Product Owner

Manulife John Hancock; Southwestern Ontario; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife John Hancock is seeking a Product Owner to own the product backlog and guide agile delivery for digital financial services. You will translate customer needs into prioritized features, drive strategy and milestones, and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure successful implementation.

You will launch new digital transactions, monitor outcomes, and iterate using analytics and feedback to improve user experiences.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of relevant work experience.
• Experience in financial services or insurance a plus.
• Knowledge of Scrum and Agile software development.
• Proficiency with Confluence and JIRA for backlog and planning.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven track record delivering digital projects across teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the product backlog and prioritize features.
• Clarify customer and business needs and drive delivery.
• Define strategy, planning, and milestones for key capabilities.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure successful features.
• Launch new digital transactions and monitor outcomes.
• Iterate on features based on feedback and analytics.

Skills

Scrum & Agile

Communication

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Product ownership

Tools

Confluence

JIRA

Job description

Join Manulife, a leading international financial & insurance services provider, helping people make decisions easier and lives better.

Manulife is on a journey to become a customer obsessed, digital leader; we're transforming, and we need you! Individual Insurance Canada (IIC) & Guaranteed Wealth Solutions (GWS) has designed the broadest product shelf and offer the most innovative tools to help our customers every step of the way.

The IIC & GWS Product Owners are part of the Digital Delivery & Go-To-Market team responsible to establish our go-forward Agile organization on our quest to achieve our Mission: "Decisions made easier. Lives made better".

Within our division, we are seeking a highly motivated Product Owner who will work closely with our business functional areas to dig deep into the products we offer, would like to offer and everything in between. This is a fast paced, changing environment where every day brings something new, and innovative ideas are encouraged. You will be partnering closely with our development squads to evolve the digital experiences through simplified and intuitive design; putting Canadians needs first by providing the right tools and solutions to facilitate positive digital experiences. As part of the Digital Delivery team, you deeply understand our customers and are the bridge between business and technology to design experiences our customers will love.

Position Responsibilities:

What will you do as a Product Owner?

• Own the product backlog and feature prioritization
• Provide clarity on what and why of customer / business needs
• Drive the product strategy, planning, and delivery of key capabilities for features
• Ensure progress against important milestones
• Act as the voice of the customer in the definition of product; incorporate feedback from customer insights and research
• Work in collaboration with internal and external key stakeholders to ensure successful development and implementation of features
• Ability to determine solutions and opportunities that will close gaps in product/service
• Launch new digital transactions
• Monitor the outcomes and experience of launched features and iterate where required
• Enhance and manage existing digital properties

How you will be spending your time?

• 10% Discovery with a key focus on refining scope, high level solution and technology feasibility. Contribute to vision and roadmap supporting at the Epic Portfolio level / client facing application level - Brain Storm, protype and test solutions.
• 15% Planning where you will define and decompose work that delivers value on a sprint-by-sprint cadence. Participate in defining Features and provide recommendations related to MVP and releasable functionality. Participate in or run internal/external interviews with end-users to gain feedback; act as the voice of the customer; review 'always-on' feedback. Document business requirements and review with stakeholders. Coordinate with stakeholders for the definition of acceptance, test plans, execution and approval of business results. Ensure ongoing monitoring requirements are defined. Create and manage risk register. Define the priority of the deliverables and order of build in partnership with the Manager of Engineering (MoE).
• 70% Executing through the development life-cycle phase; story boarding, agile ceremonies and seeking continues feedback.
• 5% Monitor : Report weekly (first month)/monthly on OKR outcomes at portfolio sync, feature usage, adoption, other KRI's as defined throughout the project.

Required Qualifications:

• 3 - 5 years of relevant work experience.
• Experience working in the financial services and/or insurance industry.
• Understanding and/or past interaction with financial advisors/consultants, managing agencies, institutional administration, etc.
• In-depth knowledge of Scrum and Agile Software Development Methodology and working knowledge of product development architecture
• Proficiency in the use of analytic and agile tools like Confluence, JIRA, etc.
• Working knowledge of how Advisors and Consultants grow and manage their business.
• Prior track record of delivering digital projects, working within innovative environments, and leading execution across functional teams and business units.
• Highly effective communicator who can clearly articulate business needs between technical and non-technical resources as well as present strategy and vision to senior management.
• Strong relationship development and management skills.
• Entrepreneurial drive and demonstrated ability to achieve stretch goals in an innovative and fast-paced environment.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Product management or design experience with a focus on Digital.
• Experience defining and tracking key digital performance indicators.
• Ability to take initiatives, work with minimal supervision and passi