Director, Change Management

The Director, Change Management is responsible for leading enterprise-wide change management practices that enable successful adoption of strategic initiatives, transformation programs, and business capability changes across Manulife Japan.

Reporting to the Head of Organization Change Management (OCM), this role partners closely with Business Leaders, Product Management, Value Stream Leaders, Portfolio Management, Technology, and Adoption teams to ensure organizational readiness, stakeholder alignment, capability uplift, and sustainable realization of business outcomes.

This position plays a critical role in embedding a Value-Driven culture and supporting the organization’s transformation toward a Product Operating Model and Continuous Delivery Framework (CDF).

Position Responsibilities:

• Enterprise Change Management Leadership

  - Define and continuously improve the enterprise change management framework.

  - Establish standards, methodologies, templates, and governance for change initiatives.

  - Ensure consistent application of change management practices across all strategic initiatives.

  - Act as the primary advisor to executives and senior leaders on organizational change risks and mitigation strategies.

• Support enterprise transformation programs including Product Operating Model adoption, Continuous Delivery Framework (CDF), Agile and SAFe practices, AI and Digital Transformation initiatives, and Operating Model redesign initiatives.

  - Translate strategic objectives into organizational adoption plans.

  - Ensure business changes are effectively embedded into day-to-day operations.

• Change Portfolio Oversight

  - Maintain visibility of all major transformation and change initiatives.

  - Assess cumulative change impacts across the organization.

  - Identify change saturation risks and recommend mitigation strategies.

  - Prioritize change interventions to maximize business outcomes and employee adoption.

• Organizational Readiness & Adoption

  - Lead enterprise readiness assessments.

  - Develop and execute adoption strategies for key initiatives.

  - Ensure stakeholders are prepared for upcoming changes through communication, engagement, and capability development.

  - Monitor adoption metrics and recommend corrective actions where needed.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Executive Alignment

  - Build strong relationships with Executive Leadership Team members.

  - Facilitate alignment across business and technology stakeholders.

  - Provide executive-level reporting on change health, adoption progress, and transformation outcomes.

  - Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders.

• Value Realization & Outcome Tracking

  - Partner with Adoption Team and Portfolio Management to connect Strategic Objectives, OKRs, KPIs, and Transformation Outcomes.

  - Ensure change initiatives contribute to measurable business value.

• Capability Building

  - Build enterprise change management capabilities.

  - Coach leaders on change leadership practices.

  - Develop learning programs and communities of practice.

• Team Leadership

  - Lead and develop the Change Management team.

  - Establish objectives and performance measures.

  - Coach and mentor team members.

  - Foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years in Change Management, Transformation, Strategy Execution, or Organizational Development.

• 5+ years leading enterprise-scale transformations.

• Experience with executive leadership teams and cross-functional programs.

• Change Management methodologies, Agile/SAFe, Product Operating Model, OKR/KPI frameworks.

• Strategic thinking, influencing, executive presence, systems thinking, change leadership.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Insurance or Financial Services experience.

• Agile/SAFe transformation experience.

• Change Management certification (Prosci, APMG, CCMP).

When you join our team:

• Reports To: Head of Organization Change Management (OCM)

• Direct Reports: Senior Change Managers, Change Managers

  Key Partners: Executive Leadership Team, Product Management, Portfolio Management, Technology, HR

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].