People Services AI Product Lead
Manulife · Waterloo, Canada +1 · 25d ago
PeopleCommsAIProduct Lead
The Opportunity
At Manulife, we arecreatingAI-powered experiencesthat enable colleaguestothrive and better support our customers.Our PeopleComms TechnologyNorth Staris tomakeevery interactionsimple, personalized, connected, and intuitive.Realizing this ambitionrequires therighttechnology, data, integrations,andintelligencetooperateas one connected ecosystem.
AsthePeopleComms Ai Product Leadyou willhelpshape thesolutions behindthis futureacross the broader PeopleComms experience ecosystem.You will translate colleague and business needs into scalable AI-enabled products, connectcapabilitiesacross ourpeopletechnology landscape, andturn emergingpossibilitiesintopractical improvements inhow colleagueswork, grow, and access support.
You willlookbeyondinitialrequeststo uncover the underlying need, challenge assumptions,assesstrade-offs, andrecommendsolutions that balance colleaguevalue,businessoutcomes, enterprise safeguards, and technical feasibility.Successrequires curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to influence decisions through evidence and insight.
WorkingacrossPeopleComms, technology, andenterprise partner teams, you will bring togethercolleague feedback, analytics, Human-Centered Design, operational insights, and emerging trendsto shape priorities and continually improve the product.
Your impact will bemeasured byhoweffectivelystrong ideas becomevaluable, sustainable solutionsthat evolve withcolleague needs.
Key Responsibilities
Lead discoverywith Global People Services, COEs, knowledge owners, HR SMEs, and business product ownerstodefine thebusinessproblem, desired colleague experience, andhighest-valueAI-enabledopportunities.
Convert approved opportunitiesinto clear product decisions, requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, andprioritizedJira backlog items.
Help shape the product vision and roadmap using colleague research, journey insights, service data, business value, dependencies, and delivery feasibility.
Make transparentproducttrade-offs acrossexperience, value, operational impact,enterprise safeguards, andlong-term supportability.
Provide product demos, stakeholder updates, and executive-ready materials that explain capabilities, planned enhancements, risks, decisions, and trade-offs.
Define outcomes anduseadoption,quality,feedback, and operational data tocommunicate impact,identifyimprovements,andadjust priorities.
Partner with the AI Solutions BA & Test Lead to enable release readiness through UAT planning, test scenario validation, defect triage, acceptance criteria alignment, and post-release learnings.
Partner with technology, architecture, cybersecurity, privacy, legal, compliance, risk, and governance teams to build enterprise requirements into product design and delivery without losing sight of the intended colleague experience.
Translate product intent into technical requirements and support design decisions with architects, engineers, technical teams, and experience owners across workflows, agents, integrations, prompts, knowledge grounding, and feedback mechanisms.
Use evidence from testing, adoption, quality, and colleague feedback to support decisions to iterate, scale, pause, or retire capabilities.
Influence communication, change readiness, training, and enablement plans by translating product changes into practical stakeholder guidance.
What You Bring
5+ years of progressive experience in HR technology, productmanagement, business analysis, digital employee experience, HR operations enablement, ora relateddiscipline.
Strong understanding of HR functions, HR service delivery, employee lifecycle events, HR policies, and colleague support channels.
Experience with HR technology, employee experience platforms, AI-enabled services, or digital service delivery, with the ability tomove from ambiguous stakeholderneedsto clear problem statements, options, recommendations, requirements, andpractical product outcomes.
Experience with Jira backlog management, story creation, acceptance criteria, backlog refinement, sprint support, and cross-functional delivery coordination.
Experiencefacilitatingstakeholder workshops, discovery sessions, Human-Centered Design activities, user interviews, or journey mapping.
Experiencenavigating regulated enterprise environments and incorporatingprivacy, compliance, risk, security, architecture,andresponsible AIconsiderations into product decisions.
Strong product judgment, analytical thinking, problem-solving, documentation, and communication skills, including the ability to evaluate trade-offs, assess downstream impacts, recommend practical solutions, and deliver executive-ready updates and credible product demonstrations.
Ability to influence without authority and work effectively across diverse, cross-functional teams and time zones.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with ServiceNow HR Service Delivery, HR case management, employee service portals, knowledge management, or Workday.
Experience withenterprise AI platforms such asAzure AI Foundry,Azure OpenAI, or MicrosoftCopilot Studio,including agent concepts, prompt design, retrieval-augmented generation, knowledge grounding, and answer quality improvement.
Experience shaping AI-enabled product strategy or product discovery in People Services, HR technology, employee experience, or enterprise service delivery.
Experience supportingenterprise AI, privacy, compliance, or riskassessmentsand translating findings into practical product requirements and controls.
HCD, product management, business analysis, Agile, PMP, CHRP/CHRL, or related certification.
Post-secondary education in HR, Business, Information Technology, Data Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Success Measures
Priority opportunities arevalidatedwith colleagues and stakeholders, tied to measurable outcomes, and reflected in theproductvision and roadmap.
Product and technical decisions areclear,delivery teams receive decision-ready requirements, and ambiguity and rework are reduced.
Released experiences demonstrate improved usability,adoption, quality,service effectiveness, or colleague satisfaction.
Solutions progress ina timelyway with enterprise safeguards, ownership, and dependencies addressed early.
Post-launch evidence leads to clear decisions to iterate, scale, pause, or retire capabilities.
Why Join Us?
Shape theconnectedtechnologyecosystem behind AI-poweredexperiences across People & Communications.
Turn emerging capabilities into sustainable products used by colleaguesatenterprisescale.
Influence how colleagues work and thrive, strengthening their ability to support our customers.
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
Waterloo, OntarioWorking Arrangement
Salary range is expected to be between
$85,300.00 CAD - $135,300.00 CADEmployees 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.