Asia Lead of Operations Risk and Governance

We are a leading financial services provider committed to making decisions easier and lives better for our customers and colleagues around the world. From our environmental initiatives to our community investments, we lead with values throughout our business. To help us stand out, we help you step up, because when colleagues are healthy, respected and meaningfully challenged, we all thrive. Discover how you can grow your career, make impact and drive real change with our Winning Team today.

Working Arrangement

Job Description

The opportunity

The position is within Asia Regional Operations and is considered a first Line of Defense for operations-related risks.

The individual supports the Asia Operations teams by

• ensuring that its controls are aligned with Global and Regional direction and frameworks for Risk and Control
• understanding, socializing and managing the integration of said guidelines and frameworks within the Operations team
• adopting a hands-on approach on understanding the processes and procedures of each department, helping to identify risk areas, and working collaboratively with the L1A (the process/control owners) to implement action plans to close the control gaps.

The individual is also responsible for driving the risk and controls awareness of the Operations teams which may include conducting training and communication to help staff understand the implications of Operational risks, and their responsibility and duty in preventing these risks.

The individual will work closely with multiple stakeholders including Global, Regional and local Operations heads, COOs and staff, Risk, Compliance and Audit, as well as Distribution channel to ensure that our objectives are met.

The individual will support roll-out and implementation of Global L1B initiatives.

Responsibilities

• As Line One Risk Management Lead, h ave experience working with Operations and Risk/Compliance/Audit.
• Work closely with local senior management and Operations team members to implement a risk and controls governance framework, and best practices for internal controls. Must have a hands-on approach to helping countries identify action plans to remediate control gaps
• Demonstrated ability to build strong, collaborative working relationships with stakeholders and leaders including GMs and COOs, to consider all points of view and appreciate differences of opinion to make informed decisions. Effective emotional intelligence and communication skills to tailor messages appropriately to the audience.
• Use appropriate communication approaches to translate risk and control goals to operations context
• Experience in delivering training, coaching in effective risk management, and establishing appropriate controls.
• Proactive scanning of the operating environment to detect new risks or areas of concern that need to be reviewed and tested so that control gaps can be identified and remediated. Build a strong network of contacts to help with information gathering.
• Experience driving Process Improvements, Customer Journeys, Transformation across Insurance Operations and Customer Service, including Change Management
• Planning and implementation of Book of Work for Regional-led Operations Risk initiatives and frameworks, control testing, thematic reviews
• Represent Operations at forums and meetings with 2nd Line of defence and 3rd Line of defence. Worked closely with 2LoD and 3LoD to operationalize the company's risk management agenda.
• Awareness and education: Design and conduct training for 1st Line of defence on Operations Risk and Controls to uplift the risk & compliance awareness and risk culture
• Maintain communications and best practice sharing across the Asia Operations community
• Support assessment of completeness and effectiveness of key controls (incl. QA).
• Report on key risk indicators (KRIs) and incidents.
• Promote use of Archer and helps ensure the quality of Archer entries.
• Coordinate risk and control activities and promote good practices and share intelligence (e.g. fraud trends).
• Support deployment of risk assessment frameworks.
• Line 1B responsibilities,including:
  • Operations Incident Management(incl. Data Privacy, Internal Fraud)
  • Fraud Management (ATO /Agent )
  • Risk Reporting, RCSA (Risk & Control Self-Assessment) Design and Control Testing
  • Audit Management
  • Scenario Analysis
  • Training & Development
  • Execution Risk Management
  • Quality Control (QC)
  • Record Management
  • Customer Complaints
  • Third party and Operational resilience process support

What we are looking for

Key Behaviors:

• Uncompromising on integrity, in-line with principles and values and Code of Ethics
• Understands the big picture
• Trusted business partner, with pragmatic approach to risk management
• Promote risk awareness with business stakeholders to manage their needs and risk concerns
• Challenges the status quo and looks for ways to enhance processes and tools.

Experiences and Qualifications:

• University graduate with minimum 10 years of solid experience or more in Operations or risk and controls
• Experience in planning, designing and implementing an overall risk management process for a financial organization
• Experience in the insurance industry or financial services is preferred.

Core Competencies and Skills:

• Strong stakeholder and people management skills able to effectively articulate technical vision, possibilities, and outcomes through strong verbal and written communication
• Strong interpersonal skills, with ability to influence senior leaders and inspire and train more junior team members
• Deep understanding of Operational risks and how they can impact the business
• Self-driven, able to meet objectives with a minimal amount of managerial oversight
• Can distil complex issues into simple reports, solutions, and designs
• Proficient in English, both verbal and written, proficiency in other Asian language would be a plus.

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 t hat benefits all stakeholders and has a positive social and environmental impact.

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