Head of Technology Transformation

The Technology function in Manulife Philippines enables business growth, operational efficiency, customer and agent experience and organizational resilience by building and maintaining reliable, secure, scalable and outcome-focused technology solutions.

The Head of Technology Transformation is a senior leadership role accountable for leading the implementation of CIO-sponsored initiatives and changes across the Technology organization. Working in close coordination with the respective Technology Leads, the incumbent converts agreed improvement priorities into practical implementation plans, drives adoption and ensures changes are embedded into day-to-day ways of working.

The role focuses on strengthening technology delivery and operations, including operating-model improvements, BAU squads, software delivery practices, quality, automation, AI-enabled productivity, workforce effectiveness, vendor effectiveness and continual improvement.

The role works closely with the technology leads and business functions to identify and prioritize opportunities for improvement and use AI and automation and other means as necessary to solve those problems

The role also acts as the CIO’s point person for urgent or cross-functional BAU challenges that do not naturally fall within an existing Technology Lead’s remit. While the nature of job duties will evolve and dynamic the responsibilities below provide an overview of certain key areas.

Responsibilities:

Technology Transformation Leadership

• Lead the implementation of Technology function changes and improvement initiatives sponsored by the CIO to achieve the desired outcomes.

• Convert agreed objectives into clear outcomes, implementation plans, milestones, owners, dependencies, adoption actions and success measures.

• Lead execution in close coordination with the Technology Leads who retain accountability for their respective portfolios, capabilities and teams.

• Move initiatives beyond assessment and recommendation into implementation, adoption and sustainable business-as-usual ownership.

• Track transformation outcomes, risks, decisions and benefits and provide concise updates to the CIO and relevant leadership forums.

• Drive approved improvements to the Technology operating model, ownership clarity, ways of working, workforce effectiveness, vendor effectiveness and organizational productivity.

Software Delivery and IT Operations Transformation

• Drive improvements across the software delivery lifecycle, including requirements, impact analysis, estimation, development, testing, release, documentation, handover and production support.  

• Support implementation and continuous optimization of product launch and persistent-squad operating models.

• Improve project-to-squad transition, cross-team coordination, delivery predictability, quality, operational readiness and measurable performance.

• Identify systemic delivery or operational bottlenecks and work with the relevant accountable leads to implement sustainable improvements.

AI-Enabled Technology Productivity

• Champion practical adoption of AI and automation across Technology to improve productivity, quality, employee experience, operational efficiency and speed to market.

• Drive adoption of approved tools and capabilities such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Copilot Studio, AI assistants and AI agents.

• Identify, prioritize and implement practical use cases across requirements, analysis, software development, testing, documentation, knowledge management, reporting, service management and operations.

• Identify and implement automation use cases across IT Operations, monitoring, alert, security remediations, investigation and tech upgrades

• Build experimentation and learning into the Technology culture while moving successful use cases into repeatable, sustainable ways of working.

• Define and track measurable outcomes from AI and automation adoption, including cycle-time reduction, productivity, quality and user experience improvements.

• Partner with the enterprise AI and Data function on selected business-user irritants or enterprise use cases where Technology participation is required, without assuming ownership of enterprise AI strategy.

Technology Direction Alignment

• Ensure transformation initiatives remain aligned with approved business priorities and the target-state architecture roadmap prepared by Enterprise Architecture.

• Work with the PMO Lead so transformation dependencies and relevant initiatives are appropriately reflected in the annual funding and initiative prioritization process.

CIO-Sponsored and Cross-Functional Challenges

• Lead special initiatives and urgent matters assigned by the CIO.

• Take temporary end-to-end technology delivery ownership of adhoc, cross-functional or BAU challenges that do not clearly fall within an existing Technology Lead’s remit.

• Rapidly diagnose issues, coordinate the required teams, drive decisions and actions, and maintain transparency on progress and risks.

• Establish a sustainable accountable owner, controls and operating mechanism before transitioning ongoing responsibility.

Individual Accountabilities

• Accountable for implementation and adoption of the Technology transformation initiatives sponsored by the CIO.

• Accountable for maintaining a clear, outcome-based view of transformation progress, risks, dependencies, decisions and benefits.

• Accountable for ensuring each assigned initiative has clear objectives, accountable participants, success measures and an agreed transition to sustainable ownership.

• Accountable for driving measurable AI and automation adoption within Technology, in partnership with the relevant capability and delivery leads.

• Accountable for resolving CIO-assigned cross-functional challenges and establishing durable ownership after stabilization.

• Accountable for influencing, challenging and coordinating across functions without duplicating the formal accountability of other Technology Leads.

Shared Accountabilities

• Transformation prioritization and sequencing with the CIO and Technology Leadership Team.

• Annual Book of Work alignment with the PMO Lead, function heads and relevant sponsors.

• Target-state technology alignment with Enterprise Architecture.

• AI-enabled Technology productivity with Engineering, QA, Delivery, Operations and the enterprise AI and Data function.

• Resource and capability requirements with the accountable Technology Leads.

• Benefits definition and realization with initiative owners and Finance.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Business or a related field; postgraduate qualification is advantageous.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in technology transformation, large-scale change, technology delivery, management consulting or technology leadership.
• Demonstrated success implementing cross-functional technology transformation from diagnosis and design through execution, adoption and measurable outcomes.
• Strong knowledge of technology operating models, software delivery lifecycle, agile and hybrid delivery, quality engineering, IT operations, automation and vendor management.
• Practical experience using AI to solve technology or business problems and a strong enthusiasm for experimentation and adoption.
• Experience delivering or implementing AI-enabled capabilities such as copilots, generative AI assistants, AI agents, Copilot Studio solutions or comparable enterprise tools.
• Experience with Microsoft 365 Copilot or comparable premium productivity copilots and GitHub Copilot or comparable AI-assisted software development tools is preferred.
• Ability to identify high-value AI use cases, move them beyond pilots and demonstrate measurable productivity, quality or user-experience outcomes.
• Ability to structure ambiguous problems, synthesize information, establish ownership and drive execution acoss teams without relying solely on formal authority.
• Strong executive communication, facilitation, influencing, negotiation, change leadership and conflict-resolution skills.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including benefits, investment trade-offs, vendor value and capacity constraints.
• Experience in financial services or insurance is preferred.

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].

Hybrid