Product Owner, Individual Insurance

The Product Owner will work closely with a team of Product Owners, Manager of Engineering, Delivery squads and Business partners to deliver insurance products, services and capabilities to our customers and advisors. This is a fast paced, changing environment where every day brings something new, and innovative ideas are encouraged. This role will contribute to evolve the customer and advisor experience through simplified and intuitive design; putting the client’s needs first by providing the right tools and solutions to facilitate a positive digital experience. This role will also contribute to the realization of Value Stream strategy, vision, and OKRs by aligning and prioritizing business goals with actionable results.

As a Product Owner, you will be responsible for:

• defining, planning and delivery of products, services and capabilities for features/epics
• explaining the ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of the features to the delivery squad and stakeholders through use of storyboards and other tools available
• create and refine user stories in collaboration with stakeholders while maintaining and continuously prioritizing product and release backlog
• clearly identifying acceptance criteria, assumptions, risks and dependencies along with leading the acceptance testing in conjunction with business partners
• conducting analysis and incorporate findings, feedback and insights from customer and business research
• facilitating discussions with stakeholders regarding features in development, obtaining feedback, to make decisions on MVP and adjust user stories accordingly to close the feedback loop with stakeholders
• developing and maintaining appropriate tracking and reporting of features post-launch to evaluate future investment.

How will you create impact?

In our quest to enhance and deliver new digital and self-service capabilities for our customers and advisors, your collaborative nature will bring together internal players from various functions including, but not limited to Product, UW, Technology, Sales, Marketing, Compliance and Operations. You possess an excellent balance of analytical, communication, and leadership skills and are comfortable challenging others to continually improve our offering.

What we are looking for:

• 3-5 years of relevant work experience
• Experience working in the Life & Living Benefits Insurance industry, especially exposure to Underwriting.
• Technology background will be a plus.
• Knowledge and experience working with Agile framework along with common tools such as Confluence, JIRA, Mural, PPT, etc.
• Extensive hands-on experience in requirement gathering, definition EPICS, Features, writing User Stories, Refining the stories, defining Acceptance Criteria and Definition of Ready, creating sprint roadmap, prioritizing backlog, etc.
• Hands-on experience running Agile methodologies like Daily Refinement, Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Retro, etc.
• Ability to proactively identify potential risks and timely reporting to leadership team.
• Excellent verbal & written communication skills including the ability to clearly articulate business needs to technical resources and reporting and presenting to Sr Leaders and Executives.
• PO certification is desired.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills while working in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities
• Ability to influence and resolve conflict without having direct authority; confidence to raise issues as required
• Ability to foster positive relationships and effectively lead various sized groups to attain collaborative and innovative solutions
• Adaptable and great aptitude for change; reprioritize conflicting workloads and deliverables.

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 our story.

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 [email protected].

Primary Location

Toronto, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$71,925.00 CAD - $119,875.00 CAD

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [email protected] 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 [email protected] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.