Manager, Program & Strategic Delivery

Manulife • Toronto, ON

2d • CA$92,900 - CA$142,900 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, Program & Strategic Delivery for Manulife Canada Operations plays a key role in supporting the execution of strategic initiatives and ensuring effective delivery across the portfolio. This role is responsible for driving portfolio transparency, enabling strong governance practices, and partnering with business and functional leaders to deliver high-impact projects aligned to operational and strategic priorities. This position requires strong delivery discipline, analytical thinking, and the ability to influence stakeholders across multiple levels of the organization while operating in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.

Requirements

• University degree or equivalent experience with 5–8+ years in project management, portfolio management, or strategy execution roles.
• Proven experience managing medium-to-large scale initiatives in a complex, matrixed organization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize data into actionable insights.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders at multiple levels.
• Solid understanding of project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall, hybrid models).
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results under tight timelines.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills without direct authority.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in financial services, insurance, or large-scale operations environments.
• Professional certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, or Agile certifications (e.g., Scrum, SAFe).
• Exposure to portfolio management tools and reporting platforms (e.g., Clarity, Planview, Power BI).
• Experience supporting governance forums and executive-level reporting.
• Background in consulting, operations transformation, or business process improvement.

Responsibilities

• Support the execution of strategic initiatives by translating priorities into actionable project plans and deliverables.
• Monitor and manage portfolio performance across scope, schedule, budget, and risks.
• Identify delivery risks and issues, proactively escalating and driving resolution with stakeholders.
• Ensure alignment of project outcomes to defined business objectives and success metrics.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date portfolio reporting, including status, financials, dependencies, and outcomes.
• Establish integrated portfolio planning in collaboration with project delivery leads, and own executive-level governance reporting
• Support and enforce governance practices across the portfolio, ensuring adherence to enterprise standards and methodologies.
• Partner with finance and business teams to track and report on project financials, including budgets, forecasts, and benefits realization.
• Support budget planning and ongoing financial management for initiatives within the portfolio.
• Monitor resource capacity and utilization, identifying constraints and opportunities for optimization.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leaders by translating complex program dynamics into clear executive narratives and decision-ready insights
• Support change management and business readiness activities across initiatives.
• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Benefits

• health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans.
• various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources.
• generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree