Senior IT Project Manager

The Senior IT Project Manager is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of strategic Global Risk Technology and AI-enabled Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) transformation initiatives.

As part of Technology Business Management & Strategy within Group Functions Technology, this role operates at the intersection of project and program management, technology delivery, IT governance, and business transformation. The position supports digitization, automation, and process improvement initiatives that enhance business efficiency, strengthen risk management capabilities, and enable strategic outcomes across the Global Risk portfolio.

The successful candidate partners with senior business leaders, technology executives, product owners, architects, Data & AI teams, control functions, and external partners to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives from concept through implementation. This role engages global stakeholders across North America and Asia and provides opportunity to drive enterprise transformation programs, and strategic technology investments.

This is a highly visible role requiring more than traditional project management expertise. The ideal candidate combines delivery excellence with strategic thinking, strong business and risk domain knowledge, financial acumen, executive stakeholder management, and the ability to influence outcomes across a highly matrixed organization. Success in the role requires navigating ambiguity, building alignment across diverse stakeholders, and driving measurable business value through disciplined execution and strong governance.

Position Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end delivery of complex Global Risk Technology and AI-enabled transformation initiatives, ensuring alignment with business strategy, regulatory priorities, and enterprise objectives.
• Partner with business sponsors, technology leaders, architects, product owners, and risk subject matter experts to define delivery strategies, success measures, and value realization plans.
• Translate strategic priorities into executable roadmaps, integrated plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes across multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Drive alignment across business, technology, Data & AI, architecture, and control functions to establish clear ownership, accountability, and decision-making frameworks.
• Manage initiative scope, schedule, budget, resources, dependencies, risks, and benefits while balancing competing priorities within a complex global environment.
• Lead governance forums, executive steering committees, and stakeholder discussions to facilitate timely decisions, issue resolution, and delivery transparency.
• Develop executive communications, project reporting, and dashboards that provide insights into project health, risks, financial performance, and strategic trade-offs.
• Drive proactive management of risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, and regulatory considerations to enhance delivery predictability and execution confidence.
• Partner with Finance, Procurement, Technology Business Management, and external vendors to support investment planning, forecasting, funding approvals, and financial stewardship.
• Lead and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority, fostering collaboration, accountability, and execution excellence.
• Manage vendor and partner deliverables, support contract and statement-of-work reviews, and monitor performance, financial commitments, and compliance with agreed terms.
• Lead project closeout, lessons learned, and after-action reviews, ensuring operational readiness, knowledge transfer, and benefits-tracking responsibilities are established.
• Promote best practices in project delivery, governance, portfolio management, and continuous improvement.
• Champion an innovation-first mindset by leveraging AI, automation, and emerging technologies to simplify processes, improve productivity, enhance stakeholder experiences, and enable scalable, efficient delivery across the portfolio.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer science, Engineering, Business, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of project or program management experience leading large-scale technology, transformation, or regulatory initiatives in complex enterprise environments.
• 5-7+ years of experience in financial services, insurance, or another highly regulated industry.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-scale technology initiatives involving distributed teams, multiple stakeholder groups, and significant organizational complexity with executive visibility.
• Strong financial management skills, including budgeting, forecasting, cost control, variance analysis, and business case development.
• Strong understanding of project governance, risk management, regulatory compliance, controls, and enterprise technology delivery.
• Highly organized, with strong prioritization skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity, competing priorities, and changing demands.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and drive consensus across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities with attention to detail and the ability to perform effectively under pressure.
• Strong command of PMBOK, Agile, Scrum, and hybrid delivery methodologies.
• Hands-on experience with Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Project, Planner, Power BI, and related project management and reporting tools.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) programs or Global Risk functions, including Operational Risk, Market Risk, Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk, Financial Reporting Risk, Insurance Risk, or regulatory initiatives.
• Experience with AI use-cases, delivering AI-enabled, data-driven, automation, analytics, or enterprise transformation initiatives.
• PMP, PgMP, PMI-ACP, SAFe, or equivalent project management certification.
• Experience working with global teams and distributed delivery models.

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

Toronto, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$113,000.00 CAD - $163,000.00 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.