Senior Program Specialist

The Manulife Contingent Workforce Program is seeking a Senior Program Specialist who is accountable for the day-to-day activities of the SOW Program. The role is responsible for SOW management from contract intake, ensuring consistency with the SOW contract terms, through to payments and service completion. This role will support the statement of work (SOW) business and assist People Leaders globally with all facets of the process: SOW setup, resource on and offboarding, project and assignment management activities, invoicing, customer support, training, etc. with varying degrees of complexity and/or sensitivity, ensuring quality and delivery terms are adhered to and achieved.

The Senior Program Specialist is a key resource, responsible for building relationships with key members within the organization including People Leaders, Procurement, Legal, Human Resources, Finance, etc. In addition, the Specialist will be consulting with third party vendors in relation to service deliverables and contract management activities.

In this role, you will work collaboratively with your global partners and stakeholders, reporting to the Program Lead.

Position Responsibilities: 

• Operational Excellence:

  • Successful achievement of all service level agreements

  • SOW Intake: Complete a detailed Intake for all requirements with accuracy

  • SOW Fulfilment & Management: Manage requirements that are released to ensure timely action

  • Requirement Feedback/Communication: Communicate updates on the status of all open requirements by providing detailed feedback to internal partners and suppliers regarding requisition priority, submittal/feedback status, and next steps.

  • Resource On/Offboarding:

    • Completes onboarding Checklist for all new assignments

    • Confirms all onboarding requirements are completed per policy prior to worker starting assignment

    • Ensures all positions details (assignment details, start date, etc.) are documented in VMS

    • Executes end-to-end activation of standard SOW Worker profiles with accuracy and efficiency

    • Completes Off-boarding Checklist

    • Ensures end of assignment reason code is accurate and updated accordingly in VMS

    • Ensure all assets are secured, and final time and expense is approved in VMS prior to next invoicing cycle

  • Resource Assignment Management:

    • Ensures all assignment data is maintained and updated as needed in VMS

    • Conduct revisions review and approval

    • Responds to People Leader requests for assignment updates

    • Leverages reporting to proactively reach out to People Leader and Supplier on SOWs and assignments approaching end dates and budget thresholds

  • Perform HCT upload activities by validating upload data and ensuring all system prerequisites are completed.

  • Handle high‑level invoice management by validating invoice approver details and billed amounts

  • Voice of the Customer (VoC): Accountable for VoC goals

  • Voice of the Supplier (VoS): Accountable for VoS goals

• Subject Matter Expert (SME) – Serve as the primary expert for complex scenarios, providing best practices, and issue resolution across high impact work.

• Own and improve standardized processes through cross functional collaboration, strengthening controls, documentation, and scalability.

• Lead training and knowledge sharing while acting as an escalation point for complex cases to build team capability and consistency.

• Manage onboarding, approvals, activations, and ad hoc updates for resources, contracts, and vendor or business unit contacts.

• Ensure data accuracy and system readiness by validating and completing Headcount Tracking uploads and prerequisites.

• Oversee high level invoice validation and resolve discrepancies to ensure timely and accurate billing.

• Ability to handle multiple projects and tasks concurrently

• High degree of attention to detail

• Proven ability to manage competing deliverables on-time and on-quality

• Takes direction well

• Assure Program Processes and Procedures Adherence by ensuring Proper Documentation

Relationship Management:

• Tier 1 support Training and Subject Matter Support

• Strong customer service orientation

• Maintain, influence and develop relationships with People Leaders, Internal Stakeholders and Partners as well as Third-Party Vendors

• Manage expectations through timely feedback and proactive communication

 Payments Management:

• Manage timely invoicing of milestones, time and expense within each SOW to effectively minimize aging 

• Ensure all milestones, time and expenses are entered and approved by all parties by required deadline

• Consolidate invoice in VMS and prepare invoice file summary(ies) for approval

Technology Operations Management:

• Tier 1 support for all technology-related issues

• Assess, diagnose and respond to basic questions concerning functionality and configuration settings in the technologies utilized by the Program

• Responsible for the day-to-day VMS Technology health

• Provide superior customer service and timely follow up and resolution for all incidents and service requests 

• Become knowledgeable in the integration strategy and functionality for the purpose of providing proper responses to clients, vendors and technology partner

• Research and conduct basic troubleshooting on technology incidents to resolve issues prior to further escalation

• Identify trends from day-to-day issues and present possible containment plans if applicable

• Develop a strong partnership with internal IT teams and our VMS partner, Fieldglass, to be able to provide tactical support for Operations which include troubleshooting issues, testing of changes, and working as an advisor for issue prioritization and low-risk system changes. 

Required Qualifications:

• 3-5 years of experience in staffing/recruiting, procurement, or sourcing

• Familiarity with Fieldglass platform is an advantage. Other vendor management systems would be fine.

• Familiarity with contingent workers or professional services category and processes, invoicing and payment, vendor billing, onboarding/offboarding of contingent workers in Fieldglass

• Excellent communication skills and customer service skills

• MS Office proficiency

• Experience in an environment with high volume

• Experience managing high-level customer and VMS or other vendor relationships

 Preferred Qualifications:

• Working knowledge of SAP Fieldglass modules (Contingent Workforce, Services Procurement).

• Basic troubleshooting and issue resolution skills.

• Proficiency in MS Office and collaboration tools (e.g., Teams, Outlook)

• Clear and effective verbal and written communication.

• Ability to explain technical concepts in simple terms.

• Analytical thinking to identify root causes.

• Resourceful in finding solutions or workarounds.

• Takes initiative and can work independently.

• Perform other procurement duties as may be assigned.

• Flexibility to shift schedules

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.

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].