Director, Marketing Strategy and Business Management
ManulifeThe Director of Marketing Strategy and Business Management leads strategic planning, business reporting, budget management, and team engagement for Retirement and Wealth Marketing. Working with marketing leaders and business partners in Canada and the US, this role translates business priorities into marketing plans, aligns investment and resources, coordinates competing priorities, and tracks pro
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gress against objectives. The Director brings together performance insights and reporting to support leadership decisions, identifies opportunities to improve efficiency, and coordinates employee feedback and action planning to strengthen team engagement and effectiveness. This role is a member of the Retirement and Wealth Marketing leadership team and reports directly to the Head of Retirement and Wealth Marketing.
Position Responsibilities
Marketing Strategy and Planning
• Lead the development and alignment of annual and in-year marketing plans.
• Translate enterprise and business priorities into clear marketing objectives and investment choices.
• Coordinate dependencies, trade-offs, and changes across portfolios and initiatives.
Business Management and Operating Rhythm
• Establish planning, governance, reporting, and decision-making forums.
• Prepare decision-ready materials and ensure timely follow-through on commitments.
• Identify and escalate delivery risks, resource constraints, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Define and monitor marketing KPIs and campaign effectiveness across regions, including monthly business reporting to global marketing and quarterly reporting on key KPIs and accomplishments.
• Use AI, insights and analytics to support planning and executive reporting, evaluate activities, and identify opportunities for shared approaches and efficiencies across regions.
• Surface data limitations and opportunities to improve measurement.
Budget Management and Financial Oversight
• Lead annual budget planning for Retirement and Wealth Marketing, working with marketing leaders and Finance to align funding with business priorities and planned initiatives.
• Manage ongoing budget tracking and forecasting, providing a consolidated view of spending, commitments, and anticipated expenses.
• Coordinate monthly budget and expense reviews with Finance and marketing leaders; assess actual versus planned spending and cost pressures, and recommend forecast, spending and resource adjustments to support priorities within approved budgets.
• Prepare financial reporting for leadership that explains budget performance, risks, trade-offs, and decisions required.
• Partner with Finance and Procurement on financial assumptions, vendor and marketing technology selection, commitments, and required approvals.
• Serve as the central contact for strategic funding requests, supporting business cases that define requirements, costs, expected outcomes, and KPIs to track success.
NPS Insights, Reporting and Operations
• Lead NPS insights, reporting and operations for Retirement and Wealth with business and analytics partners, connecting customer feedback, performance trends and key drivers to action plans and leadership decisions.
• Manage regular reporting on Retirement and Wealth KPIs, including rNPS, tNPS and CDA, tracking progress against targets and highlighting gaps, risks and actions required.
• Lead preparation for the Retirement and Wealth tNPS Acceleration Forum, including performance insights, reporting materials, action plan progress and decisions required.
• Coordinate action plan tracking and follow-through with accountable business partners, maintaining visibility of owners, milestones and progress, and escalating barriers to delivery.
Leadership and Stakeholder Management
• Demonstrate leadership and collaborate with marketing leaders, business partners, Finance, Analytics, agencies, and vendors across the department and firm.
• Influence strategy and prioritization, and build alignment on ownership, decision rights, and exp