Senior Manager - Reporting & Planning, Europe

Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation. Part of our parent company Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life UK has operated in the United Kingdom since 1903. We have hundreds of respected and supported employees committed to doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues. Canada Life UK is transforming to create a more customer-focused business by providing our customers with expertise on financial and tax planning, offering home finance and annuities propositions, and providing collective fund solutions to third party customers.

Purpose of the role

The role holder will lead a small high-performing team in order to run and continuously improve the end‑to‑end IFRS reporting and planning processes for the consolidated Europe segment into the Lifeco parent company. In doing so, the role holder must ensure there are clear instructions, robust monitoring, effective query management, and consistent adherence to deadlines across all reporting entities.

What you'll do

• Group reporting operations
  • With support from a small high-performing team, coordinate and execute the end‑to‑end reporting timetable for Europe, ensuring all markets / entities understand consolidation and reporting requirements, deliverables (i.e. IFRS earnings, MD&A and certification of segment reporting) and deadlines.
  • Prepare and issue clear, standardised reporting instructions, templates and guidance notes to all FP&A teams (or equivalent) for quarterly and annual cycles.
  • Maintain and communicate a central calendar of reporting milestones and cut‑offs, proactively tracking progress and escalating risks to on‑time delivery as needed.
• Delivery of the Europe segment result and reports
  • As part of the Financial Performance leadership team, review and challenge the completeness and accuracy of the consolidated Europe segment numbers - on a base and net earnings basis.
  • Address any inconsistencies, gaps and errors with the Financial Performance, Europe team and the FP&A teams in the markets.
  • Prepare the draft / final Europe numbers for review and challenge from the Financial Performance, Europe leadership team on a timely basis.
  • Design and manage the process which delivers the Europe segment business plan in accordance with the Great-West Lifeco medium-term objectives for Europe.
  • Manage the design, governance, and delivery of the European planning cycle - including long-range planning, annual budgeting, and rolling forecasting.
  • Working with the Senior Manager - Partnering & Insights, ensure alignment with the Great-West and Europe medium-term objectives, strategy and value creation priorities.
  • The role is responsible for consolidating the business plans (prepared by the FP&A teams) across each of Europe's markets, ensuring high-quality reporting, and continuous improvement of planning processes, tools, and (working with the Senior Manager - Partnering & Insights) insights across the Europe segment.
  • Act as the central coordinator for the European planning process, ensuring alignment across all stakeholder groups, business markets and functions.
  • Own the European rolling forecast process, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and (with input from the Senior Manager - Partnering & Insights) actionable insights.
• Monitoring and controls
  • Monitor submission status from all market teams (actuals, forecasts, budgets) against the agreed timetable for reporting and planning cycles, highlighting delays and data / information quality issues.
  • Perform first‑line checks on submissions from the market FP&A teams (or equivalent) to ensure completeness, internal consistency and alignment to group definitions and policies.
  • Maintain and enhance operational controls around the reporting process, including checklists, sign‑offs and documentation of key procedures.
• Query and issue management
  • Act as the central point of contact for Lifeco reporting operational queries from reporting entities and internal stakeholders.
  • Log, prioritise and resolve queries and requests efficiently, coordinating with Lifeco Accounting, Enterprise FP&A and Expenses teams, as required.
  • Track recurring issues and use trends to drive process and guidance improvements.
• Timeliness and adherence to deadlines
  • Produce regular status reports on submission progress, timeliness and outstanding actions for Europe Finance leadership team and other stakeholders.
  • Identify root causes of late or incomplete submissions and agree corrective actions with relevant entities.
  • Support continuous improvement initiatives to reduce cycle times and improve reliability of on‑time reporting.
• Data & process improvement and standardisation
  • Review existing Europe reporting processes, tools and documentation to identify simplification, automation and standardisation opportunities.
  • Work with Finance Systems / IT to specify, test and implement enhancements to data, reporting systems, workflows and dashboards.
  • Document and maintain up‑to‑date process maps, operating procedures and, where proportionate, training materials for the Europe reporting process.
  • Collaborate with the Senior Manager - Partnering & Insights to develop the Europe segment datastore, and support the deployment of technologies (e.g. AI) to enhance the insights and analytics suite.
• Stakeholder engagement and training
  • Build strong working relationships with the Financial Performance, Europe; and wider Finance teams across the Europe business and Lifeco parent company to support compliance with Europe and Lifeco reporting requirements.
  • Deliver briefings and training to reporting entities on process changes, new instructions, system upgrades and best practice.
  • Gather feedback from users to inform future process improvements and service enhancements.

What you'll bring to the role

• Technical Expertise
  • Strong experience in financial or management reporting within a group environment, ideally in a complex, multi‑entity organisation.
  • Good understanding of end‑to‑end reporting cycles (month‑end, quarter‑end, year‑end) and related controls.
  • Proven track record in process management and continuous improvement, including documenting processes and implementing changes.
  • Comfortable working with reporting / ERP / consolidation systems (e.g. SAP, Workiva, use of AI tooling, etc.) and large data sets; able to use spreadsheets and reporting tools effectively.
• Communication
  • Excellent communication skills - ability to write clear instructions and explain requirements to non‑experts.
• Relationship Building
  • Experience of building and leveraging internal / company and external network.
  • Strong ability to collaborate with experts and interested parties from across the business to influence, obtain input and buy‑in.
  • Excellent stakeholder management skills at all levels up to and including C‑Suite.
• Taking Initiative
  • Problem‑solving mindset, with the ability to identify issues early and drive practical solutions.
  • Proactively identifies and manages risks.
• Developing Self and Others
  • Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and stakeholders simultaneously.
  • Strong leadership and team development skills.
  • Ability to provide constructive feedback and share opinions to line manager, team members, and other colleagues in a timely and constructive manner.

Qualifications (For the job and not the person)

Qualified accountant (e.g. ACCA, CIMA, ACA), with strong experience in financial reporting and finance operations.

Benefits of working at Canada Life

We believe in recognising and rewarding our people, so we offer a competitive salary and benefits package that's regularly reviewed. As a Canada Life UK colleague, you'll receive a competitive salary and comprehensive reward package including a generous pension and bonus scheme, along with, income protection, private medical insurance and life assurance. We have a fantastic number of other benefits and support services as well as regular personal and professional development.

How we work at Canada Life

Our culture is unique and incredibly important to us. We care about doing the right thing for our people, customers and community and helping others to build better futures. Our blueprint behaviours shape and influence how we work, and are central to the relationships we have with others. Every day we are encouraged to be more curious, own the outcome, face challenges together and find a way forward.

We want colleagues to have rewarding careers with us so we invest in the development of our people, technology and workplaces. That's why we offer a range of training, flexible working and opportunities to grow and develop.

Diversity and inclusion

Building an inclusive workplace with a diverse workforce where everyone can feel they belong and achieve their potential regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other characteristic is a key commitment for us. We are proud of the progress we're making in DEI, and we continue for it to be a significant focus.

We appreciate that everyone has different work and life responsibilities. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements, including part time, for any of our roles should this be a requirement for you.