Director of Engineering – Retirement Digital Platforms

Manulife • Waterloo, ON

8d • CA$113,260 - CA$210,340 • Hybrid

About The Position

At Manulife, we're helping millions of customers make decisions easier and lives better. As we continue to modernize our retirement and payments technology platforms, we're seeking an experienced Director of Software Engineering to lead the evolution of our US Retirement (USR) platform and SWIFT-enabled payment capabilities. This is a highly visible leadership role that combines strategic thinking with technical depth. You'll be responsible for driving platform modernization, leading AI-enabled innovation, overseeing mission-critical payment technologies, and mentoring engineering teams across multiple squads. We are looking for a leader who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves, solve complex technical challenges, and partner closely with engineers to deliver scalable solutions.

Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive software engineering experience, including leadership of large-scale engineering teams.
• Experience leading enterprise platforms supporting mission-critical business functions.
• Deep understanding of software architecture, distributed systems, APIs, cloud technologies, and modern engineering practices.
• Experience with SWIFT messaging, payment platforms, or financial transaction processing environments.
• Proven success managing multiple engineering teams and delivering complex technology initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on technical involvement.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with experience partnering across business and technology organizations.
• Exceptional communication, coaching, and leadership capabilities.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in Wealth Management, Retirement Services, Financial Services, Banking, or Payments Technology.
• Experience with Microsoft Azure and cloud-native architectures.
• Strong understanding of CI/CD, DevOps, Infrastructure as Code, and platform automation.
• Experience with AI-enabled software development, automation, and engineering productivity tools.
• Familiarity with React, microservices, API-driven architectures, and modern web technologies.
• Experience leading modernization and digital transformation initiatives.
• Knowledge of security, compliance, resiliency, and operational risk management in regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Own the technology strategy, roadmap, and delivery for the US Retirement platform and associated SWIFT payment capabilities.
• Lead the modernization of critical applications, services, and integrations to improve scalability, resilience, and customer experience.
• Drive the adoption of cloud-native, API-first, and AI-powered engineering solutions.
• Partner with Product, Architecture, Operations, and Business leaders to align technology investments with business priorities.
• Lead multiple engineering squads responsible for platform development, enhancements, integrations, and production support.
• Ensure the delivery of secure, high-quality, and scalable software solutions.
• Drive engineering best practices including Agile delivery, DevOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability, and operational excellence.
• Champion platform stability, reliability, and performance while supporting ongoing enhancement initiatives.
• Provide technical leadership for SWIFT-related applications, messaging workflows, and payment integrations.
• Drive the modernization and resiliency of payment processing platforms.
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to support evolving payment and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure appropriate governance, controls, and operational readiness for business-critical financial transactions.
• Identify opportunities to leverage AI and automation to improve platform capabilities, engineering productivity, and operational efficiency.
• Lead the adoption of AI-enabled development tools and practices across engineering teams.
• Champion innovation and continuous improvement initiatives that create measurable business value.
• Build, mentor, and develop high-performing engineering teams across multiple squads.
• Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Coach engineers and technical leads in architecture, engineering practices, problem-solving approaches, and career development.
• Promote collaboration and psychological safety while driving high performance.
• Remain actively engaged in architectural decisions, technical design reviews, and complex problem resolution.
• Work alongside engineering teams when required to troubleshoot critical issues, review solutions, and accelerate delivery.
• Demonstrate strong coding and technical troubleshooting abilities, with the capability to dive into code, analyze system behavior, and help teams solve challenging engineering problems.
• Lead by example through technical expertise and practical problem-solving.

Benefits

• 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.
• various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources.
• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed