Product Lead, Product Development- Life Insurance

The Opportunity

The Global High-Net-Worth (Global HNW) Life Insurance Business was formed in 2023 to leverage Manulife’s enterprise-wide capabilities in serving this customer segment. By bringing together Manulife Bermuda with Manulife Hong Kong’s and Manulife Singapore’s International Brokerage Channel, the GHNW business can capitalize on the strengths of the three business units to accelerate growth in the HNW and Ultra HNW markets.

Manulife Bermuda is viewed as a leader in the Global High-Net-Worth life insurance market with capacity to write insurance on residents in over 150 countries. For 20 years, we have delivered value through innovation, driven growth through differentiated products and provided superior service by partnering with our third-party distributors to identify better ways to access and serve our customers.

Reporting to the Manulife Bermuda Sr. Director of Product Management, the Product Lead (Senior Product Manager) plays a critical role in bridging product strategy and delivery. This position operationalizes the GHNW product vision by translating strategic intent into clear, executable plans and ensuring coordinated delivery across Pricing, Underwriting, Operations, Distribution, Marketing, Technology, Legal, and Compliance teams.

The Product Lead ensures:

• Everyone understands the “why” and the “what” behind product initiatives.
• Team‑level roadmaps and execution plans are aligned to broader strategic priorities.
• Backlog and development priorities consistently reflect strategic value, not just tactical tasks.

This role champions disciplined execution, strengthens cross‑functional alignment, and ensures successful delivery of product enhancements, new features, regulatory changes, and market‑driven innovations across the GHNW portfolio.

Responsibilities:

Product Strategy Implementation

• Translates GHNW product strategies into detailed execution plans, ensuring clarity on scope, deliverables, timelines, and interdependencies.
• Aligns team‑level priorities to business strategy, ensuring all work ladders up to market, customer, and financial objectives.
• Partners with Product Directors, Pricing, Distribution, and Leadership to refine strategic requirements into actionable features and initiatives.

• Cross‑Functional Product Development Leadership

• Leads cross‑functional teams through the full product development lifecycle, from concept validation and pricing analysis to build, testing, and launch.
• Ensures cross‑team alignment on the product vision, value proposition, requirements, and definition of done.
• Facilitates decision‑making across Pricing, Marketing, Underwriting, Operations, Technology, Finance, and Legal teams to keep delivery moving.
• Anticipate and resolve cross‑functional barriers related to systems, operations, compliance, or distribution.
  

Product Build, Launch & Operational Enablement

• Oversee development of product requirements, business specifications, and operational readiness components.

• Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor product performance across sales, underwriting, profitability, persistency, claims, and client engagement.
• Identify improvement opportunities, conduct root‑cause analysis, and recommend product or process changes.
• Integrate customer, advisor, and distributor feedback into enhancement plans and future roadmap decisions.
  

Stakeholder & Governance Leadership

• Serve as the product organization’s anchor point, providing transparency into status, risks, decisions, and progress.
• Ensure product documentation, governance materials, regulatory artifacts, and SharePoint repositories are accurate and up to date.
• Manage product‑related inquiries, exception requests, and escalations from distribution partners and internal stakeholders.

• Process & Execution Excellence

• Drives consistency, quality, and discipline in product delivery by improving processes, tools, and best practices.
• Contributes to strengthening the product management operating model across the GHNW business.
• Champions a culture of collaboration, data‑driven decision‑making, and customer‑centricity.
  

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Economics, Actuarial Science, Marketing, or related field.
• 5-10+ years of experience in product management, life insurance, financial services, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams to deliver complex product initiatives.
• Strong understanding of the life insurance product lifecycle, including pricing, underwriting, operations, and regulatory considerations.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate strategic intent, influence without authority, and drive alignment.
• Strong analytical problem‑solving capabilities with the ability to translate insights into actionable recommendations.
• Experience in Agile delivery environments is an asset, including backlog management and cross‑team coordination.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, operate with urgency, and lead through ambiguity.
• Ensure actuarial models, system configuration, illustrations, policy forms, and distribution materials reflect approved product design.
• Lead launch readiness activities including advisor communications, training materials, service model preparation, and internal awareness.
• Drive post‑launch monitoring, issue resolution, and iterative enhancements to ensure optimal performance.

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

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.