Lead Product Owner

Manulife • Waterloo, ON

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

We’re looking for a passionate, engaged, and collaborative Product Owner to help us deliver on our refreshed strategy. Being able to navigate to get the best out of teams is essential. Effective communication, strong customer focus and leading through people for impact will be critical to delivering results.

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive business experience, including the successful execution of complex projects.
• Excellent understanding of the financial services industry.
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to build detailed business cases.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and conflict management skills, with well-developed presentation abilities.
• Ability to work with and influence cross-functional teams, demonstrating strong interpersonal skills.
• Effective conceptual, diagnostic, analytical, and problem-solving skills. Strategic thinker with a results-oriented focus.
• Demonstrated flexibility and judgment in a changing environment, with the ability to work effectively in a non-structured setting.
• Well-developed planning and project management skills, including process and change management abilities.
• University degree required; post-university degree or professional designation preferred. Industry-related education is also preferred.

Nice To Haves

• Extensive experience within the financial services industry, particularly in roles related to strategic planning, business development, or product management.
• Proven track record of leading high-performing teams and developing talent in a cross-functional environment.
• Experience in driving innovation and managing change initiatives within an organization.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies and their application within the financial services sector.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage and influence senior stakeholders and build strong relationships across the organization.
• Proficiency in leveraging data analytics to inform strategic decisions and optimize business processes

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve product strategy for complex digital platforms or products, grounded in user insights, market dynamics, and competitive intelligence.
• Own the platform/product vision and roadmap, ensuring alignment with enterprise-level goals and long-term business outcomes.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration to translate strategic objectives into actionable product initiatives, fostering alignment across stakeholders.
• Drive product development across multiple workstreams, ensuring iterative delivery and platform and program enhancements.
• Prioritize and manage a dynamic backlog, balancing short-term delivery needs with long-term strategic investments.
• Ensure delivery quality
• Develop and implement change management plans to support smooth rollouts and stakeholder adoption
• Collaborate with marketing, sales, and support teams to deliver effective enablement, communications, and product demos.
• Communicate product and platform strategy and impact clearly to executive leadership and key stakeholders, influencing enterprise priorities and investment decisions.
• Build and nurture strategic relationships across the organization to foster alignment, collaboration, and shared accountability.
• Manage vendor partnerships to ensure delivery excellence and strategic alignment.
• Set clear goals and expectations, aligning individual and team objectives with broader business strategy.
• Foster a culture of ownership, innovation, and customer-centricity, empowering team members to make strategic decisions and drive outcomes.
• Optimize team structure and resource allocation to support evolving priorities and maximize business impact across complex digital platforms and products.

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: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree