

Consulting

Job description

Manulife’s Global Wealth & Asset Management (GWAM) is seeking an AVP, Strategy – Retail Intermediary, Product and Institutional to partner with senior leaders and drive the strategic roadmap across North America Intermediary, Global Product and Institutional. The role shapes growth choices, portfolio priorities and execution plans with cross-functional teams.

Reporting to the Head of GWAM Strategy and Transformation, this position requires 12+ years in strategy/consulting with wealth and asset