The Business Manager, Retail Products is a high-impact individual contributor responsible for driving operational excellence, enabling disciplined execution, and ensuring organizational alignment across Retail Products, Data & Analytics, and Pricing & Yield Management. Reporting to the Vice President & Head of Retail Products and Portfolio Yield Management, this role acts as a force-multiplier for the Vice President and supports delivery of the priorities of the full leadership team. The Business Manager oversees execution of strategic priorities, strengthens business performance routines, and builds cross-functional connectivity across the team and with partners across Manulife Bank.
The role manages business-as-usual activities and key initiatives as a coordinated portfolio, ensuring momentum, clarity and accountability. The role combines strategic planning, portfolio and project oversight, decision enablement, business performance coordination, governance and communication leadership.
This role strengthens execution discipline, enhances the Vice President’s focus, and helps unlock capacity across Retail Products, Data & Analytics, and Pricing & Yield Management by integrating planning, performance management, governance, special projects and communications. The Business Manager, Retail Products ensures that business priorities advance at pace, decisions are well supported, leadership narratives are clear, and the organization remains aligned, engaged and accountable.
Position Responsibilities :
Strategic & Operational Portfolio Management (35%)
- Lead annual strategy and business planning, translating priorities into integrated plans, roadmaps, milestones and measurable outcomes.
- Coordinate quarterly and monthly business reviews, annual objective setting, the weekly leadership-team operating rhythm and monthly performance reporting.
- Manage Retail Products, Data & Analytics, and Pricing & Yield Management priorities as a cohesive portfolio, integrating strategic initiatives, business-as-usual commitments, regulatory work and transformation activity.
- Maintain visibility on commitments, dependencies, risks, decisions and escalations across the leadership team; challenge unclear ownership, insufficient preparation and missed commitments, and escalate unresolved matters to the Vice President.
- Coordinate budget and expense management, investment tracking, benefit realization, vendor spend, portfolio scorecards and key performance indicators.
- Partner with Data & Analytics as the source of performance reporting, translating insights into a clear leadership narrative, actions and decisions.
Decision Support, Governance & Executive Enablement (30%)
- Serve as a trusted advisor to the Vice President, anticipating needs, removing barriers and ensuring leadership attention remains focused on the highest-value priorities.
- Own leadership-team agendas, meeting materials, decision and action logs, executive briefing materials, governance calendars, escalation tracking, and coordination of approvals and submissions.
- Ensure issues are well defined, supported by appropriate analysis and resolved within required timeframes.
- Coordinate preparation for Bank leadership forums, Board and senior executive updates without limiting the role to any single governance body.
- Maintain strong relationships across the Bank to secure timely inputs, integrate cross-functional execution and reduce friction in the operating environment.
- Operate with discretion and sound judgment when handling sensitive business matters and senior stakeholder requests.
Special Projects & Initiative Readiness (20%)
- Actively lead selected strategic assessments, cross-functional remediation efforts, senior leadership requests and other special projects on behalf of the Vice President.
- Provide interim project management capacity for important initiatives that do not yet have a dedicated owner, establishing scope, plans, governance, accountabilities and momentum.
- Maintain an inventory of emerging opportunities and priorities, and facilitate early-stage scoping, analysis and intake requirements before formal evaluation or approval.
- Coordinate portfolio-level oversight of corrective action plans, audit and regulatory commitments, records and information management, business continuity, and policy and procedure updates.
- Identify emerging risks, interdependencies and resource conflicts, and develop practical recommendations to support timely resolution.
Communications & Leadership Engagement (15%)
- Develop the core strategic narrative for Retail Products and Portfolio Yield Management, ensuring consistent and compelling communication of priorities, progress and outcomes.
- Prepare and coordinate leadership updates, weekly updates, employee communications, strategy materials, and Board and executive presentations.
- Plan and support leadership off-sites, planning sessions, recognition activities and employee engagement initiatives.
- Synthesize complex information into concise, decision-ready materials tailored to senior executives, employees and cross-functional partners.
- Create visibility into progress against key priorities and reinforce clarity, alignment and accountability across the team.
Required Qualifications:
- 7+ years of progressive experience in Chief of Staff, business management, strategy, management consulting or a comparable role.
- Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, strategy or a related field.
- Exceptional program and portfolio management capabilities, with the ability to manage multiple high-stakes priorities and initiatives simultaneously.
- Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills, with the ability to synthesize complex issues, develop recommendations and drive decisions.
- Highly effective communicator with advanced executive writing, PowerPoint and Excel capabilities.
- Demonstrated ability to develop clear strategic narratives and high-quality Board, executive and employee communications.
- Ability to influence without authority, challenge constructively and build trusted partnerships across all levels.
- Ability to operate with discretion, judgment and independence with senior stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in banking or financial services is preferred.
- Bilingualism (English and French) is an asset. If the successful candidate is in Québec, proficiency in both languages will be required to support clients from various provinces outside of Quebec.
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 hr@manulife.com.
Referenced Salary Location
Toronto, Ontario
Working Arrangement
Hybrid
Salary range is expected to be between
$92,900.00 CAD - $142,900.00 CAD
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 hr@manulife.com 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 hr@manulife.com 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.
