Manager,Vendor Governance & Performance Job Kitchener area,Waterloo Ontario Canada,Business

Location: Waterloo

The Manager, Vendor Governance & Performance owns cross-vendor consistency, performance management, and governance across the full Print & Post vendor ecosystem. Moves the function from decentralized, manager-led vendor oversight to a standardized, performance-driven model — without replacing the day-to-day vendor execution owned by the production managers. Owns the materials-standardization program and the continuity/backup standard across P&P and standardizes vendor invoice formats and data feeds to enable reconciliation and automation.

Role

Purpose:

Establish an enterprise governance layer over how vendors are managed across Print & Post — driving standardized specifications, performance frameworks, and consistency, while partnering with Procurement on vendor strategy, RFP readiness, and consolidation.

Core Responsibilities:

Establish and maintain standardized vendor specifications and consistency — including the materials-standardization program (envelopes, base stock, SKU rationalization).

Develop and manage vendor performance frameworks, scorecards, and Q cadence/reporting, including vendor SLA measurement.

Own the continuity/backup standard — how backups and cross-training are documented across P&P.

Standardize vendor invoice formats and data feeds to enable reconciliation and automation.

Monitor cross-vendor performance trends and drive corrective actions.

Support vendor strategy, RFP readiness, and consolidation opportunities with Procurement.

Identify cost, efficiency, and continuous-improvement opportunities across vendors.

Boundary Note

Production managers (Karim / Allan / Sooah) continue to own day-to-day vendor execution within their domains. This role adds an enterprise governance layer — it does not replace domain-level execution.

Required Qualifications:

Experience in vendor governance, performance management, procurement, or supplier management.

Strong analytical and framework-building capability (scorecards, SLAs, QBRs).

Experience driving standardization and continuous improvement across multiple suppliers.

Stakeholder management and (developing) people leadership capability.

Preferred Qualifications:

Print / mail / production vendor experience (or demonstrable ability to ramp quickly).

Experience with RFP processes, vendor consolidation, and contract/performance governance.

Manulife/insurance or financial-services industry context.

Print & Post Industry Prerequisites & Operating Principles:

Industry knowledge:

Print/Post Foundations;
Finance & Job-Costing;
Materials & Inventory;
Data, Billing & Reconciliation;
Compliance & Data Privacy;
Digital Adoption;
Continuity & Backup; SLA & Delivery Performance.

Operating principles:

No Touch Workflow;
Digital First, Not Digital Only — we print what is Required and Requested;
Assertive & Proactive;
Sound Judgment & Disciplined Escalation.

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.

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

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 .

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…