Platform Leader: New Business & Underwriting

Manulife/John Hancock; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 127,000 - 236,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife/John Hancock seeks a Director-level Lead Platform Owner for New Business and Underwriting to own the platform roadmap, delivery outcomes, and operational health. You will partner with business and technology teams to enable scalable onboarding, underwriting, and modernization efforts.

You will lead a cross-functional team, drive AI-enabled capabilities, and ensure governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance across the platform landscape.

Qualifications

• 10 to 15+ years of technology experience, including leadership responsibility for enterprise platforms or core business systems.
• 3 to 5+ years of people leadership experience managing cross-functional teams.
• Experience in life insurance New Business, Underwriting, or Policy Administration is strongly preferred.
• Strong stakeholder-management and communication skills.
• Experience applying Agile or iterative delivery practices within regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the New Business & Underwriting platform roadmap in alignment with business priorities.
• Partner with architecture teams to advance platform capabilities, reduce complexity, and shorten application-to-issue cycle times.
• Evaluate platform capabilities and vendor offerings to improve underwriting efficiency and customer experience.
• Ensure platform stability, security, and scalability across new business intake, underwriting, and downstream integrations.
• Develop a modernization roadmap that reduces technical debt and supports AI and analytics capabilities.
• Lead delivery, health monitoring, and regulatory changes across New Business and Underwriting workflows.
• Drive business value through collaboration with Product, Distribution, Underwriting, Operations, Compliance, and Risk teams.

Skills

Leadership

Platform ownership

Agile delivery

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

AI capabilities

Data governance

Life insurance knowledge

Job description

Manulife/John Hancock seeks a Director-level Lead Platform Owner for New Business and Underwriting to own the platform roadmap, delivery outcomes, and operational health. You will partner with business and technology teams to enable scalable onboarding, underwriting, and modernization efforts.

You will lead a cross-functional team, drive AI-enabled capabilities, and ensure governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance across the platform landscape.