Director of Engineering, Group Benefits Claims Technology

Join our GB-Claims Engineering team!

The Director of Engineering leads end‑to‑end engineering delivery for Group Benefits Claims Technology; with accountability for Software Engineering, Performance Engineering and Quality Engineering across multiple teams.

This role bridges technology and business outcomes, aligning engineering delivery to advisor and customer experience, sales enablement, digital roadmaps, and operational efficiency. It is a strategic and change-enablement leadership role that sets standards, removes constraints, and ensures the Claims ecosystem has high availability, performance, and integrity—grounded in our scale of 85M+ annual claims transactions. Also, champions engineering powered by advanced technology to accelerate time‑to‑productivity, scale excellence, and automate compliance with information systems policies and standards.

Position Responsibilities :

Delivery Health leadership : Set and enforce delivery health guardrails with focus on incident management, MTTR, release cycle time, DR / BC test success; ensure automated pipelines and streamlined CI / CD processes. (25%)

Performance Engineering : Mature and sustain performance practices; define non‑functional requirements; drive E2E performance testing; use AI analytics to mirror production usage in test design. (20%)

Quality Engineering : Own quality strategy and automation including data synthetics and JIRA Xray test management; embed quality gates and coverage targets across functional, integration, and E2E tests. (20%)

Stakeholder Management & alignment : Foster strong relationships across Product, Operations, Architecture, and ART leadership to deliver business outcomes and align on roadmaps and health dashboards. (15%)

People / Team Development : Attract and grow talent; lead 1 : 1s and mentoring; succession planning; skill assessments; build communities of practice to improve efficiency and standards. (10%)

AI in the SDLC : Establish AI guardrails and usage patterns (requirements parsing, test generation, code review, compliance checks, observability insights); measure productivity and quality gains. (5%)

Shared Accountabilities :

Cross‑portfolio sequencing and decision frameworks across CST, Disability, and Distribution portfolios; drive alignment and unblock constraints in the value stream. (3%)

Partner with Architecture, Security, and Platform teams to uphold standards and engineering integrity; lead demo days and technical forums to scale standard processes. (2%)

Required Qualifications :

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science / Engineering or equivalent experience.

10–15+ years of progressive engineering leadership with direct accountability for Performance and Quality practices.

Proven success leading SAFe Agile Release Trains; mastery of CI / CD, automated testing, secure coding, and observability.

Hands‑on familiarity with JMeter, Load Runner, Bruno, New Relic, Azure Data Explorer (performance) and Selenium, Playwright, Robot Framework, JIRA Xray (quality).

Experience influencing partnership within Product, Operations, Distribution, Architecture, and Security.

Track record of AI‑enabled engineering (NLP‑based test generation, synthetic data creation, anomaly detection, policy / compliance automation).

Technical Competencies :

Business Acuity :

Deep domain understanding; translates business needs into actionable roadmaps across PI planning and yearly book‑of‑work.

Technical Domain Expertise :

AKS, microservices, APIs, data models; communicates architecture standards and future‑ready options.

Standards & Frameworks :

Ensures automated pipelines, frequent check‑ins, and alignment to delivery standards.

Quality Attributes :

Addresses system quality attributes proactively; limits defect propagation; embeds quality into design and delivery.

Leadership & Action Orientation :

Clear vision / roadmap; moves decisively on complex problems; owns outcomes; leads incident resolution / handling on-call critical issues.

Delegation; Coaching & Developing Others :

Prioritizes outcomes; builds trust; assigns stretch work; conducts regular development discussions.

Negotiation & People Skills :

Aligns tech initiatives to business goals; resolves conflict; uses data‑informed decisions; builds strong networks.

Critical thinking & Managing Complexity :

Connects vision to action; manages problems with outstanding characteristics; balances long-term planning and day-to-day work.

Process Engineering / Capability Modeling :

Designs processes / capabilities; drives continuous improvement across squads.

Dealing with Ambiguity :

Acts constructively amid uncertainty; manages risk while moving forward; adapts quickly to change.

Managing Diversity :

Upholds visible / thinking diversity; leverages panels, feedback loops, and psychologically safe culture.

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.

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 .

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 .

Referenced Salary Location

Waterloo, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$113,260.00 CAD - $210,340.00 CAD

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact for the salary range for your location. 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. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

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 for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.