Global Head of IT Finance

Job Description

The opportunity

The Global Head of IT Finance will directly support all IT areas including the Global Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Global CIO Leadership Team and Segment IT Leadership teams (Asia, Canada, US and WAM), Segment CFOs, and all Functional heads/areas. This role is the central point of contact for IT with expense policy setting, reporting, systems, strategy, and analysis. This role will lead the team that functions as the trusted advisor on all expense issues for all constituents in IT. In addition, a key element of this role is to represent the IT Function for all expense issues and have strong influence over constituents outside of Finance and/or outside of Group.

The role will include the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of a functional approach to expenses aligned with the company-wide vision of global expenses. The role will champion the transformation of expense management functions to build a more holistic end-to-end approach which allows for standardization, simplification, and enhanced automation of various processes to deliver better expense management practices. The role is accountable for delivering accurate and comprehensive financial data and reports on expenses/expense performance, maintaining expense policy and accounting systems as well as building and maintaining a strong internal control environment to support risk management and the attainment of business objectives.

The position is projected to lead and support a team of 30 + professionals, with 8 direct reports across multiple sites/geographies.

Key Responsibilities:

Expense Transformation:  Working with various business partners, champion the development and implementation of the Global Expense transformation ensuring service levels to customers are maintained and the integrity of financial information is assured. This includes building a vision of the future state for Expense Shared Service, promoting this vision and influencing key executives including functional Senior Officers and CFOs, building segment-specific resources and capabilities, formulating new process and controls to support business objectives and leading the migration to a Global functional model.

Advisory: Represent Expense Shared Services on ODF and Advisory to its business partners. Drive continuous evolution of expense processes and philosophies to support categorization of expense management as a leading core expertise and competitive advantage. This includes the development and implementation of clear expense systems and policy. As well, the provision of substantial and timely expense analysis which assesses expense and efficiency performance and trends, identifies key drivers, promotes business area accountability, and integrates costs with related benefits. Working with business unit clients, support the provision of financial advice to identify alternative strategies for improving efficiency, managing expenses, and maximizing returns from expense outlays.

Closed Loop Expense Reporting: Design and build the expense reporting structure to measure saves in the Closed Loop model by functional area, progress against targets, and overall success of the program in driving expense and FTE savings.

Financial Reporting: Produce and analyze monthly and quarterly expense reports which meet the needs of various users and customers. This includes maintaining and updating expense accounting and reporting processes to align with evolving internal and external practices and meeting the accounting requirements of multiple bases of accounting. Work to continuously improve the quality of expense reporting to ensure compliance with financial, operational and regulatory requirements and ensure the integrity of the expense accounts. Primary contact for all audit related requests for expenses for all bases of accounting. Prepare and present regular expense updates to Leadership Teams (monthly reporting package, forecast/budget and actual expense update presentations). Oversee FTE reporting and associated analysis/review and process/system fixes.

Financial Systems & Operational Controls: Drive continuous improvement in expense systems and internal controls to support the appropriate management of risks associated with expenses – operational, financial, and compliance risks. Build and maintain process and control documentation to support knowledge sharing and staff training and audit requirements. Oversee applicable monthly accounting, allocations and balance sheet reconciliations process.

Annual Strategic Plan & Expense Budgets: Lead the coordination and preparation of annual expense budgets for inclusion in the annual planning process. This includes working with Planning Teams and CFOs to influence the process, policy and systems which enables more transparent expense planning and attainment of efficiency improvements. Work to continuously improve processes to gain efficiency in production and enhance quality of information. Meet regularly with LT members and other key senior leaders in the Function to formulate and vet budgets and to review monthly/quarterly actual expense results.

Expense Projects: Manage various projects and tasks as they arise. This could include developing ad-hoc analysis or reports, managing transition to new reporting tools or systems, providing financial/accounting support and advice to other business areas, participating in Segment and IT initiatives, developing new expense allocation policies for profitability analysis, etc. Share the most effective methodologies with other Functions and Segments.

Financial Analysis : Provide key financial analysis to Global CIO, Segment CIOs, CFOs, and GMs on an ongoing basis. While involving many of the above items (budgeting, reporting, CostFit, etc.) it also entails producing in-depth analyses/forecasting/recommendations for targeted expense items, cost benefit analyses, fixed/variable costing, vendor analyses, offshoring assessments, and staffing models. The role and the centralized expense management team should be a key business advisor to the Functional and Segment leaders.

Policies and Procedures : Set and maintain all expense related policies and procedures within the Function. Actively participate in policy formulation with cross-segment teams and Accounting Policy. Interpret and implement all pertinent expense policies and procedures throughout the Segments. Also look to streamline, standardize, and/or simplify procedures wherever and whenever possible. Plan for and establish optimal financial structure to support changing business model – e.g. Shared Services. Provide fully transparent reporting of all costs and allocations, while balancing accuracy with efficiency.

What motivates you?

You obsess about customers, listen, engage and act for their benefit.

You think big, with curiosity to discover ways to use your agile approach and enable business outcomes.

You thrive in teams and enjoy getting things done together.

You take ownership and build solutions, focusing on what matters.

You do what is right, work with integrity and speak up.

You share your humanity, helping us build a diverse and inclusive work environment for everyone.

What we are looking for:

A comprehensive knowledge of financial, planning & analysis function and activities, deep knowledge of IT function, capitalization and project accounting and reporting, sound business practices and controls, and accounting/audit principles which apply to financial companies and the area of expense management.

Presence to independently deal with, support, and influence senior executives across the division and company.

Strong written and oral communication skills

Ability to influence others in aligning to a new vision; motivate others to accept progress and change

Strong accounting and systems knowledge [IFRS, SmartView, Dodeca, and PowerBI]

Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills

Ability to multi-task and manage priorities in a demanding and result-oriented environment

Strong project management skills

Financial modeling skills

Great teammate, collaborative, self-starter, well-organized, innovative, and high level of initiative

Professional designation (MBA, CPA, CA, CGA, CMA) preferred with 10+ years of related experience

What can we offer you?

A competitive salary and benefits packages.

A growth trajectory that extends upward and outward, encouraging you to follow your passions and learn new skills.

A focus on growing your career path with us.

Flexible work policies and strong work-life balance.

Professional development and leadership opportunities.

Our commitment to you

Values-first culture
We lead with our Values every day and bring them to life together.

Boundless opportunity
We create opportunities to learn and grow at every stage of your career.

Continuous innovation
We invite you to help redefine the future of financial services.

Delivering the promise of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We foster an inclusive workplace where everyone thrives.

Championing Corporate Citizenship
We build a business that benefits all stakeholders and has a positive social and environmental impact.

#LI-Hybrid

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Asia, Canada, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. At the end of 2022, we had $1.3 trillion (US$1.0 trillion) in assets under management and administration, including total invested assets of $0.4 trillion (US $0.3 trillion), and segregated funds net assets of $0.3 trillion (US$0.3 trillion). We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife/JohnHancock, we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract,developandretaina 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 toprovideequal 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 withapplicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies. To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact