Managing Director, Business Management – Private Markets

Manulife • Boston, MA

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Managing Director, Business Management is responsible for strengthening and scaling the operating model of Manulife’s Global Private Markets platform. The role focuses on how the business runs—driving efficiency, execution discipline, and scalable processes across investment operations and all supporting functions. The role owns platform-wide operating model refinement, execution governance, and transformation initiatives, including AI strategy and implementation, oversight of functional support and workload management, and delivery of the Private Markets book of work, among others. The role partners closely with the investment and operational leadership of each private markets business (private equity, private credit, infrastructure, real estate, timber and agriculture) and functional support teams, as well as enterprise strategy and transformation teams, to ensure alignment between Private Markets priorities and broader firm initiatives. The role reports to the Private Markets COO and works collaboratively across investments, operations, and enterprise functions to embed durable improvements that support long-term growth.

Requirements

• 15+ years of experience in asset management, private markets, or complex financial services organizations.
• Senior leadership experience in business management, operating model design, transformation, or COO-type roles.
• Strong understanding of private markets operations and fund lifecycle processes.
• Proven track record delivering cross-functional change initiatives at scale.
• Experience sponsoring technology, data, and AI initiatives from concept through implementation.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders in a global, matrixed organization.
• Strong executive presence, communication, and analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Operating Model Design & Continuous Improvement Own and evolve the Private Markets operating model, ensuring clarity of roles, decision rights, handoffs, and accountability across investments and support functions. Lead ongoing assessment and refinement of processes to improve efficiency, scalability, consistency, and control. Drive standardization and simplification across investment strategies and business units, where appropriate. Establish and maintain effective governance structures to support decision-making in a global, matrixed environment.
• Efficiency, Scalability & Execution Discipline Identify and execute initiatives to improve operational efficiency and productivity, reducing manual work, rework, and process fragmentation. Partner with leadership on capacity planning, workload management, and headcount optimization. Define and monitor operational KPIs, service levels, and productivity metrics across functions. Ensure Private Markets can scale growth without disproportionate increases in cost or operational risk.
• Book of Work, SOW & Capacity Management Own the Private Markets book of work funding and approval process, including intake, prioritization, sequencing, and tracking of initiatives. Establish and maintain a disciplined statement of work (SOW) and resource allocation process across teams and functions. Balance “run-the-business” and “change-the-business” work to avoid bottlenecks and execution fatigue. Lead cross-functional governance forums to ensure alignment, transparency, and accountability for delivery.
• AI Strategy, Technology Enablement & Automation Own the Private Markets AI strategy, aligned with enterprise standards and priorities. Identify, prioritize, and sponsor AI and automation use cases across investment and operational workflows, data management, reporting, and risk processes. Partner with Technology, Data, and Risk teams to define data and technology strategy to ensure solutions are scalable, well-governed, and adopted by the business. Oversee change management to embed new tools and capabilities into day-to-day workflows.
• Partnership with Operational & Functional Support Teams Work closely with Operations, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Legal, Technology, Data, HR, and Tax teams to design and execute effective operating processes. Drives organizational alignment to private market industry best practices, continuously scanning the market for emerging standards in governance, risk management, operational efficiency, and regulatory expectations—and translating insights into actionable upgrades across the operating model. Maintains deep awareness of competitive peer strategies, benchmarking the firm’s processes, technology stack, investment operations, and client‑service capabilities to ensure the platform remains differentiated, scalable, and positioned as a top‑quartile operator. Collaborates with business partners to determine best‑in‑class vendor oversight and partnership management, ensuring external partners deliver high‑quality, resilient, and cost‑effective services aligned with the firm’s strategic objectives. Serve as a central point of coordination to ensure functional initiatives align with the Private Markets operating model. Drive clarity around ownership, service expectations, and escalation paths between Private Markets and support teams. Ensure operating processes meet enterprise risk, regulatory, and control requirements.
• Collaboration with Strategy & Transformation Teams Partner with enterprise and Private Markets strategy teams to translate strategic priorities into executable initiatives. Coordinate with enterprise transformation teams to align Private Markets initiatives with firm-wide programs, platforms, and standards. Ensure transformation efforts are sequenced realistically and resourced appropriately within the Private Markets book of work. Act as a bridge between strategy, transformation, and day-to-day execution.
• Leadership, Influence & Change Management Lead and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority in a matrixed organization. Drive adoption of new processes, tools, and governance through effective change management. Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational rigor. Provide clear, executive-level reporting on progress, risks, and outcomes.

Benefits

• Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.
• Manulife/John Hancock offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including 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.
• We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension/401(k) savings plans and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources.
• Our generous paid time off program in the U.S. includes up to 11 paid holidays, 3 personal days, 150 hours of vacation, and 40 hours of sick time (or more where required by law) each year, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed