Remote Associate Manager, Rehabilitation Leadership

Manulife; United States; Remote; USD 50,000 - 83,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife’s National Rehabilitation Centre of Excellence is seeking an Associate Manager with strong people leadership and rehabilitation experience. A remote team across Canada will be led, coaching clinical and vocational decision-making and delivering individualized rehab plans.

The role combines leadership with expert rehabilitation knowledge to support complex cases, ensure quality, and promote evidence-based practices across functional and vocational rehab services.

Qualifications

• Post‑secondary diploma, CEGEP (DEC or DEP), or bachelor’s degree in a health, rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation, disability management, or related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Demonstrated experience in rehabilitation, disability management, or group insurance, with direct experience supporting complex rehabilitation and return-to-work planning.
• Strong understanding of functional rehabilitation principles, including functional abilities, job demands, treatment planning, recovery barriers, and sustainable return-to-work strategies.
• Strong understanding of vocational rehabilitation principles, including vocational assessment, transferable skills analysis, occupational research, retraining, job development, job search, and labour‑market considerations.
• Sound knowledge of rehabilitation industry standards, disability insurance, medical terminology, case management, and disability and rehabilitation management best practices.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate rehabilitation plans, provide case consultation, and coach others toward clear, evidence-informed, outcome-focused decisions.
• Experience with vendor and budget management, including consideration of service appropriateness, outcomes, and cost effectiveness.
• Proven experience leading, coaching, training, or developing professionals in a complex service environment.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem‑solving, and communication skills.
• Accredited Rehabilitation Professional (RRP), Canadian Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CCRC), Certified Disability Management Professional (CDMP), Certified Return to Work Coordinator (CRTWC), or eligibility for a related professional designation is considered an asset.
• Bilingualism in English and French is considered an asset.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing remote team of rehabilitation specialists with functional and vocational expertise.
• Build specialist capability through regular case consultation, quality-focused feedback, knowledge sharing, and targeted development planning.
• Support sound professional judgment, clear documentation, effective communication, and timely decision-making in complex or sensitive situations.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and engaged team culture aligned with Manulife’s values.
• Identify, develop, and retain talent, and recognize performance and contributions.
• Provide practice leadership and consultation on complex rehabilitation and disability cases, including functional, workplace, and vocational barriers to recovery and return to work.
• Coach specialists in developing, monitoring, and adjusting individualized, goal-oriented rehabilitation plans that are aligned with functional abilities, job demands, medical information, and sustainable return-to-work or job-resolution goals.
• Guide functional rehabilitation approaches, including assessment of treatment needs, coordination with providers, evaluation of progress, and development of creative return-to-work solutions.
• Guide vocational rehabilitation approaches, including vocational assessment, transferable skills analysis, occupational research, career planning, retraining, job development, and job-search strategies.
• Promote appropriate interpretation and application of rehabilitation industry standards, disability insurance principles, medical terminology, job demands, and regional labour-market information.
• Review rehabilitation strategies and files for quality, clarity, appropriate rationale, measurable goals, cost effectiveness, and alignment with best practices.
• Support specialists in communicating difficult or complex information with professionalism, compassion, and appropriate boundaries.
• Oversee workflow, caseload distribution, productivity, and service delivery to meet service standards and client expectations.
• Use data and quality insights to identify trends, manage risk, prioritize work, and improve rehabilitation and return-to-work outcomes.
• Support effective vendor and budget management by coaching specialists to select appropriate, timely, and cost-effective services and programs.
• Promote consistent documentation, timely follow-up, and effective collaboration across functional and vocational rehabilitation services.
• Address escalated case, service, or operational issues and support appropriate resolution.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with plan members, plan sponsors, treatment and service providers, internal disability partners, and external clients.
• Partner with case managers, disability specialists, mental health specialists, and other stakeholders to support coordinated rehabilitation and return-to-work solutions.
• Participate in client meetings, presentations, and service discussions, translating rehabilitation concepts, strategies, and outcomes into clear business and client-focused language.
• Ensure consistent, professional, and responsive client experience across team interactions.
• Contribute rehabilitation expertise to national priorities, service design, and the evolution of functional and vocational rehabilitation practices.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, tools, referral pathways, quality standards, and specialist capability.
• Support the implementation and adoption of evidence-informed rehabilitation and disability management practices.
• Promote innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning across the National Rehabilitation Centre of Excellence.

Skills

People leadership

Rehabilitation expertise

Relationship-building

Clinical decision-making

Stakeholder management

RRP asset

Education

Post-secondary diploma, CEGEP or bachelor’s degree in health/rehabilitation/diability management or related field

Job description

Manulife’s National Rehabilitation Centre of Excellence is seeking an Associate Manager with strong people leadership and rehabilitation experience. A remote team across Canada will be led, coaching clinical and vocational decision-making and delivering individualized rehab plans.

The role combines leadership with expert rehabilitation knowledge to support complex cases, ensure quality, and promote evidence-based practices across functional and vocational rehab services.