Conservation Strategy and Enablement Manager

The Customer Retention & Conservation Manager is a senior individual contributor and conservation subject-matter expert responsible for improving policy persistency, customer retention, reinstatement, premium recovery, and saved policy value across approved inforce initiatives. The role combines direct handling of selected or complex conservation cases with conversation strategy development, customer journey optimization, frontline capability building, campaign execution, and performance insight. The role works with Inforce Management, Outbound, Customer Care, Operations, Marketing, Product, Technology, Legal, Compliance, Risk, Privacy, Agency, Bancassurance, and other distribution stakeholders to deliver timely, fair, and needs-based customer outcomes in accordance with approved scripts, product rules, licensing boundaries, privacy requirements, and conduct standards. Position Responsibilities: 1. Conservation Strategy & Conversation Design · Review and enhance approved conservation scripts, customer messages, objection-handling guides, and conversation frameworks using campaign performance, customer feedback, call insights, quality findings, and frontline input. · Translate effective field sales, relationship-management, and agency practices into practical, customer-centered approaches for outbound calls, frontliner conversations, policy reviews, and digital or assisted communications. · Translate approved product, policy, fund, and market information into clear, relevant, and needs-based customer conversations that address common withdrawal, surrender, lapse, and payment concerns. · Recommend improvements to conservation journeys, customer and advisor touchpoints, treatment strategies, communications, handoffs, escalation paths, and sales interventions. 2. Customer Retention & Case Management · Conduct proactive and reactive customer conversations for withdrawal conservation, lapse prevention, reinstatement, premium collection, and other approved inforce initiatives. · Understand the customer’s stated needs and circumstances, explain approved alternatives clearly and objectively, and support informed decision-making without applying undue pressure. · Manage assigned opportunities from lead receipt through closure, including required follow-ups, documentation, coordination, and escalation. · Handle selected, complex, high-value, or sensitive cases within authorized boundaries and refer matters requiring specialized advice or approval through prescribed channels. 3. Distribution Partnership & Capability Building · Partner with Agency, Bancassurance, Outbound, Customer Care, and other customer-facing teams to support policy reviews, conservation campaigns, and consistent customer conversations. · Provide functional guidance, approved conversation support, and conservation expertise to frontline and distribution stakeholders. · Participate in briefings, coaching, calibration, and training sessions to reinforce desired customer-engagement behaviors, documentation standards, and conversation quality. · Lead or support change-management activities required to embed new conservation strategies, scripts, journeys, and operating processes. 4. Campaign & Journey Execution · Execute assigned campaigns across approved channels and support pilots, readiness activities, implementation reviews, and post-launch assessments. · Coordinate cross-functional handoffs and help resolve customer, process, data, or operational issues that affect timely case completion. · Identify recurring customer pain points, surrender triggers, contact barriers, and process gaps and recommend practical corrective actions. · Contribute frontline insights to segmentation, prioritization, next-best-action, treatment, and communication strategies. 5. Performance, Risk & Continuous Improvement · Maintain complete and accurate customer, case, activity, and outcome records in approved systems and trackers. · Monitor agreed measures for contact, conservation, reinstatement, premium recovery, saved policy value, quality, customer experience, documentation accuracy, compliance, complaints, and turnaround time. · Analyze customer and campaign trends and present actionable recommendations to improve outcomes, operational efficiency, and customer experience. · Use only approved scripts and materials, protect customer information, comply with consent and privacy requirements, and escalate complaints, vulnerable-customer concerns, conduct issues, and suspected operational or compliance risks. · Balance retention objectives with fair customer outcomes and ensure that conservation actions remain appropriate to the customer’s expressed needs and circumstances. Advisory & Customer-Protection Boundaries · Explain only approved product, policy, fund, and market information and operate within applicable authorization, licensing, and competency requirements. · Do not provide personalized investment, financial, or product advice unless specifically authorized and appropriately licensed to do so. · When personalized advice or a product recommendation is required, refer the customer to the servicing advisor, agent, or another appropriately licensed representative. · Present available options objectively, clearly disclose relevant implications, and respect the customer’s decision. Accountabilities & Success Measures Individual Accountabilities · Achieve agreed personal or assigned campaign outcomes across contact, conservation, reinstatement, premium recovery, saved policy value, interaction quality, customer experience, case accuracy, compliance, and turnaround time. · Complete customer and case records accurately and promptly, including outcomes, commitments, referrals, follow-ups, and escalations. · Comply with approved scripts, disclosures, privacy requirements, records-management standards, conduct expectations, and customer-protection controls. · Escalate complex cases, complaints, vulnerable-customer concerns, suspected misconduct, and operational or compliance risks through prescribed channels. Shared Accountabilities · Coordinate with Inforce Management, Outbound, Customer Care, Operations, Marketing, Product, Technology, Legal, Compliance, Risk, Privacy, Agency, Bancassurance, and other stakeholders to address process gaps and improve conservation journeys. · Contribute customer, advisor, and campaign insights that improve segmentation, prioritization, scripts, handoffs, treatments, operating processes, and customer communications. · Support a consistent, customer-centered conservation approach across channels while maintaining appropriate controls and role boundaries. Required Qualifications: Knowledge · Working knowledge of life insurance, investment-linked products, policy servicing, withdrawals, surrender, premium collection, reinstatement, lapse prevention, and customer-retention practices. · Working knowledge of customer privacy, information security, consent, records management, conduct, customer protection, complaint handling, and escalation requirements. · Working knowledge of CRM, telephony, workflow, campaign, reporting, and Microsoft 365 tools. Skills & Competencies · Customer-focused consultative engagement, active listening, needs discovery, objection handling, and clear explanation of approved options. · Strong execution discipline, case prioritization, follow-through, judgment, and accurate documentation. · Ability to analyze customer and campaign information and translate findings into practical recommendations. · Ability to influence without direct authority and provide functional guidance across frontline, distribution, and cross-functional teams. · Effective communication, collaboration, facilitation, resilience, adaptability, customer empathy, and risk awareness. Education & Experience · Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, finance, economics, communications, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience. · At least five years of relevant experience in consultative sales, relationship management, customer retention, financial services, insurance, banking, campaign management, or a comparable customer-facing environment, subject to HR calibration. · Demonstrated experience in customer conversations, conservation or retention initiatives, frontline capability building, campaign execution, or customer journey improvement. · Relevant licenses or certifications, where required by the final scope, must be obtained and maintained in accordance with company and regulatory requirements. 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 hr@manulife.com . Working Arrangement Hybrid