Financial Control Manager

Manulife; Quezon City; On-site; PHP 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife seeks a Finance Manager to lead a team of professionals delivering accurate and compliant financial reporting at the business-unit level. The role blends advanced accounting expertise with people leadership to oversee period-end closing, compensation accounting, cost management, and financial reporting with strong internal controls and audit readiness.

The Finance Manager will drive process improvements, allocate resources across workstreams, and partner with cross-functional teams to

Responsibilities

• Lead accounting and reporting for the business unit to ensure accuracy, compliance, and timely delivery.
• Direct period-end close, journal entries, accruals, reclasses, and reconciliations across systems.
• Govern general ledger accounts and chart-of-accounts integrity, with policy alignment and audit readiness.
• Coordinate resources, set priorities, and drive process improvements and control effectiveness across multiple workstreams.
• Provide actionable insights to business leaders and support transformation initiatives within scope.

Job description

The Finance Manager leads a team of professionals and/or specialists to deliver accurate, compliant, and timely financial reporting and accounting processes at the business-unit level. This role combines advanced technical expertise with people leadership to oversee complex activities such as period-end closing, compensation accounting, cost management, and financial reporting, while ensuring strong controls and audit readiness. The Finance Manager drives process improvements, resolves escalations, and allocates resources across multiple workstreams to meet operational and strategic objectives. With a solid understanding of business drivers, the role partners cross-functionally to provide actionable insights, support transformation initiatives, and lead modernization efforts within scope, fostering team development and continuous improvement.

Position Responsibilities

The Finance Manager leads a team of professionals and/or specialists, overseeing complex financial and accounting activities at the business-unit level to ensure accurate records, compliance with evolving standards, and delivery of actionable insights for decision-making. This role demonstrates advanced technical expertise, strong commercial awareness, and cross-functional influence; manages multiple workstreams, drives process improvements, and applies judgment to resolve escalations within scope. The leader allocates resources, sets priorities across projects and operational cycles, and impacts the quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of outputs delivered by the team. Work is guided by department policies, budgets, and functional plans, with accountability for audit readiness, disciplined execution, and continuous improvement across the area managed. The Finance Manager owns the results of area-level deliverables, addresses stakeholders’ questions, and acts as the first line of defense for analysis, reasonability checks, and documentation quality. Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

1) Accounting and Reporting

• Record-to-Report (R2R) Execution:

• Lead implementation of new/updated accounting and reporting standards within the business unit/area, ensuring consistent application and alignment to corporate policies; elevate policy interpretations to GSS leadership.

• Serve as the subject-matter expert for the area; deliver targeted coaching/training and conduct risk-based quality reviews of team outputs.

• Assign resources and set priorities across ongoing workstreams in scope; manage complex and nonstandard assignments within the area and elevate cross-BU dependencies.

• Review and approve team recommendations on complex/unusual transactions up to defined materiality thresholds; ensure documentation quality; implement performance improvement plans where needed.

• Use multi-source data and judgment to resolve escalations; implement corrective actions to ensure completeness, accuracy, and compliance within scope.

• Owns outcomes of R2R deliverables and serves as the first line of defense for analysis and reasonability checks; addresses questions from stakeholders and GSS leadership, and supports audit requests with clear, evidence-based responses.

• Period Close:

• Direct the month-end close for the area (journal entries, accruals, reclasses, reconciliations) across integrated/non‑integrated systems; adapt plans to meet service/operational challenges.

• Govern GL accounts within scope; ensure chart of accounts integrity and propose changes to the GSS leadership for alignment with enterprise reporting requirements.

• Review, challenge, and sign off reconciliations; approve and release journal entries per internal controls; monitor timeliness and right‑first‑time quality of submissions using KPIs.

• Coordinate team tasks; check work quality and progress; follow through on commitments and address systemic issues through collaboration with relevant teams.

• Owns the accuracy and completeness of close submissions; acts as first line reviewer to validate balances, movements, and variances for reasonability before sign‑off.

• Benefits and Compensation Process :

• Provide advanced financial oversight of compensation and benefits accounting/reporting for the area; ensure control effectiveness, compliance, and audit readiness.

• Partner with HR/Payroll to validate payroll inputs, incentive payouts, and benefits costs; implement independent reconciliations and variance reviews.

• Interpret and challenge trends and accrual methodologies; lead scenario analyses to inform planning and forecasting; provide inputs to HR and GSS leadership for decision‑making.

