Senior Product Owner, Mortgage Creditor

Mortgage Creditor Insurance is on an exciting growth journey, and we are looking for someone to join our team! We are seeking an experienced Senior Product Owner to join the Product & Platforms team to drive our product & platform strategy, ensure we’re making progress on our Transformation, and exceed mortgage broker & customer expectations. In this role, you will champion user-centricity and balance the needs of the business and customers, managing the strategy, usability, and adoption of our digital products and platforms. You'll prioritize the backlog, deliver iterative value, and work with a cross-functional team to develop solutions that enhance user experiences. Your insights will influence process improvements and make a significant impact on our digital offerings. If you're ready for a challenging and ambitious role, join us in redefining digital experiences.

Position Responsibilities:

Product Discovery and Strategy:

• Leverage user feedback and competitive analysis to inform and refine product & platforms strategy.

• Lead the creation and continuous refinement of product & platform roadmaps that align with strategic goals, incorporating insights from the competitive landscape.

• Foster collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure a deep understanding of stakeholder needs and alignment with strategic goals and roadmap priorities.

• Work closely with the Director of Product & Platforms to ensure we’re communicating the value-add impact we’re making across Affinity and Canada Segment

• Stay connected with Canada Segment peers to ensure that we’re able to leverage existing work and learnings from other Business Units or product lines.

Product Delivery and Implementation:

• Actively engage in agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, and daily standups, and sprint retrospectives to drive effective product delivery.

• Play a key role within the Scrum Team, and partner closely with Engineering to refine and clarify requirements, provide context, and ensure delivery aligns with business and customer needs.

• Craft detailed user stories and prioritize the product backlog, managing trade-offs to facilitate efficient product development.

• Provide regular updates on delivery progress and collaborate with teams to maintain alignment with delivery goals and timelines.

• Oversee user acceptance testing to ensure high-quality standards and requirements are met.

• Support system releases by validating business readiness, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring features are communicated, adopted, and delivering intended value.

Data-Driven Insights and Strategic Decisions:

• Analyze platform data to monitor performance, identify trends, and drive informed decision-making.

• Partner with data teams to ensure accurate and timely data collection and analysis.

• Apply structured prioritization methods, such as the Eisenhower Matrix, RICE, and MoSCoW, to make data-driven decisions, ensuring product backlog and roadmap alignment with strategic objectives.

Platform Modernization and User Experience:

• Execute a roadmap aimed at modernizing the platform through enterprise-grade, secure, headless architecture.

• Implement global design systems to deliver consistent, scalable, and accessible user experiences.

• Develop and drive personalization strategies to enhance engagement and deliver measurable business value.

Change Management and Go-to-Market Activities:

• Drive the creation of adoption plans and ensure smooth rollouts of new product features.

• Collaborate with marketing, sales, and support teams to deliver effective training, communication, and demos.

• Monitor adoption metrics and gather feedback to continuously refine product adoption strategies.

Stakeholder Alignment:

• Cultivate strategic relationships and ensure alignment with stakeholders at all levels.

• Address and resolve challenges transparently, seeking guidance and support from leadership as needed.

• Utilize frameworks like SWOT, RACI, and OKRs to guide and support strategic decision-making

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 3-5 years of experience in product ownership with a consistent track record of accomplishment of delivering successful digital products and understanding of technology environments.

• Education: Bachelor's degree required. Certifications in Product Ownership (e.g. CSPO or ACSPO, SAFe) or related disciplines are a plus.

• Skills: Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities for navigating complex product challenges. Effective communicator with a proven ability to influence and collaborate across all levels, fostering alignment and team success.

• Product Lifecycle: In-depth knowledge of handling the product lifecycle from conceptualization through to deployment, ensuring timely and successful product launches incorporating change management, and digital engagement strategies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Domain Expertise: Experience in the Canadian insurance industry or mortgage industry is preferred.

• Digital Enablement: Hands-on experience supporting digital products across end-to-end servicing workflows (e.g., applications, claims, broker or customer support). Proficient in applying design systems to drive scalable and consistent user experiences. Familiar with personalization tools (e.g., Adobe Target, Optimizely) and their strategic impact on business outcomes.

• Digital Platform Expertise: Experience with enterprise-grade platforms (e.g., Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore, Salesforce). Understanding of headless architecture and API-first ecosystems. Proven ability to contribute to secure, scalable digital solutions.

• Consent Management and Compliance: Experience in managing consent management solutions to ensure compliance with global data privacy regulations, including GDPR and CCPA. Collaborated with legal and compliance teams to develop and maintain user consent policies and procedures.

• Collaboration & Influence: Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally with design, engineering, marketing teams and all other stakeholders. Skilled at articulating product vision, aligning priorities, and influencing stakeholders to drive product growth and innovation-without direct people management responsibilities.

• Customer-Centric Mindset: Strong grasp of UX principles and user behavior. Experienced in synthesizing customer feedback (quantitative and qualitative) to inform product decisions and enhance user satisfaction. LUMA Human Centred Design certification is a bonus.

• Iterative Delivery Proficiency: Demonstrated experience supporting iterative product delivery that drives business results and enhances customer experience. Established track record in collaborating across teams using methodologies such as Lean, Scrum, and Kanban, and be skilled in tools like Jira and Rally to maintain alignment and visibility throughout the product lifecycle.

• Stakeholder Management: Adept at engaging and handling stakeholders to align product vision and strategy, ensuring a unified approach to product development.

• Data-Driven Decisions: Strong ability to leverage data analytics to inform product decisions and optimize performance. Skilled in using tagged user interactions to uncover behavioral insights, identify friction points, and guide iterative improvements by driving innovation and growth through evidence-based strategies.

• AI Familiarity: Familiarity with the latest AI trends and technologies, providing a forward-thinking perspective that can be a significant asset in future product enhancements.

• Strategic Planning: Ability to define and drive long-term product vision and roadmap, aligning digital product strategy with business objectives. Skilled in prioritizing initiatives to maximize customer and business impact.

• Market & Competitive Analysis: Proficient in analyzing industry trends, customer needs, and competitor offerings to inform product strategy. Skilled at identifying market opportunities and translating insights into innovative, differentiated solutions that drive relevance and competitive advantage.

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.

#LI-Hybrid

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 recruitment@manulife.com.

Referenced Salary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact recruitment@manulife.com for the salary range for your location. 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. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

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 recruitment@manulife.com for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.