Product Owner, Sponsor & Advisor Experience

Manulife/John Hancock; Southwestern Ontario; Hybrid; CAD 71,000 - 118,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Pension / Retirement savings plans

Flexible work environment

Job summary

Manulife/John Hancock is seeking an experienced Product Owner to drive strategy, delivery, and continuous innovation across our Canadian Retirement HR Services products. You will champion a user-centric approach, balancing business and customer needs while leading the strategy, usability, and adoption of our HR Services offerings.

You will prioritize the product backlog, deliver iterative value, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop solutions that enhance digital experiences,

Qualifications

• 3–5 years in digital product ownership / product management.
• Proven delivery of digital products end-to-end.
• Strong analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve product vision, roadmap, and priorities.
• Use customer feedback, data, and market insights to inform decisions.
• Voice of the customer and business across the lifecycle.
• Own backlog prioritization, user stories, and sprint outcomes.
• Lead agile ceremonies and ensure iterative delivery.
• Oversee UAT and ensure quality, usability, value delivery.

Skills

Product ownership

Agile delivery

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decisions

User-centric design

Tools

AEM

Salesforce

Sitecore

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Product Owner to drive strategy, delivery, and continuous innovation across our Canadian Retirement HR Services products. In this role, you will champion a user-centric approach, balancing business and customer needs while leading the strategy, usability, and adoption of our HR Services offerings. You will prioritize the product backlog, deliver iterative value, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop solutions that enhance digital experiences, leveraging AI through targeted opportunities. If you’re ready for a challenging and ambitious role, join us in redefining HR Service experiences.

Position Responsibilities:

• Product Strategy & Ownership Define and evolve product vision, roadmap, and priorities aligned to HR Services strategy
• Use customer feedback, data, and market insights to inform decisions
• Act as the voice of the customer and business across the product lifecycle
• Delivery & Execution Own backlog prioritization, user stories, and sprint outcomes
• Lead agile ceremonies and ensure consistent, iterative delivery
• Oversee UAT and ensure quality, usability, and value delivery
• Data, AI & Insights Leverage product analytics and data driven insights to optimize experience and decision-making
• Apply structured prioritization methods (e.g., RICE, MoSCoW)
• Partner with data teams to enable accurate, actionable insights
• Digital Experience & Platform Evolution Drive modernization of digital platforms (API-first, headless architectures)
• Implement design systems for consistent, accessible UX
• Enable personalization strategies to improve engagement and outcomes
• Adoption & Change Management Lead go-to-market and adoption strategies for new features
• Partner across HR, marketing, and support teams
• Monitor adoption metrics and refine rollout approaches
• Stakeholder Alignment Build strong relationships and align priorities across teams
• Communicate product vision, progress, and outcomes clearly
• Use frameworks (OKRs, RACI) to support execution and alignment

Required Qualifications:

• 3–5 years in digital product ownership / product management
• Proven delivery of successful digital products end-to-end
• Strong analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills
• Experience in agile (Scrum/Kanban) environments

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in Group Retirement Services or B2B environments
• Expertise in digital platforms (e.g., AEM, Salesforce, Sitecore)
• Familiarity with AI technologies and trends
• Experience with personalization tools (Adobe Target, Optimizely)
• Understanding of consent and compliance (GDPR, CCPA)
• Strong UX and data-driven decision-making capabilities

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 [e-mail].

Referenced Salary

• Location Waterloo, Ontario
• Working Arrangement Hybrid
• Salary range is expected to be between $70,500.00 CAD - $117,500.00 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 [e-mail] 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 [e-mail] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

Additional Information

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.

We’re proud of our accomplishments and recognition. Recent awards include:

• 2026 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award Winner
• Manulife Named one of Forbes World’s Best Employers 2025
• Financial Times World’s Best Employers Asia-Pacific 2026
• We’ve been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers 2026
• #1 Life Insurer for AI Maturity by Evident 2026

Closing

We’re on a mission to make decisions easier and lives better. Better is what drives us. It’s what inspires us to find new ways to support customers and colleagues in living longer and healthier lives. It’s the reason we’re dedicated to investing in digital innovation and industry-leading AI, and accelerating a sustainable and economically inclusive future. Joining us means you’ll be empowered to learn and grow your career. We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words. And as part of our global team, you’ll help shape the future you want to see – and discover that better can take you anywhere you want to go.

Our ambition is to be the number one choice for customers. Learn more at https://www.manulife.com/.