Senior Manager - Reporting & Planning, Europe - Canada Life Limited in London

Purpose of the role

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

What you’ll do

• Group reporting operations
  • Coordinate and execute the end‑to‑end reporting timetable for Europe, ensuring all markets and entities understand consolidation and reporting requirements, deliverables (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.
  • Deliver the Europe segment result and reports.
  • Review and challenge the completeness and accuracy of the consolidated Europe segment numbers – on a base and net earnings basis.
  • Address inconsistencies, gaps and errors with the Financial Performance, Europe team and the FP&A teams in the markets.
  • Prepare the draft and final Europe numbers for review and challenge from the Financial Performance, Europe leadership team on a timely basis.
• Design and manage the process
  • Manage the design, governance and delivery of the European planning cycle – including long‑range planning, annual budgeting and rolling forecasting.
  • Work with the Senior Manager – Partnering & Insights to ensure alignment with the Great‑West and Europe medium‑term objectives, strategy and value‑creation priorities.
  • Consolidate business plans prepared by the FP&A teams across Europe’s markets, ensuring high‑quality reporting and continuous improvement of planning processes, tools and 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 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 or 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 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) 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 and external networks.
  • 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
  • Qualified accountant (e.g. ACCA, CIMA, ACA) with strong experience in financial reporting and finance operations.

Benefits of working at Canada Life

We offer a competitive salary and comprehensive reward package including a generous pension, bonus scheme, income protection, private medical insurance and life assurance. Additional benefits and support services are available, and we regularly review the package.