Director, AI Product & Business Partner - Distribution

Director, AI Product & Business Partner - Distribution
Position Responsibilities:
1. Domain Leadership & Strategy
Lead the Distribution Domain Squad and act as the primary AI partner to Distribution leadership.
Develop and maintain the Distribution AI and analytics roadmap aligned with business strategy and growth objectives.
Identify, prioritize, and sponsor high-value AI and analytics use cases that improve sales productivity, lead generation, customer engagement, advisor effectiveness, and distribution performance.
Partner with senior business stakeholders to define opportunities, investment priorities, success metrics, and expected business outcomes.
Establish a culture of data-driven decision making across Distribution functions.
2. Business Partnership
Build strong relationships with Distribution executives, sales leaders, and channel heads.
Translate business challenges into AI and analytics opportunities with clear value realization plans.
Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders on AI, advanced analytics, Generative AI, and emerging technologies.
Drive executive-level discussions on AI strategy, prioritization, risks, and expected business impact.
3. AI Product Ownership & Value Realization
Own the Distribution AI product portfolio and roadmap.
Lead end-to-end delivery of AI and analytics initiatives from opportunity identification through deployment and business adoption.
Work closely with business and technology stakeholders to define product vision, requirements, success metrics, and delivery priorities.
Ensure solutions are embedded into business processes and decision-making workflows.
Define and track KPIs to measure adoption, business value, productivity gains, revenue uplift, and customer impact.
Drive realization of tangible business benefits and communicate outcomes to senior management.
4. Advanced Analytics & AI Solutions
Apply advanced analytics, machine learning, and Generative AI to address Distribution business challenges, including:
Sales productivity and advisor effectiveness
Lead generation and propensity modelling
Customer segmentation and personalization
Cross-sell and upsell opportunities
Customer retention and persistency improvement
Distribution performance management
AI-powered sales and advisor assistants
Evaluate emerging AI capabilities and identify opportunities to scale successful solutions across the enterprise.
5. Governance & Risk Management
Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, model governance standards, responsible AI principles, and enterprise AI controls.
Partner with Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Technology teams to ensure appropriate oversight throughout the AI solution lifecycle.
Support model monitoring, performance tracking, and ongoing governance activities.
6. Squad Leadership
Lead a Distribution Domain Squad comprising data scientists and AI engineers, together with relevant cross-functional delivery partners, to deliver measurable business outcomes.
Drive squad planning, prioritization, and execution against the Distribution AI roadmap.
Foster close partnership with Distribution leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to accelerate adoption of AI solutions.
Promote a culture of customer focus, business value realization, and continuous improvement.
Develop squad capabilities in AI, analytics, and business consulting while creating a high-performing delivery environment.
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, Actuarial Science, Economics, Business Analytics, or a related discipline.
Master's degree preferred.
10+ years of experience in AI, data science, advanced analytics, digital product management, or related fields.
Proven track record of partnering with senior business leaders and influencing strategic decisions.
Experience leading cross-functional teams and delivering business transformation initiatives.
Demonstrated success delivering AI, analytics, or digital products that generated measurable business outcomes.
Previous experience within life insurance, wealth management, banking, or financial services strongly preferred.
Strong understanding of insurance distribution channels, sales management, and customer acquisition strategies preferred.
Strong knowledge of machine learning, predictive analytics, optimization techniques, and statistical modelling.
Experience with Generative AI, LLMs, AI agents, and enterprise AI solutions.
Working knowledge of Python, SQL, and modern analytics platforms.
Experience working with large-scale enterprise data environments.
Strong understanding of AI governance, model risk management, and responsible AI practices.
Ability to translate technical concepts into business language for executive audiences.
Excellent business acumen with a demonstrated ability to connect AI investments to business outcomes.
Strategic thinking and commercial acumen.
Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
Excellent communication and executive presentation skills.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams in complex organizational environments.
Strong execution focus with a demonstrated ability to deliver measurable business value.
Self-starter with a passion for driving business transformation through AI.
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 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.
Working Arrangement
Hybrid