Product Owner

Role Description

Manulife is redefining our US Retirement business to enhance customer savings for retirement. The Product Owner partners closely with the Product Manager and Business Analyst to understand strategic priorities and translate them into clear, actionable priorities and plans for delivery. Acting as the voice of both the business and the customer, the Product Owner guides the delivery of value through an agile model—ensuring that work is aligned to customer needs, business outcomes, and enterprise priorities. This role is critical in connecting strategy to execution and driving measurable results that support the US Retirement vision, strategy, and OKRs.

If you enjoy a dynamic, highly collaborative environment - this is the place for you!

Position Responsibilities:

• Own and prioritize the squad backlog; translate business needs into clear user stories with detailed acceptance criteria.
• Ensure user stories are well-defined, properly scoped, and ready for development team intake.
• Partner with stakeholders, User Experience (UX)/Design, and engineering to further refine requirements and deliver customer-centric solutions.
• Support Agile ceremonies (refinement, sprint planning, reviews) and provide ongoing clarifications to the team.
• Define test scenarios and acceptance criteria; collaborate with QA and participate in UAT to ensure quality delivery.
• Act as the primary liaison between business and the squad, managing priorities and dependencies.
• Provide effective communication and progress updates with stakeholders and business partners.
• Drive continuous improvement through feedback, metrics, and iterative delivery.

Qualifications

• Business knowledge and understanding of the US Retirement business.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in a business role or project management, along with at least 2 years of Agile experience as a Business Product Owner.
• Previous or active role as a SAFe Product Owner is strongly preferred.
• Preferred proficiency with requirements management tools, such as Jira, Azure DevOps, Confluence, or similar platforms (even if not in an Agile context).
• Preference for background in OMNI recordkeeping.
• Experience in building capabilities and driving initiatives.
• Proficient in analyzing complex problems and implementing solutions that drive business results.
• Strong skills in user story requirement gathering and documentation.
• Excellent partner management and communication skills.
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint.
• Understanding of system design, analysis, and user testing.
• Outstanding organization and communication skills.
• Ability to cultivate relationships with key team members across various functions and levels.

Benefits

• 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.

Company Description

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 our story .