We are a leading financial services provider committed to making decisions easier and lives better for our customers and colleagues around the world. From our environmental initiatives to our community investments, we lead with values throughout our business. To help us stand out, we help you step up, because when colleagues are healthy, respected and meaningfully challenged, we all thrive. Discover how you can grow your career, make impact and drive real change with our Winning Team today. 

Working Arrangement

Job Description

Sr. Release Train Engineer

Working Arrangement - Hybrid

Makati City

Mid Shift

Job Description

Who are we?

Manulife is on a journey to become a customer obsessed, digital leader; we’re transforming, and we need you!  Group Benefits has designed the broadest product shelf and offer the most innovative tools to help our customers every step of the way.  We have a clear vision of our strategy and the result will be exceptional experiences for our customers.

What role will I play?

As a Senior Release Train Manager within the Group Benefits Value-Stream, you will work closely with our delivery teams, Architects and Business Owners to help deliver products, services and capabilities to our customers and advisors.  This is a fast paced, changing environment where every day brings something new, and innovative ideas are encouraged.  Your contributions will help evolve the customers and advisor experience through simplified and intuitive design; putting the client’s needs first by providing the right tools and solutions to facilitate a positive digital experience.  

As a Senior Release Train Engineer, you will:

Manage and optimize the flow of value through the Agile Release Train (ART) using various tools, such as the Program Kanbans and other information radiators

Establish and communicate the annual calendars for Iterations and Program Increments (PIs)

Facilitate PI Planning readiness by fostering a Continuous Exploration process which drives the synthesis of a Vision, a Roadmap, and Backlogs, and through Pre- and Post-PI Planning meetings

Facilitate the PI planning event

Summarize Team PI Objectives into Program PI Objectives and publish them for visibility and transparency

Assist tracking the execution of features and capabilities using the standardized KPIs

Facilitate periodic synchronization meetings, including the ART sync and Scrum of Scrums

Assist with economic decision-making by facilitating feature and capability estimation by teams and the roll-up to Initiatives, where necessary

Coach ART leaders, teams, and delivery teams in Lean-Agile practices and mindsets

Help manage risks and dependencies

Escalate and track impediments

Provide input on resourcing to address critical bottlenecks

Encourage collaboration between teams and System and Solution Architects/Engineering

Work with Product and Solution Management, Product Owners, and other stakeholders to help ensure strategy and execution alignment

Improve the flow of value through value streams by improving and assessing the practices associated with DevOps and Release on Demand in the Continuous Delivery Pipeline

Help drive the Lean User Experience (UX) innovation cycle

Work with Product Management on program execution and operational excellence

Understand and operate within Lean Budgets and ensure adherence to Guardrails

Facilitate System Demos and Solution Demos

Drive relentless improvement via Inspect and Adapt workshops; assess the agility level of the ART and Solution Train and help them improve

Foster Communities of Practice and the use of engineering and Built-In Quality practices

Who are you?

You obsess about customers, seeking ways to listen, engage and act for their benefit

You think big, with a constant curiosity to discover ways to use an agile mindset and enable the business to achieve its outcomes

You thrive in teams establishing relationships, believing getting it done together drives innovation

You take ownership with an entrepreneurial mindset that builds solutions, focusing on what matters; leveraging data to drive decisions

You do what is right, working with integrity and speaking out when needed

You share your humanity, building a diverse and inclusive work environment for everyone

Competencies for the role:

bachelor’s degree in computer science/engineering or related experience

5+ years’ experience managing large delivery teams; Agile delivery is a definite asset

Open minded with a continuous growth attitude is a must; confident to challenge the status quo and follow-through with appropriate tact

Understanding of Scaled-Agile practices; SAFe™ RTE certification is an asset

Understanding of Lean practices; Lean Six Sigma™ certification is an asset

Understanding of Design Thinking practices, with a focus on Customer Centricity

Strong leadership skills to build relationships among team members and drive results without reporting relationships; comfortable leading cross-functional teams

Proactive self-starter who will comfortably move forward in the face of ambiguity

Strong business and technical acumen and professionalism, excellent presentation skills with solid communication skills both verbal and written

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Asia, Canada, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. At the end of 2022, we had $1.3 trillion (US$1.0 trillion) in assets under management and administration, including total invested assets of $0.4 trillion (US $0.3 trillion), and segregated funds net assets of $0.3 trillion (US$0.3 trillion). We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.

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 recruitment@manulife.com.