At Manulife, we are focused on helping people make decisions easier and lives better, and that starts with creating meaningful experiences for our employees and leaders. As the Engagement & Strategic Programs Leader, you will help shape leadership connection, employee engagement, and capability-building across Retirement Operations. Reporting to the Director, Learning & Change, you will lead high-impact programs, leadership events, learning initiatives, and strategic communications that bring business priorities to life. This is an opportunity to influence how we connect, communicate, and build future-ready capabilities across the organization.
Position Responsibilities
Lead the planning and delivery of high-impact employee engagement, leadership connection, and development initiatives, including Town Halls, Employee Briefs, People Leader AMAs, and key announcements.
Own the strategy, planning, and execution of Director-level engagement and development programs, including Director+ communications, quarterly calls, and virtual/in-person conferences.
Design innovative employee and leadership experiences that strengthen alignment, culture, and connection across the organization.
Oversee future-skilling and capability-building programs, including Power Up, AI adoption initiatives, and integration with broader Learning & Development programs.
Partner with senior leaders to shape strategic messaging, executive presentations, communications, and engagement content across priority forums and channels.
Lead end-to-end program management for complex leadership and employee programs, including governance, timelines, dependencies, risks, decision points, and delivery oversight.
Define outcomes, success measures, and practical measurement approaches to assess program effectiveness, participant experience, adoption, and business impact.
Lead, coach, and develop the team responsible for content development, coordination, and program execution while driving quality, consistency, continuous improvement, and AI-enabled efficiency.
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Proven experience building, leading and executing on communications strategies and complex employee programs involving multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, dependencies, risks, and executive-level deliverables.
Strong project and program management capabilities, including planning, governance, milestone tracking, risk and issue management, and delivery oversight.
Demonstrated ability to define program benefits, outcomes, and success measures, and to use results and insights to evaluate effectiveness and guide continuous improvement.
Strong stakeholder management skills with demonstrated success partnering with senior leaders.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level presentation and content development.
Familiarity with AI-enabled tools and emerging technologies that support communications, learning, or employee experience.
Experience designing and delivering leadership programs, conferences, and enterprise engagement initiatives for Director-level or executive audiences.
Exposure to organizational change, transformation, or capability-building programs.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in one or more relevant areas, such as leadership development, learning and development, employee engagement, internal communications, organizational effectiveness, or transformation.
Strategic thinker with the ability to connect programs, communications, and employee experiences to broader business priorities and outcomes.
Strong relationship builder who can earn trust, influence effectively, and build credibility with senior leaders, stakeholders, and cross-functional partners.
Confident communicator and storyteller with the ability to translate complex priorities into clear, engaging, and actionable messaging.
Highly organized and execution-focused, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, move work forward, and deliver high-quality outcomes in a fast-paced environment.
Curious, innovative, and hands-on, with a continuous improvement mindset and a willingness to modernize ways of working through new tools, approaches, and technology.
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 Montreal, Quebec
Working Arrangement
Hybrid
Salary range is expected to be between $71,475.00 CAD - $119,125.00 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.
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