VP, GWAM Technology Operations & Platforms

• Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, GWAM Technology, and as a member of the GWAM Technology Leadership Team, you will work closely with business and technology executives to align platform investments and operational priorities with enterprise goals, customer outcomes, regulatory requirements and business growth objectives.
• This leader will be accountable for the reliability, resilience, security and continuous modernization of the technology platforms that support GWAM's business strategy and digital ambitions.
• You will lead a diverse portfolio spanning platform engineering, production operations, cloud platform services, automation, AI enablement and technology infrastructure. A central part of the mandate is to move traditional infrastructure and operations toward a modern platform engineering model built on automation, self service capabilities, developer enablement, operational resilience and AI powered operations.
• This leader will consolidate platforms and platform engineering across GWAM Technology. The priority is to modernize the infrastructure environment, drive greater automation and AI enablement, improve operational efficiency, and establish stronger accountability for services and costs.

Position Responsibilities:

• Set and deliver the strategic roadmap for GWAM Platforms and IT Operations, including governance, prioritization, capacity planning and investment management
• Advance a product oriented platform engineering operating model that improves automation, accountability, transparency and delivery effectiveness.
• Advance cloud capabilities that support the organization's agentic AI ambitions.
• Provide leadership and direction to the existing AVP and broader teams.
• Strengthen oversight of GTCS, setting clear expectations around service levels, cost transparency and delivery on behalf of all of GWAM IT.
• Ensure the availability, performance and resilience of critical platforms by leading incident reduction, problem management, disaster recovery and operational readiness
• Deliver modern, self service platform capabilities that accelerate application delivery and improve developer productivity.
• Develop and execute the platform strategy for AI enabled IT operations and engineering, with clear governance and controls for responsible adoption
• Maintain strong security and operational controls aligned with Manulife's risk, cybersecurity, audit and regulatory requirements, and champion secure by design engineering practices.
• Partner with application, architecture and business teams to prioritize platform investments and provide executive oversight of major transformations, migrations and integrations
• Own the operating budget, workforce plan and investment portfolio, including transparent, consumption based allocation models and accountability for strategic vendors and shared service providers.
• Build and lead a high performing, inclusive and diverse organization with strong succession plans and leadership bench strength.

Leadership Profile:

• You are a strategic and pragmatic technology leader who creates a compelling vision for platforms and turns it into disciplined execution. You balance technology investment with business value, customer outcomes, risk and financial stewardship.
• You lead large scale change with confidence, build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and bring a solution focused, intrapreneurial mindset to working across shared services and business functions. You develop leaders, create accountability and build the conditions for talented teams to do their best work.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Management Information Systems, Technology, Business or an equivalent discipline. A graduate degree and additional language capability are considered assets
• 10+ years of hands on technology leadership experience, including at least 8 years in software engineering, with a track record of developing and executing strategic and tactical plans
• Should understand how to modernize infrastructure through automation, AI and engineering practices.
• Demonstrated experience leading large scale technology operations, platform engineering, cloud, infrastructure, application engineering or shared technology services
• Proven success leading complex transformation and modernization programs across multiple technical teams and business functions in a large, global, matrixed environment
• Experience managing significant operational budgets, workforce plans, vendors and technology investment portfolios
• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (Azure preferred), platform engineering, automation, site reliability engineering, security, operational resilience, Agile delivery, DevOps and AI enabled operations.
• Demonstrated success building high performing leadership teams, developing technical talent and strengthening organizational capability
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate complex technology topics clearly to executive, business and technical audiences.

Additional Information:

• This role follows a hybrid working arrangement, combining time in the office with remote work. The role will involve regular interaction with senior business and technology executives, enterprise technology partners, information security and risk functions, auditors, finance and procurement partners, and strategic vendors across multiple geographies and time zones. Some travel may be required.

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].

Base Salary & Benefits

Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. The actual base 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.