Payroll Implementation Specialist

This role represents an opportunity to be at the forefront of transformation, innovation and service excellence for our U.S. Retirement business. You will help to shape a new retirement recordkeeping and trust operations ecosystem including the complimentary tenets of people, process, technology, and data. You will be instrumental in evolving a new culture focused on efficiently servicing, transforming, and growing our U.S. Retirement business while maintaining our reputation for service excellence.

Position responsibilities:

• Manage relationship with the client and client’s payroll provider to establish a payroll feed, set up the payroll interface(s) recordkeeping system and confirm integrity of test files sent during implementation.
• Understand and explain purpose of the retirement plan product and the required data to enable the efficiency and productivity metrics driving the business.
• Negotiate and influence providers to send required data to support administrative, compliance, and customer experience record-keeping needs.
• Manage internal relationships during conversion with Plan Implementation Managers, Sales, Relationship Management and Operations team.
• Participate in conversion project team meetings.
• Primary focus on escalated payroll plans and issues that are impacting the implementation timeline and ensure they are resolved before handing off to the in-force payroll team.
• Process payrolls and serve as main payroll contact for “live” clients that have not yet transitioned to the in-force payroll administration team.
• Act in a project manager role and have ownership of in-force plan payroll provider changes.
• Provide subject matter expertise for research and resolution of complex payroll inquiries
• Attend training as required to stay current with system and product enhancements and process changes or improvements.
• Assist with procedure development and management.
• Responsibilities may also include completion of new plan set up on the recordkeeping platform

Required Qualifications:

• University degree or related experience required.
• Firm understanding of U.S. Retirement marketplace and Plan Provider Services including recordkeeping and trust operations and the surrounding ecosystem including Advisor, Sponsor, Participant and TPA channels including digital, web, mobile and via business to business and participant Contact Centers.
• Expertise in plan onboarding, participant enrollment, payroll and eligibility services, money in motion, distribution processing, plan compliance services and global cash and trade reconciliation.
• Experience working with the FIS Omni Recordkeeping Platform including the business to business and business to customer scope of services (highly desirable).
• Understanding of 180 and 360 payroll solutions, and or experience working with data aggregators preferred
• Flexibility, adaptability, agility, and the capability to innovate, adapt and evolve while working through ambiguities associated with new processes, new systems and new products.
• Strong sense of process ownership and successful client outcomes.
• Experience in the U.S. marketplace as with Implementation, Payroll Operations or Client Service experience.
• Broad understanding of onboarding and servicing US Retirement clients.

Preferred Qualifications

• Project Management experience.

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-r