Project Manager, Group Benefits Operations

The Project Manager, Group Benefits Operations leads cross-functional Group Benefits Operations initiatives that improve plan sponsor and plan member outcomes, service performance, operational effectiveness, risk management, workforce readiness, and financial results. The role applies governance, produces decision-ready insights, and coordinates delivery across Operations, Product, Technology, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Procurement, and external partners.

Position Responsibilities:

• Lead moderate-to-large Group Benefits Operations initiatives through intake, prioritization, planning, implementation, stabilization, and benefits realization.

• Partner with operational leaders across Group Benefits to define problems, requirements, outcomes, operational impacts, and sustainable solutions.

• Maintain an integrated view of active and pipeline initiatives, including ownership, milestones, dependencies, risks, costs, benefits, and leadership decisions.

• Establish project governance and operating rhythms, including integrated plans, decision logs, risk and issue registers, change control, executive reporting, forums, escalations, and action follow-through.

• Lead initiatives that improve plan sponsor and plan member experiences, service performance, quality, capacity, and end-to-end operational processes.

• Identify and implement process improvement, digitization, automation, data, and AI opportunities that simplify work, strengthen controls, improve scalability, and deliver measurable benefits.

• Partner with Product and Technology to translate operational needs into requirements and coordinate testing, change management, training, communications, cutover, and post-implementation stabilization.

• Support service recovery, workforce, and capacity initiatives by validating data, identifying root causes, assessing resource impacts, coordinating remediation, and escalating material risks or delays.

• Support business cases, budgets, forecasts, resource plans, and benefit measures; monitor financial performance and expected value.

• Coordinate external partner and vendor deliverables, performance, risks, dependencies, and contractual obligations with business and control functions.

• Ensure projects meet legal, regulatory, operational risk, privacy, information-security, records-management, accessibility, and Company requirements; track corrective actions, control remediation, evidence, approvals, and commitments through closure.

• Handle highly sensitive, confidential, privileged, or NDA-protected information with discretion and sound judgment, sharing it strictly on a need-to-know basis.

• Build collaborative relationships, clarify roles and decision rights, resolve competing priorities, and drive accountability across Group Benefits and enterprise functions.

Required Qualifications:

• Post-secondary degree or diploma in business, operations, finance, technology, project management, or a related discipline; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
• Five or more years of progressive experience leading complex projects, operational improvement, or transformation initiatives in financial services, insurance, benefits administration, or another regulated environment.
• Experience in Group Benefits operations, products, claims, benefits administration, plan sponsor servicing, plan member servicing, billing, eligibility, or plan design.

• PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, Lean Six Sigma, or an equivalent project management or process-improvement certification.

• Experience with Microsoft Project, Planner, Visio, Power BI, SharePoint, Jira, or equivalent project and reporting platforms.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated full-lifecycle delivery experience, including scope, requirements, schedules, budgets, resources, dependencies, risks, issues, change control, implementation, stabilization, and benefits realization.

• Strong understanding of operations and service delivery, including customer journeys, transaction processing, service levels, quality, workflows, capacity, backlogs, and operational readiness.

• Proven ability to apply portfolio and project governance, support integrated plans, manage risks and issues, define measures, and produce concise executive reporting and recommendations.

• Experience contributing process redesign, automation, digitization, data, workflow, system implementation, or AI-enabled change in an operational environment.

• Strong business and financial acumen, including business cases, cost-benefit analysis, budgeting, forecasting, resource planning, vendor assessment, and benefits measurement.

• Working knowledge of operational risk, compliance, privacy, information security, records management, accessibility, third-party risk, and controls in a regulated environment.

• Strong analytical, communication, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder-influence skills, including the ability to engage senior leaders and cross-functional partners without direct authority.

• High degree of integrity, professionalism, and discretion when handling highly sensitive, confidential, privileged, or NDA-protected information.

• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365 and project, collaboration, reporting, and data-visualization tools.

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.

#LI-HYBRID

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

Waterloo, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$85,300.00 CAD - $135,300.00 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 [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.