Director, Chief Product Owner Sponsor & Advisor Experience

We are seeking an experienced Director of Digital Product Management to lead our Advisor & Sponsor digital product strategy and ensure our products exceed customer expectations. You will lead a small digital product team and would be accountable to the Head of Advisor and Sponsor Product (AVP). In this role, you will champion user-centricity, acting as the voice of both the business and the customer, while guiding the strategy and adoption of our digital products. You will work within a cross-functional team to develop innovative solutions and improve user experience, making a significant impact on our digital offerings. If you thrive on challenges and are passionate about simplifying consumer journeys, we invite you to join our team and help redefine the future of digital experiences.

Position Responsibilities:

Strategic Product Leadership:

• Define and evolve product strategy for complex digital platforms or services, grounded in user insights, market dynamics, and competitive intelligence.

• Own the Advisor & Sponsor digital product vision and roadmap, ensuring alignment with value stream, enterprise-level goals and long-term business outcomes.

• Lead cross-functional collaboration to translate strategic objectives into actionable product initiatives, fostering alignment across engineering, design, data, and business teams.

Execution Excellence & Scalable Delivery:

• Drive product development across multiple workstreams, ensuring iterative delivery of high-impact features and platform enhancements.

• Prioritize and manage a dynamic backlog, balancing short-term delivery needs with long-term strategic investments.

• Ensure delivery quality through oversight of user acceptance testing, release planning, and continuous improvement practices.

Data-Informed Decision Making:

• Leverage product analytics and customer feedback to assess performance, identify opportunities, and guide strategic pivots.

• Partner with data and analytics teams to ensure robust measurement frameworks and actionable insights.

• Apply structured prioritization frameworks (e.g., RICE, MoSCoW, Eisenhower Matrix) to optimize roadmap decisions and resource allocation.

Platform Modernization & Experience Innovation:

• Partner with local and global platform teams to ensure modernization initiatives-such as transitions to secure, scalable, headless architectures-are effectively adopted and aligned with product goals.

• Champion the use of global design systems to deliver consistent, accessible, and scalable user experiences across digital properties.

• Drive personalization and experience innovation strategies that enhance engagement and deliver measurable business value.

Change Management and Go-to-Market Activities:

• Develop and implement change management plans to support smooth rollouts and stakeholder adoption of new capabilities.

• Collaborate with marketing, sales, and support teams to deliver effective enablement, communications, and product demos.

• Monitor adoption metrics and continuously refine go-to-market strategies based on feedback and performance data.

Organizational Influence & Team Leadership:

• Communicate product strategy and impact clearly to executive leadership and key stakeholders, influencing enterprise priorities and investment decisions.

• Build and nurture strategic relationships across the organization to foster alignment, collaboration, and shared accountability.

• Manage vendor partnerships to ensure delivery excellence and strategic alignment with product goals.

• Lead and develop a high-performing digital product team, providing mentorship, coaching, and career development to direct reports.

• Set clear goals and expectations, aligning individual and team objectives with broader business strategy.

• Foster a culture of ownership, innovation, and customer-centricity, empowering team members to make strategic decisions and drive measurable outcomes.

• Optimize team structure and resource allocation to support evolving priorities and maximize business impact across complex digital platforms or services.

Required Qualifications:

• Experience: 6-10 years of experience in product management with at least 3 years in a leadership role, with a consistent track record of accomplishment of delivering successful digital products. Within the Group Retirement space would be an asset.

• Education: Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree (e.g., MBA or MS in a technical or business field) is a plus. Equivalent experience in digital product leadership may also be considered. Certifications in product strategy, agile leadership, or innovation management are beneficial.

• Skills: Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively across all levels of the organization.

• Digital Transformation: Proven track record of successfully launching and managing digital products; experience with AI is an asset but not required.

When you join our team:

• We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.

• We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.

• As part of our global team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

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 hr@manulife.com.

Referenced Salary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact hr@manulife.com for the salary range for your location.

Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact hr@manulife.com for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

We use data and analytics technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and automated processing tools, to analyze and process the information you provide to us or third parties in the application process. For more information, please refer to our personal information collection statement.