Director, Product - US Retirement

Job summary

The Product Management Director will lead a team of product managers to bridge strategy and execution within a SAFe agile delivery model. They are responsible for developing product frameworks, managing portfolio governance, and ensuring operational excellence across engineering, marketing, and sales teams.

Job details

Manulife John Hancock Retirement is redefining our US Retirement business to help customers save for retirement. Working within a SAFe agile delivery model, the team focuses on delivering solutions that create engaging and streamlined experiences for retirement plan customers and intermediaries. The Product Management Director will manage a team of Product Managers/Product Owners who serve as the bridge between strategy and execution, ensuring initiatives are properly analyzed, prioritized, approved, implemented, and monitored for outcomes. Position Responsibilities: Process & Methodology: Develop and maintain standardized product management frameworks, workflows, and tools. Lead a High-Performing Team: Lead a lean, high-leverage team focused on analytics, portfolio governance, and execution excellence. Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and results-driven execution. Leading change management and adoption: Support the rollout of new tools, workflows, or policies, ensuring smooth adoption across teams. Product Planning & Governance: Support roadmap planning, prioritizing product portfolio activities, backlog management and facilitating data-driven decision-making. Operational Execution: Ensure smooth coordination between engineering, marketing, sales, and support for product launches. Strategic Communication: Expertly translate goals, manage stakeholder expectations, and align diverse teams through compelling narratives and data-driven insights. Analytical Thinking: Comfort with data to define KPIs analyze trends, and identify levers for operational improvement, turning insights into actionable strategies Data & Insights: Manage product analytics to track performance, user engagement, and feature success. Required Qualifications: Minimum of 7+ years of experience as a product delivery or product operations leader Strong leadership and communication skills; ability to take ownership of deliverables and drive collaboration with cross-functional teams and stakeholders Ability to balance strategic thinking with detailed execution. Exceptional organization, communication, and interpersonal skills. Ability to cultivate relationships with key stakeholders across functions and levels. Good understanding of project management methodologies and agile processes. Preferred Qualifications: Transformational, Strategic Thinking & Portfolio Mindset: Ability to translate business strategy into executable plans and measurable outcomes. Operational Efficiencies: Ability to design and institutionalize operating mechanisms that scale predictability and performance. Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Skilled at working across architecture, product, finance, operations and agile teams Analytical & Data‑Driven Decision-Making: Proficient in cost-benefit analysis, prioritization, and hypothesis validation. Lean-Agile Practices: Understanding of SAFe, Portfolio Kanban, and MVP-driven development. Communication & Influence: Ability to present business cases and influence approvals and alignment 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. 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 Boston, Massachusetts Working Arrangement Hybrid Salary range is expected to be between $128,550.00 USD - $222,820.00 USD 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/John Hancock 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/401(k) savings plans and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in the U.S. includes up to 11 paid holidays, 3 personal days, 150 hours of vacation, and 40 hours of sick time (or more where required by law) each year, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. 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. Know Your Rights I Family & Medical Leave I Employee Polygraph Protection I Right to Work I E-Verify Company: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)

What you’ll do

The Product Management Director will lead a team of product managers to bridge strategy and execution within a SAFe agile delivery model. They are responsible for developing product frameworks, managing portfolio governance, and ensuring operational excellence across engineering, marketing, and sales teams.

Requirements

Candidates must have a minimum of 7+ years of experience in product delivery or operations with strong leadership and communication skills. Proficiency in agile methodologies, data-driven decision-making, and the ability to balance strategic planning with detailed execution are required.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Mental health benefits
• Short-term disability
• Long-term disability
• Life insurance
• AD&D insurance
• Adoption/surrogacy benefits
• Wellness benefits
• Employee assistance plans
• Retirement savings plans
• 401(k) savings plan
• Global share ownership plan
• Paid time off
• Paid holidays

Listed skills

• Product management · Preferred
• Change Management · Preferred
• Stakeholder Management · Preferred
• Team Leadership · Preferred

Other relevant skills

Identified from the job description. Confirm important requirements above.

• Product management
• Agile methodologies
• SAFe
• Portfolio governance
• Data-driven decision-making
• Change management
• Strategic communication
• Product analytics
• Cross-functional leadership
• Backlog management
• Operational execution
• Lean-agile practices
• Stakeholder management
• KPI analysis
• Product strategy
• Team leadership
• Change Leadership
• Influencing Skills
• Technical Strategy
• Workplace Inclusivity
• Product Delivery
• Accountability
• Analytical Thinking
• Workflow Management
• Time Off Management
• Expectation Management
• Product Analytics
• SAFe Agile
• Information Gathering
• Planning
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Agile Methodology
• Mental Health
• Cost Benefit Analysis
• Management
• Decision Making
• Communication
• Continuous Improvement Process
• Finance
• Sales
• Financial Education
• International Finance
• Governance
• Leadership
• Marketing
• Interpersonal Communications
• Kanban Principles
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Lean Manufacturing
• Project Management

Job areas

• Management & Leadership
• Finance & Accounting
• Data & Analytics
• Technology
• Director of Product
• Director of Product Management
• Research and Development Managers
• Marketing Managers

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