Director, Portfolio Management

The Canada Life Assurance Company • Toronto, ON

2d • CA$128,200 - CA$178,200 • Hybrid

About The Position

Canada Life is strengthening enterprise delivery through the continued build‑out of a centralized Business Project Management Office (BPMO) within COBE. The Director, Portfolio Management is a critical leadership role that will shape how business‑led initiatives are prioritized, governed, and delivered—bringing greater consistency, transparency, and disciplined execution across the portfolio. This leader will partner closely with senior business sponsors, Finance, Risk, and Technology counterparts to enable evidence‑based trade‑offs, stronger delivery oversight, and improved outcomes, while developing high‑performing portfolio management practices.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience leading project, program, or portfolio management / delivery functions, including governance, prioritization, and executive decision support.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguity and lead through transformation while maintaining delivery discipline and stakeholder confidence.
• Strong executive partnership capability—able to influence without direct authority, challenge constructively, and build trusted relationships across a matrixed environment.
• Proven portfolio management and governance expertise, including shaping prioritization, managing trade‑offs, and strengthening oversight and reporting practices.
• Strong business acumen and storytelling skills—able to translate delivery performance, investment impact, and risk into executive‑ready insights.
• Financial and resource planning capability, including forecasting, capacity thinking, and promoting disciplined decision making aligned to business objectives.
• Experience working in a regulated environment (financial services preferred), with comfort partnering with Finance, Risk, and governance bodies.
• University degree in business, technology, or a related discipline; professional credentials such as PMP and/or Agile/Scrum training are considered assets.

Responsibilities

• Lead portfolio management and governance aligned to a business or businesses, including prioritization support, delivery health oversight, and sponsor decision enablement aligned to strategic objectives and investment frameworks.
• Through Quarterly Planning sessions, provide strategic guidance and partnership to senior leaders by developing an integrated view of business priorities, delivery demand, and execution trade‑offs across the portfolio.
• Build portfolio views and maintain dashboards to provide transparency on business and technology initiatives in a business.
• Partner with TPMO & Finance to champion evidence‑based prioritization by embedding data‑driven decision making into portfolio planning, sequencing, and trade‑off discussions.
• Strengthen financial and resource reporting across the portfolios, including forecasting, variance awareness, resource estimation, and demand/capacity alignment in partnership with key stakeholders.
• Support vendor and capacity strategies as needed to enable delivery outcomes, including engagement on vendor onboarding and optimizing capacity to meet priority work.
• Act as a visible senior leader in the BPMO build, contributing to leadership forums and guiding the evolution of governance and portfolio practices over time.

Benefits

• Career Development: Opportunities for career advancement, access to industry-leading learning programs and up to $2,000 annually towards education reimbursement.
• Health & Wellness: Flexible health and dental benefits, plus a $5,000 mental health benefit to support your well-being.
• Time Off: In addition to regular vacation and personal days, we support community involvement with a volunteer day.
• Financial Security: Company-matching pension plan, share ownership program and additional investment options.
• Rewards and Recognition: Employee recognition programs, service milestone celebrations, employee discounts and more!
• Emphasis on Community: We provide a workplace where employees feel connected and supported through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), mentorship programs, social clubs and events.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director