Director, Technical Business Operations

The Director, Technical Business Operations is a business- facing role leading operational governance across Retirement & Wealth, including risk and compliance, third-party management, business continuity, operational resilience, and records management. This role partners with business, risk, compliance, technology, and operations leaders to ensure programs are executed consistently, documented appropriately, and aligned with enterprise standards.

Reporting within the Business Operations / COO organization, this leader strengthens accountability, operating discipline, control effectiveness, and leadership visibility while enabling strategic execution.

Position Responsibilities:

Governance, Risk & Business Execution

• Lead operational governance programs across Retirement & Wealth and advise leaders on risk, compliance, resilience, technology, data, records, and third-party requirements.

• Maintain governance frameworks, procedures, controls, documentation, and annual roadmaps.

• Coordinate reviews, attestations, evidence, testing, remediation, audit responses, and regulatory deliverables.

• Track program status, escalate risks and overdue actions, and drive accountability for commitments.

Third-Party Governance & Operational Resilience

• Lead Third-Party Risk Management and Vendor Management program execution, including assessments, attestations, trigger-event reviews, issue management, and reporting.

• Partner with business, finance, technology, procurement, risk, and compliance teams to strengthen vendor oversight and meet regulatory obligations.

• Coordinate business continuity planning, resilience testing, recovery exercises, and plan maintenance across supported functions.

Controls, Data & Information Governance

• Oversee governance for End User Computing Solutions, Process Criticality & Impact Risk Assessments, and related operational risk programs.

• Ensure required ownership, reviews, testing, approvals, records, and evidence are maintained in enterprise systems.

• Lead records inventory reviews and promote effective information classification, retention, and lifecycle management.

Reporting, Program Management & Improvement

• Develop executive reporting, dashboards, and performance metrics that support decisions and provide transparency into risks, milestones, and commitments.

• Maintain program repositories, procedures, templates, training materials, and stakeholder communications.

• Simplify and automate governance processes, strengthen operating effectiveness, and support business onboarding and education.

Leadership Expectations

• Demonstrates ownership, sound judgment, and accountability for business outcomes.

• Builds trusted partnerships and influences effectively across a highly matrixed organization.

• Balances operational rigor with business enablement and continuous improvement.

• Communicates clearly, manages competing priorities, and promotes proactive risk management.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent business experience.

• 8+ years of experience in business operations, operational risk, governance, compliance, technology operations, vendor management, business continuity, or a related discipline.

• Strong knowledge of operational risk, controls, governance, and regulatory expectations.

• Proven ability to lead complex cross-functional programs and deliver results through influence.

• Strong program management, analytical, problem-solving, and executive communication skills.

• Experience designing governance processes, metrics, and reporting frameworks.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Financial services experience, ideally in retirement, wealth, asset management, insurance, or banking.

• Knowledge of third-party risk, operational resilience, business continuity, data analytics, records management, audits, and regulatory examinations.

• Experience with governance or risk platforms such as Archer, Fusion, Ivalua, Process Unity or SharePoint.

When you join our team:

• We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want. 

• We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words. 

• As part of our global team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit https://www.manulife.com/en/about/our-story.html.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife/John Hancock, we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law.

It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process. All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies. To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact [email protected].

Referenced Salary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [email protected] for the salary range for your location.

Manulife 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 and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our 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. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact [email protected] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

We use data and analytics technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and automated processing tools, to analyze and process the information you provide to us or third parties in the application process. For more information, please refer to our personal information collection statement.