Senior Project Manager, Corporate Real Estate

Role Summary

The Senior Project Manager, Real Estate will lead the planning, governance, and delivery of complex corporate real estate projects that support Manulife's workplace strategy, operational priorities, and business transformation objectives.

This role is accountable for managing end-to-end project delivery, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, overseeing budgets and vendors, identifying and mitigating risks, and ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope, and in alignment with business expectations.

The role will also provide direct leadership, prioritization, coaching, and oversight to a Project Coordinator who supports project administration, documentation, reporting, scheduling, and tracking activities.

Position Responsibilities

Project Leadership and Delivery

• Lead end-to-end delivery of complex corporate real estate projects, including workplace renovations, office relocations, space optimization initiatives, consolidations, and workplace transformation programs.
• Develop and maintain project charters, integrated project plans, schedules, budgets, risk registers, governance routines, communication plans, and implementation roadmaps.
• Define project scope, objectives, milestones, dependencies, success measures, and decision points in partnership with business and functional stakeholders.
• Drive disciplined execution across multiple workstreams, ensuring project deliverables are completed on time, within budget, and aligned to approved scope and quality expectations.

People Leadership and Project Coordination Oversight

• Provide direct leadership, direction, coaching, and performance support to a Project Coordinator reporting into the role.
• Set priorities and delegate project coordination activities, including project documentation, meeting coordination, action tracking, status reporting, budget tracking support, and maintaining project artifacts.
• Ensure the Project Coordinator has clear expectations, appropriate context, and effective routines to support timely and accurate project execution across workstreams.
• Review and quality-check coordinator outputs to ensure project materials, trackers, decisions, risks, and follow-ups are accurate, complete, and executive-ready.

Stakeholder Management and Governance

• Partner with senior leaders, business units, Corporate Real Estate, Finance, Technology, Procurement, HR, Risk, Legal, and external partners to align project outcomes to business needs.
• Facilitate decision-making forums and provide clear project updates, recommendations, risks, trade-offs, and escalation items to steering committees and executive sponsors.
• Build alignment across diverse stakeholder groups, influencing priorities and resolving issues that may impact delivery timelines, costs, resources, or adoption.

Financial, Budget, and Resource Management

• Manage project budgets, capital expenditures, forecasts, cost tracking, variance reporting, and financial governance in partnership with Finance and business stakeholders.
• Monitor project performance against approved budgets and timelines, proactively identifying cost pressures, financial risks, and opportunities for efficiency.
• Support business case development, cost-benefit analysis, and investment recommendations for real estate initiatives as required.

Vendor, Consultant, and Partner Management

• Lead and coordinate external vendors, consultants, contractors, architects, design partners, construction partners, and service providers to ensure delivery against project expectations.
• Partner with Procurement and Legal to support vendor selection, onboarding, statement of work development, contract adherence, and issue resolution.
• Hold internal and external partners accountable for deliverables, timelines, quality standards, and budget commitments.

Risk, Issue, and Change Management

• Identify, assess, and manage project risks, issues, dependencies, assumptions, and constraints, escalating appropriately with clear mitigation options and recommendations.
• Ensure projects comply with corporate policies, real estate standards, governance requirements, security expectations, and applicable risk controls.
• Support change management activities associated with workplace and real estate projects, including stakeholder engagement, communications, readiness planning, and adoption support.

Reporting and Continuous Improvement

• Prepare executive-ready project materials, dashboards, status reporting, meeting materials, decision logs, and steering committee updates.
• Maintain accurate project documentation, including plans, budgets, actions, decisions, risks, and key deliverables.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of project management practices, governance frameworks, tools, templates, and delivery standards within Corporate Real Estate.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Project Management, Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management, Real Estate, Facilities Management, or a related discipline; equivalent experience may be considered.
• 7+ years of progressive project management experience, with demonstrated ownership of complex, cross-functional projects.
• Experience delivering corporate real estate, workplace, facilities, construction, capital improvement, relocation, or infrastructure-related projects.
• Experience leading, mentoring, or directly managing project coordination resources, including assigning priorities, reviewing deliverables, and developing project support capability.
• Proven ability to manage project budgets, timelines, risks, vendors, stakeholders, governance routines, and executive reporting.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence, challenge constructively, and align senior stakeholders across business and functional teams.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, including experience with forecasting, budget tracking, variance analysis, and decision support.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, including Excel and PowerPoint; experience with project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Planview, or similar platforms is an asset.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP, or other relevant project management certification preferred.
• Experience within financial services, insurance, corporate real estate, workplace strategy, facilities operations, or a large matrixed enterprise environment.
• Experience supporting hybrid workplace, occupancy strategy, space planning, employee experience, or business transformation initiatives.
• Familiarity with vendor contracts, procurement processes, leasehold improvements, capital planning, or construction project delivery.
• Prior people leadership experience, including managing, coaching, or developing junior project management or project coordination professionals.