Senior Human Resources Business Partner

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Date: Jan 26, 2026

Location: North York - Toronto, ON (Hybr, CA Winnipeg, MB (Hybrid), CA Calgary, AB (Hybrid), CA

Company: Wawanesa Insurance

 

Job ID: 9705 


Employment Type: Existing Role 

Working Business Language: English.
 

Salary: At Wawanesa, salary is only one component of a holistic, comprehensive and competitive offering that we provide to our employees. In addition to salary, full-time and part-time permanent employees are eligible for an annual bonus plan, leave of absence top-up programs and provided with generous vacation time, personal days, premium free benefits and pension plan. 
 

The salary offered for this role is determined with consideration to various factors, including but not limited to: your work location, local labour market conditions, external market salary data, internal pay equity and the knowledge, skills, experience and anticipated proficiency in the role. The salary offered is estimated to be within the following range: $100,000- $130,000. Candidates with salary expectations outside of the range are still encouraged to apply. 

 

About Us
At Wawanesa, we offer a hybrid work environment that offers flexibility to our employees in balancing in-office (2 days per week OR 15 hours per week in a Wawanesa office) and remote work. You may work from any of the following locations: Winnipeg, MB; Calgary, AB; Toronto (North York), ON. 
 

The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company (“Wawanesa Mutual”), founded in 1896, is one of Canada’s largest mutual insurers, with over $3.5 billion in annual revenue and assets of $10 billion (CAD). Wawanesa Mutual, with its National Headquarters in Winnipeg, is the parent company of Wawanesa Life, which provides life insurance products and services throughout Canada, and Western Financial Group, which distributes personal and business insurance across Canada. Wawanesa proudly serves more than 1.7 million members in Canada, and we are home to more than 3,300 employees distributed across the Canadian regions and communities where we operate. We give back to organizations that strengthen communities, donating more than $3.5 million annually to charitable organizations, including over $2 million annually in support of people on the front lines of climate change. We are also proud to be recognized as one of Manitoba’s Top Employers. To learn more visit wawanesa.com. 


We are currently looking for dedicated, driven, and enthusiastic individuals who thrive in an environment that welcomes change and are looking for an opportunity for diverse experience and advancement on a growing team.
 

Job Overview

The Senior HRBP serves as a strategic advisor to senior leaders, with accountability for shaping and enabling business strategy and culture through workforce, talent, and organizational solutions. This role leads complex people and organization initiatives by translating business priorities into integrated HR strategies, in partnership with the People Team Centers of Excellence (COE). This role works closely with senior leaders to diagnose organizational needs, facilitate workforce and talent planning discussions, and enable effective decision-making aligned with enterprise strategy and culture. 

 

Job Responsibilities

  • Build trusted partnerships to understand, identify, and prioritize business needs, providing business context and insight to HR to ensure people solutions are effectively tailored and delivered to meet business objectives.
  • Act as a strategic advisor by diagnosing people and organizational challenges, facilitating informed decision-making, and providing clear, well-reasoned recommendations aligned with enterprise priorities and HR frameworks.
  • Monitor trends in employment practices, workforce dynamics, and employee relations, and coach leaders on people management matters to enable timely, effective, and consistent handling of issues in alignment with company policies and processes.
  • Facilitate workforce and talent planning discussions, including talent pipeline and succession planning, to support achievement of business goals through appropriate resourcing, development, and internal mobility, in partnership with COEs.
  • Partner with senior leaders to identify leadership development needs and critical roles essential to achieving strategic objectives, monitor talent risks and attrition trends, and surface insights to support workforce readiness, performance, diversity, and inclusion.
  • Champion and facilitate enterprise talent programs within the business, including performance management, calibration sessions, succession planning, and talent reviews, ensuring consistent application and meaningful outcomes aligned with business needs.
  • Assess organizational structures, roles, and processes to identify opportunities to improve effectiveness and performance, and partner with leaders and COEs to recommend and support implementation of appropriate changes.
  • Manage competing priorities across a complex portfolio by making informed trade-offs, sequencing work appropriately, and balancing business needs with enterprise direction and capacity.
  • Contribute to continuous improvement of HR systems, processes, and practices by identifying opportunities informed by business feedback, industry best practices, and a focus on efficiency, productivity, and risk management.
  • Build capability by coaching, mentoring, and role modeling effective business partnership, sound judgment, and enterprise-minded decision-making.

Qualifications

  • Degree in Business, Human Resources, or a related field, or equivalent experience. HR designation preferred.
  • Minimum 10 years of progressive HR experience, including Senior HR Business Partner or comparable advisory experience supporting senior leaders in a complex organization. Insurance industry experience preferred.
  • Proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence leaders through sound judgment, credibility, and business insight.
  • Effectiveness in collaborating across functions and organizational levels, consistently prioritizing enterprise outcomes and shared accountability.
  • Experience facilitating workforce planning, talent reviews, succession planning, and performance management processes.
  • Strong capability to assess people and organizational issues and provide clear, practical recommendations aligned with enterprise frameworks and policies.
    Experience supporting organizational change and organizational effectiveness initiatives within the business.
  • Solid knowledge of employment practices, employee relations, and regulatory requirements.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including use of workforce data and insights.
  • Bilingualism (French/English) preferred


Diversity Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

At Wawanesa, we are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and believe that our strength lies in the diversity of our people – this is supported by having a representative workforce.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, including racialized persons, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, gender-diverse and neurodiverse individuals, and anyone who can contribute to the further diversification of thought and ideas. 
 

We aim to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all candidates. If you require accommodations during any stage of the recruitment process, please reach out in confidence to jobs@wawanesa.com.
 

All Wawanesa job applicants are subject to Wawanesa's Privacy Policy.

Please note that the recruitment process for this position may involve the use of AI tools to screen, assess, or select applicants. All final decisions are taken or reviewed by human recruiters and human hiring leaders in compliance with all applicable legislation.