• Owns compensation and benefits accounting results within scope and addresses questions on methodologies, reconciliations, and variances with analysis and documentation.

• Financial Reporting & Compliance:

• Review and approve area statutory and management financial statements; ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance with internal policies and external regulations; surface issues early to GSS leadership.

• Identify compliance risks within scope; implement mitigation actions; coordinate audit preparedness and maintain audit readiness.

• Ensure on‑time, high‑quality completion of reporting obligations; contribute to the broader finance team’s effectiveness with practical improvements and insights.

• Serves as first line of defense for disclosure accuracy and reasonability, owning the narrative and addressing stakeholder and audit inquiries with substantiated analysis.

• Reporting and Analytical Support:

• Design/tailor business‑unit reporting processes and report deliver; drive incremental improvements and clarify data lineage within scope.

• Review ad‑hoc analyses for insight quality and stakeholder relevance; simplify complex topics for executive consumption and challenge assumptions where needed.

• Develop performance/project reporting tools for the area; provide oversight for incentive compensation, marketing allowances, and deferred incentive plans (DIP) reporting to ensure accuracy and strategic alignment.

• Owns the integrity and clarity of management information outputs, answering questions and validating reasonability of metrics, trends, and variances before distribution.

• Accounting Advisory Support :

• Lead cross‑functional accounting discussions for business‑unit initiatives (new products/models, programs, ad‑hoc inquiries); guide teams through complex issues and elevate policy matters to GSS leadership.

• Interpret and apply new accounting standard within the area; deliver training and consistency checks to support implementation.

• Provide expert guidance on booking methodologies, regulatory studies, and reporting requirements; assess financial impacts of initiatives/regulatory changes and build consensus across local stakeholders.

• Owns first‑line analysis and documentation for advisory positions and addresses stakeholder questions with clear rationales and references to standards/policies.

2) Cost Management & Planning

• Cost Accounting :

• Apply advanced costing methodologies (standard, marginal, absorption) within the area; coach the team to produce actionable variance insights (material, labor, overhead).

• Lead area cost analysis initiatives to identify performance issues and savings opportunities; standardize templates/definitions and supervise report quality.

• Use broad process/operations knowledge to resolve complex escalations; run cost challenge sessions with function leads.

• Owns the validity of cost methodologies, variances, and savings narratives; serves as first line reviewer for reasonability checks and answers stakeholder questions on cost drivers.

• Budgeting & Forecasting :

• Lead the business‑unit planning cycle (budget, forecast, outlook) within scope; ensure accuracy, consistency, and alignment with corporate guidance; set challenge thresholds for assumptions.

• Guide scenario planning and sensitivities; connect insights to key business drivers and interdependencies across adjacent teams in the area.

• Adapt plans and priorities to meet service/operational challenges and performance metrics; communicate tradeoffs and decisions to GSS leadership and stakeholders.

• Owns the results of area budgets/forecasts, addressing questions on assumptions and variances with first line analysis and reasonability validation.

• Expense Management :

• Own expense management for legal entities/business units in scope; govern recording, allocation, and reconciliation processes to ensure control adherence.

• Direct audits of general expenses; supervise suspense account reconciliations and clearance; enforce controls and timely remediation.

• Coordinate resources, set daily/period cadence and priorities, and resolve escalations to meet quality, volume, and timeliness objectives.

• Owns expense governance outcomes and answers inquiries on allocations, approvals, and reconciliations through first‑line checks and documented rationales.

3) Process, Controls & Systems

• Process Compliance & Improvement :

• Ensure SOX and policy compliance within the area; maintain audit readiness; remediate findings and sustain closure in coordination with GSS leadership and Internal Audit.

• Identify and implement process standardization and improvements; lead pilot transformations within the FSS; contribute design feedback to GSS leadership.

• Simplify and clarify complex information; set clear performance expectations; handle sensitive escalations with judgment and document lessons learned.

• Owns first line testing and documentation quality within scope, addresses audit and management questions, and validates process changes for reasonability prior to adoption.

• Systems Proficiency :

• Maintain expertise in ERP and accounting systems; recommend minor enhancements and act as the business lead for releases impacting the area (requirements, UAT, cutover support).

• Ensure feeder systems (e.g., Fieldglass, Ivalua) integrate cleanly to the ledger; participate in functional design and localized implementation of accounting technologies/tools.

• Train team members on system processes; allocate access appropriately; verify data integrity and lineage across workflows within scope.

• Owns first line validation of system data flows and reconciliations, addressing stakeholder questions on interfaces, postings