Senior Legal Manager

The opportunity

The primary functions of the role are (1) to develop and implement legal strategies to protect the companies' interests and ensure compliance with laws and regulations, (2) to provide timely and reliable legal services to the senior management and business units in a variety of legal topics, (3) to collaborate with management to devise efficient and legally defensible strategies, (4) to effectively and efficiently support the distribution compliance and human resources – employee relations segment, (5) to closely coordinate with external counsels to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness, (6) to manage litigious and regulatory matters, (7) to conduct legal research and stay updated on changes in laws and regulations affecting the insurance industry, and (8) to provide guidance and support to other members of the legal team.

The position requires a highly qualified lawyer to oversee the legal aspects of the Company to ensure legal compliance and minimize probability of exposure to legal and regulatory risks, among others.

General Responsibilities

• Draft and solidify legal opinions, contracts, and other legal documents.
• Research and evaluate different risk factors, especially legal and regulatory risks, regarding business decisions and strategies.
• Offer proactive advice on possible legal issues.
• Communicate and negotiate with external parties, including but not limited to regulators, external counsels, and counterparties.
• Deal with simple and complex regulatory and legal matters with different stakeholders.
• Release responses to Requests for Legal Assistance (RLA) within turn-around-time (TAT). Communicate and provide answers to legal queries of the business units in a language understood by them. Manage the legal risk exposure of the Company by ensuring compliance with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements. Assist other subsidiaries and affiliates of the Company.

Corporate Governance

• Assist in drafting and filing of corporate documents, such as board meeting minutes, resolutions, and agreements.
• Maintain and update corporate records. Coordinate board and committee meetings, including scheduling, preparing agendas, and distributing materials.
• Assist in preparing reports, presentations, and correspondence for internal and external stakeholders.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with corporate governance regulations and guidelines.
• Manage communication with the members of the board, executives, and external parties, as needed.
• Support the Corporate Secretary especially in special projects or initiatives related to corporate governance.

Litigation Management

• Timely attend to notices, orders, subpoenas, directives from courts, government, and regulatory bodies.
• Craft and review effective and solid legal strategies and responses to any litigation, manage and oversee litigation decisions by the Company.
• Manage and keep updated the litigation portfolio/tracker of the Company. Ensure that current statuses of the cases are encoded.
• Represent the Company as legal counsel in defense or any action, suit, or legal/regulatory proceedings.
• Draft pleadings and other legal documents.
• Coordinate with external retained counsel for specific cases to ensure that the interests of the Company are safeguarded.
• Report the status of cases attended within seventy-two (72) hours or earlier, as necessary, from the time of the hearing/meeting.
• Attend meetings with relevant regulators, judicial, and quasi-judicial bodies, as instructed.
• Resolve disputes through a collaborative process with the business units to achieve desired outcomes and avoid exposure to litigation risks.

Distribution Compliance and Human Resources Support

• Provide practical and effective legal support to Human Resources and Distribution Compliance.
• Review Notices to Explain and Notices of Decision and provide recommendations on the findings and decisions of the Company.
• Provide coaching and counseling to Human Resources and/or managers on how to manage labor risks.
• Release reviewed and revised Notices to Explain, Recommendation/Findings, and Notices of Decision with agreed TAT.

Legal Records Management

• Keep an updated and complete record of all legal/litigation documents and proceedings for the Company.
• Organize, maintain, and keep updated the RLA tracker.
• Timely and accurately record all RLAs handled in the Legal RLA tracker. Ensure that all legal opinions rendered and contracts reviewed are properly coded, recorded, and uploaded in the RLA tracker.
• Ensure that background and specific objectives of the RLAs are timely gathered through internal meetings and thereafter properly documented.
• Ensure confidentiality of documents maintained and track chain of custody.
• Adhere to Company document and retention policies.

Training and Participation in Value Adding Projects

• Complete required training courses/seminars.
• Attend and participate in webinars, trainings, or meetings related to the insurance business and the legal profession.
• Keep up-to-date with the latest regulatory and legal changes.

Expense Efficiency

• Closely coordinate with external counsel to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
• Reduce the use of paper and support the use of an online system (e.g., SharePoint).

How will you create impact?

The Senior Legal Manager assists the Head of Legal and Corporate Secretary in supporting the management and the business units of the Company. The Senior Legal Manager shall act as the Assistant Corporate Secretary to support the Corporate Secretary in all corporate governance and administrative functions.

What motivates you?

• You obsess about customers, listen, engage and act for their benefit.
• You think big, with curiosity to discover ways to use your agile approach and enable business outcomes.
• You thrive in teams and enjoy getting things done together.
• You take ownership and build solutions, focusing on what matters.
• You do what is right, work with integrity and speak up.
• You share your humanity, helping us build a diverse and inclusive work environment for everyone.

What we are looking for

• College graduate with a Law Degree (Juris Doctor, Bachelor of Laws, or its equivalent).
• Bar Passer and Member of the Philippine Bar.
• Proven experience as a legal counsel in a business environment or law firm, or relevant experience in litigation and/or corporate work.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the legal processes and legal framework of the insurance business in the Philippines and other applicable substantive laws, rules, and regulations.
• Knowledge of corporate law and governance principles.
• Ability to work independently and make sound legal decisions.
• Above average reading, comprehension, and writing skills.
• Negotiating skills.
• Highly developed communication and relationship-building skills.
• Analytical and logical thinking.
• Computer proficiency – Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

What can we offer you?

• A competitive salary and benefits package.
• A growth trajectory that extends upward and outward, encouraging you to follow your passions and learn new skills.
• A focus on growing your career path with us.
• Flexible work policies and strong work-life balance.
• Professional development and leadership opportunities.

Our commitment to you

• Values-first culture: We lead with our Values every day and bring them to life together.
• Boundless opportunity: We create opportunities to learn and grow at every stage of your career.
• Continuous innovation: We invite you to help redefine the future of financial services.
• Delivering the promise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: We foster an inclusive workplace where everyone thrives.
• Championing Corporate Citizenship: We build a business that benefits all stakeholders and has a positive social and environmental impact.

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 recruitment@manulife.com.

Working Arrangement

Hybrid