This role designs and delivers a scalable, secure, cloud native AI platform that enables enterprise grade AI and agent powered solutions. The position focuses on building event driven, distributed services using Akka and modern MLOps practices to support continuous learning, experimentation, and governance. Working closely with architects, data scientists, and business leaders, this role ensures reliable, high performance AI infrastructure that accelerates innovation while meeting compliance and regulatory requirements.

Position Responsibilities:

• Builds and maintains high-performance, fault-tolerant, secure, and scalable AI platform services and abstractions that support diverse AI solutions with automation-first delivery.
• Designs, builds, and maintains the technology platform's features and infrastructure, including hardware, software, and network components.
• Integrate AKKA, AdaptiveML workflows for continuous/online learning, feature stores, model registries, and A/B experimentation.
• Implement AI Foundry components for orchestration, feature engineering, model deployment, and governance.
• Develop reusable reference patterns, inner-source components that meet reliability, security, and compliance standards.
• Implement shared runtimes for multi agent coordination, state management, memory persistence, and messaging.
• Design interoperable APIs/SDKs used by data scientists and developers to build agent powered applications.
• Maintain and improve CI/CD pipelines and developer toolchains for AI services to enable rapid, compliant delivery.
• Evaluate emerging AI/ML infrastructure capabilities; prototype and introduce tools that improve developer productivity and reliability.
• Develop and operate scalable backend services supporting high traffic agent interactions, retrieval operations, and real time execution flows.
• Use cloud native technologies (containers, orchestration, IaC, CI/CD) to deliver reliable, cost-efficient services.
• Optimize runtime performance across CPU/GPU/accelerator workloads.
• Monitors and resolves persistent platform issues when surfaced by technical support teams such as bottlenecks, connectivity problems, and system failures.
• Considers compliance and regulatory requirements throughout the platform lifecycle. Implements security measures, such as access controls, encryptions, and vulnerability assessments when applicable.
• Partners with architects and business leaders to design and build robust platforms across all Global AI Platform capability layers.
• Forms a holistic understanding of tools, key business concepts, and the data and cross-team dependencies.
• Investigates new platform solutions to enhance service delivery experience.
• Performs peer reviews of code / deliverables and analysis for continuous learning and continuous improvement.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years in software engineering; 3+ years leading teams/projects in AI/ML or distributed systems.
• Strong expertise in Akka and event-driven microservices at scale.
• Hands-on experience with AI Foundry and AdaptiveML (or equivalent platforms for model lifecycle, orchestration, and continuous learning).
• Proficiency in Scala or Java (Akka ecosystem), plus Python for ML tooling.
• Experience with stream processing and data pipelines.
• Solid MLOps background: model registries, feature stores, CI/CD for ML, containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes).
• Cloud proficiency (AWS/Azure), Terraform or IaC, and secrets/IAM.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems: consistency, partitioning, backpressure, resilience patterns.
• Strong communication, documentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with online learning, reinforcement learning, or active learning in production.
• Knowledge of responsible AI frameworks, model risk management, and fairness/bias assessment.
• Performance optimization for low-latency inference; GPU/accelerator utilization.
• Experience in regulated industries (e.g., financial services/insurance) with audit and governance requirements.

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.

#LI-Hybrid

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.

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 hr@manulife.com.

Referenced Salary Location

Toronto, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$113,000.00 CAD - $163,000.00 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 hr@manulife.com 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 hr@manulife.com for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.

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.