Retirement Operations Risk & Control Director

Responsibilities:

Risk identification & remediation

• Lead weekly incident reviews with management providing operations management with timely consultation on control deficiencies and process improvement recommendations that contribute to long term as well as immediate business goals
  • Validate alignment of incidents to identified risks & issues
  • Provide reporting to the business to ensure timely management of Incident & CAP closures
  • Analyze metrics used to track business performance to be shared with various team and leaders across the business unit identifying risk trends & themes

Audit Liaison

• Act as a liaison between Audit (Internal and External) and the business units during the annual SOC1/SOX & Internal audits.
• Share with business units and Operations management audit plans and updates as required
• Assist with the coordination of meetings/contacts involving Audit and the business units i.e. information gathering walkthrough validation and test sample collection.

• Assist the business unit with identifying applicable issues to be reported as self-identified at commencement of an audit
• Provide guidance and recommendations to the business units on addressing audit findings & control review results
• Review business proposed solutions to open internal audit points including review of evidence prior to closure
• Follow-up with the business units on the status of outstanding Audit/SOC1/SOX issues and report results to business unit management
• Conduct learning exercises based on audit themes & findings across GWAM Retirement Operations to leverage learnings and enable identification and timely remediation of risk

Project Risk Assessment

• Identify risk and recommend control processes on new initiatives
• Support to include consultation and review of Projects system enhancements and Operation Change Control requests to ensure proper risk management practices are considered and an effective control environment is maintained

Testing of key controls

• Conduct periodic testing of key controls using a risk-based methodology to enable timely identification and remediation of risk

Business Readiness Management

• Track and report on business readiness for changes driven by Regulatory changes and Corporate standards or initiatives

Business Continuity

• Provide support to the various GWAM Retirement Operations business units via the provision of business continuity coordination support
• Conduct annual BCP plan exercise to ensure readiness; Manage train and implement processes to ensure business areas can manage critical business tasks in the event of significant service disruptions as per the Corporate Global Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan

Staff Management & Development

• Create an Operational control team to support the risk and control governance work within Retirement Operations
• Leadership to Operational Controls staff to ensure individual and team service standards and deliverables are consistently achieved (i.e. delivery of control assessments training and control consultation to operational business units)
• Provide training to Operations staff on effective control design and risk mitigation strategies

Job Requirements (Knowledge/Skills/Competencies):

• University degree in Finance or Audit or related Financial Services Industry experience.
• Strong understanding of Operational workflows processes methodologies
• Demonstrated understanding of controls frameworks and risk management practices
• Tactical thinker with expert ability to think beyond day to day business realities. Expertise in evaluating feasibility or practicality of ideas and options assess risks and trade-offs and make informed and timely recommendations.
• Well-organized with ability to multi-task and manage priorities in a demanding and deadline-oriented environment
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships across the business and with external stakeholders demonstrating excellent customer orientation
• Excellent communication skills influencing and negotiation abilities and ability to present to management at various levels; ability to communicate complex concepts and the results in a clear concise easy to understand manner (written and verbal)
• Proficient with MS Office (Word Excel Access PowerPoint)

Additional Assets:

• CPA designation with experience in accounting roles

• Knowledge and experience from an internal/external audit role
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and industry practices (Sarbanes-Oxley OFSI OECD etc.)
• Knowledge of Canada and US Retirement products
• Understanding of project management methodologies
• Familiarity with RSA (Archer) system

Key Problems/Challenges:

• Collaborating well with many stakeholders across GWAM Retirement effectively influencing risk management practices including design implementation and operating effectiveness of controls
• Supporting a diverse Operations team who support multiple geographies across multiple record-keeping systems and control infrastructure systems

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 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 .