Director, Product Design Hybrid

Skills / Requirements

• AI
• AODA
• Coaching
• Collaboration
• Design Systems
• Design Thinking
• DesignOps
• Digital Experiences
• Inclusive Design
• Leadership
• Product Design
• Strategic Planning
• User Experience
• Vibe Coding
• WCAG

Job Overview

As the Director of Product Design at Manulife, you will lead the practice across Canada segment , driving vision, elevating craft, and ensuring efficient, high-performing design delivery across every initiative.

Reporting to the AVP, Product Design, you’ll help lead the build of a future‑ready practice by partnering with the Director of DesignOps & AI to embed responsible AI, modernize workflows, and ensure the team is set up to gain the skills required for the future of product design. You’ll coach a multidisciplinary team delivering simple, fast, inclusive, end‑to‑end digital experiences across web and native mobile.

Position Responsibilities:

Strategic design execution: 25%

• Turn insights into action: Partner with Research, Service Design, Engineering, Product, and senior leaders to transform customer insight into measurable experience improvements and business impact for the Canada segment.

• Drive AI ‑powered design: Partner with the Director of DesignOps & AI to spot high value use cases, set smart guardrails, pilot AI‑ enabled‑ research and design workflows, and lead responsible adoption.

• Elevate the design ecosystem: Collaborate with the AVP and DesignOps & AI to level up ‑design operations, content standards, and global/segment design systems for scalable, consistent delivery.

• Bring design thinking upstream: Work with Service Design and Strategy to embed design thinking early in roadmaps, turning enterprise vision into clear, actionable product strategies.

Leadership & team development: 25%

• Lead and grow the practice : Set clear quality bars and outcomes for Design Leads and their teams; coach, guide, and scale talent through recruiting, retaining, and developing top design capability.

• Power upskilling: Define capability needs, secure resources and budget, and create space on roadmaps for learning; ensure teams are set up for training from DesignOps & AI and external partners.

• Operate as a strategic player ‑coach: Lead with a strategic lens while staying hands o‑n for pivotal initiatives or scaling moments; foster a strong, healthy critique culture.

Design delivery & operational excellence: 30%

• Raise the quality bar & scale with DesignOps: Drive consistency and craft across design while partnering with DesignOps to expand systems, processes, and tooling that accelerate speed‑to‑market without sacrificing quality.

• Measure what matters: Define and track design OKRs (task success, adoption, utilization, time on task, time to value, etc.) to demonstrate clear product and business impact.

• Model inclusion & compliance: Champion inclusive design and AODA/WCAG accessibility across the lifecycle; maintain WCAG 2.0 AA conformance and drive progress toward 2.2 AA in patterns, content, and QA.

• Champion design system adoption: Accelerate adoption and contribution to the design system; partner with DesignOps & AI on governance and standards.

Cross‑functional influence & communication: 20%

• Represent design at senior tables: Shape strategy and influence how human‑first experiences are delivered across the Canadian market.

• Build & sustain strong partnerships: Work closely with Product, Engineering, and business leaders to align design execution with strategic priorities and clearly communicate rationale and impact in planning and delivery.

• Participate in the global design community: Contribute to Manulife’s global design leadership network by sharing expertise, learning from international peers, and applying proven global practices to strengthen the Canadian design practice.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years in product design, including 3+ years leading product design teams: Proven track record partnering with Product and Engineering to deliver at scale, set quality bars, coach design leaders, and operationalize high‑impact delivery.

• Deep expertise across the full product lifecycle (discovery > launch), with strong command of crits, design decision‑making, and quality assurance for web and native mobile.

• Hands‑on experience using AI‑assisted workflows (including vibe-coding) with the judgment to apply appropriate guardrails and ensure responsible use.

• Evidence of measurable outcomes (portfolio with 2-3 case studies demonstrating clear impact on adoption, satisfaction, efficiency, or revenue‑adjacent metrics).

• Inclusion expertise with a working knowledge of AODA/WCAG and inclusive design practices.

• Strong proficiency with Figma and modern design/prototyping tools used to collaborate, scale, and accelerate delivery.

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

Acerca de Manulife y John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation es un importante proveedor internacional de servicios financieros que ayuda a las personas a tomar decisiones de una manera más fácil y a vivir mejor. Para obtener más información acerca de nosotros, visite http://www.manulife.com .

Manulife es un empleador que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades

En Manulife/John Hancock, valoramos nuestra diversidad. Nos esforzamos por atraer, formar y retener una fuerza laboral tan diversa como los clientes a los que prestamos servicios, y para fomentar un entorno laboral inclusivo en el que se aprovechen las fortalezas de las culturas y las personas. Estamos comprometidos con la equidad en las contrataciones, la retención de talento, el ascenso y la remuneración, y administramos todas nuestras prácticas y programas sin discriminación por motivos de raza, ascendencia, lugar de origen, color, origen étnico, ciudadanía, religión o creencias religiosas, credo, sexo (incluyendo el embarazo y las afecciones relacionadas con este), orientación sexual, características genéticas, condición de veterano, identidad de género, expresión de género, edad, estado civil, estatus familiar, discapacidad, o cualquier otro aspecto protegido por la ley vigente.

Nuestra prioridad es eliminar las barreras para garantizar la igualdad de acceso al empleo. Un representante de Recursos Humanos trabajará con los solicitantes que requieran una adaptación razonable durante el proceso de solicitud. Toda la información que se haya compartido durante el proceso de solicitud de adaptación se almacenará y utilizará de manera congruente con las leyes y las políticas de Manulife/John Hancock correspondientes. Para solicitar una adaptación razonable en el proceso de solicitud, envíenos un mensaje a hr@manulife.com .

Referenced Salary Location

Toronto, Ontario

Modalidades de Trabajo

Híbrido

Salary range is expected to be between

$125,100.00 CAD – $175,100.00 CAD

Los empleados también tienen la oportunidad de participar en programas de incentivos y recibir una compensación vinculada al rendimiento empresarial e individual. El salario real variará según las condiciones del mercado local, la geografía y factores relacionados con el puesto como conocimientos, habilidades, requerimientos, experiencia y educación/formación. Si solicitas este puesto fuera de tu ubicación principal, por favor escríbenos a hr@manulife.com para conocer el rango salarial correspondiente a tu ubicación.

Manulife ofrece a los empleados aptos una amplia variedad de beneficios personalizables, entre ellos, beneficios de salud, odontológicos, de salud mental, oftalmológicos, por discapacidad a corto y a largo plazo, cobertura de seguro de vida y por muerte accidental y desmembramiento, adopción/subrogación y bienestar, y planes de asistencia al empleado/familiar. También ofrecemos a los empleados admisibles varios planes de ahorro para la jubilación (incluidos planes de pensiones y un plan mundial de propiedad de acciones con contribuciones equivalentes del empleador) y recursos de asesoramiento y educación financiera. Nuestro generoso programa de tiempo libre remunerado en Canadá incluye feriados, vacaciones, días personales y días por enfermedad, y ofrecemos la gama completa de ausencia laboral reglamentaria. Si se está postulando para este puesto en los EE. UU., póngase en contacto con hr@manulife.com para obtener más información sobre las disposiciones relativas al tiempo libre remunerado específicas de EE. UU.