Senior Product Owner

At Manulife, we’re committed to making decisions easier and lives better. As a leader in Group Benefits, we support people when it matters most — during moments of illness, recovery, and transition. Our Disability Digital Experience plays a pivotal role in how members, plan sponsors, advisors, and internal teams navigate some of our most important and sensitive interactions.

We’ve got an amazing team and important digital experiences—and we’re ready for another smart human to join us.  We’re looking for an experienced and driven Senior Product Owner to help lead the evolution of our Disability Portal Experience. In this role, you’ll shape digital solutions that balance empathy and simplicity with operational excellence and business impact — improving experiences not just for members, but also for the teams who support them.

Reporting to the Director, Sponsor & Disability Experiences, you’ll be part of the Group Benefits Customer Experience team, helping bring our customer‑first vision and digital strategy to life.

Responsibilities:

Product Strategy & Delivery

• Own and evolve key features within the Disability Portal, acting as a clear product owner and advocate

• Partner closely with Digital Strategy, Experience Design, Technology, Operations, and Business teams to translate vision into prioritized backlogs and actionable delivery plans

• Contribute to short‑, mid‑, and longer‑term product roadmaps aligned to value stream priorities and measurable outcomes

• Translate complex disability journeys and processes into clear, value‑based user stories and acceptance criteria

• Thoughtfully manage dependencies, risks, and trade‑offs while keeping squads focused on what delivers the greatest value

• Communicate progress, outcomes, and insights with clarity and confidence to stakeholders and leaders

Customer & Experience Advocacy

• Serve as the voice of the customer and end user, ensuring empathy, accessibility, and clarity are built into every decision

• Use research, data, operational insights, and stakeholder feedback to inform priorities and refine solutions

• Partner with UX and Research to test assumptions, validate solutions, and continuously improve experiences

• Balance customer needs with regulatory, operational, and risk considerations inherent in disability experiences

Testing, Quality & Readiness

• Lead and support user acceptance testing (UAT), ensuring releases meet quality, usability, and performance standards

• Work closely with QA, Product Analysts, and Technology teams to identify and resolve defects

• Support organizational readiness by coordinating process changes, communications, and training with impacted teams

• Monitor post‑launch performance and insights to guide future investment and enhancements

Collaboration & Leadership

• Bring a coaching mindset to delivery squads, fostering outcome‑driven thinking and continuous improvement

• Build strong, trust‑based relationships across Technology, Operations, Claims, Customer Experience, Marketing, Compliance, and Risk

• Influence without authority, aligning different perspectives toward shared goals

• Support and mentor other Product Owners where applicable, and take broader ownership across initiatives as scope and experience grow

Qualifications:

• 3–5+ years of experience as a Product Owner or Product Manager, ideally within digital or customer experience platforms

• Strong grounding in Agile/Scrum practices and product lifecycle management

• Experience working with complex customer journeys, operationally intensive domains, or regulated environments

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to turn insight into action

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills — you can clearly articulate both the what and the why

• Experience with tools such as Jira, Confluence, analytics platforms, and release planning

• Experience in Insurance, Disability, Group Benefits, or financial services is a strong asset

• More senior candidates will bring experience owning broader product areas and influencing across multiple teams

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

Waterloo, OntarioHybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$85,300.00 CAD - $135,300.00 CAD

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.