The Lead Full-stack Software Engineer (Director level, individual contributor) provides hands-on technical leadership for the design, development, modernization, and support of John Hancock's life insurance illustration ecosystem. This role combines deep software engineering expertise with strong US life insurance product knowledge across traditional, enforce, and new product blocks. The Lead Engineer guides engineers through complex product implementations, understands the legacy application and calculation landscape, and develops pragmatic, innovative approaches that accelerate transition to modern, modular, cloud-ready technology while protecting product accuracy, regulatory compliance, and business continuity.
Working within a dynamic, high-performing global team, the Lead Engineer partners with actuarial, product, architecture, quality engineering, operations, and delivery stakeholders to translate complex insurance needs into reliable technology outcomes. The role remains actively involved in solution design and coding while establishing engineering direction, improving delivery practices, mentoring team members, and ensuring the Illustration platform continues to support timely and accurate product launches.
Office location: Boston - USA (primary) or Toronto - Canada or Waterloo - CanadaWork arrangement: Hybrid (3 days in office, 2 days from Home); Remote working option is not availablePosition Responsibilities: Required Skills- Lead the analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, and production support of full-stack solutions across the Illustration application suite.
- Provide hands-on technical direction for implementing new and existing life insurance products, riders, calculation rules, illustration outputs, and related business capabilities.
- Translate complex actuarial specifications and business requirements into maintainable technical designs, reusable components, and clear delivery plans.
- Own or influence solution architecture, technical designs, integration patterns, data flows, and non-functional requirements for assigned initiatives.
- Assess legacy application dependencies, product calculation logic, and integration constraints; develop creative, risk-based approaches that expedite transition to modern technology without disrupting existing products or policyholder servicing.
- Identify opportunities to decouple monolithic components, modernize legacy frameworks, improve APIs and services, strengthen cloud readiness, and simplify the engineering toolchain.
- Establish and reinforce engineering practices for secure coding, test-driven development, automated testing, code quality, source control, peer review, CI/CD, observability, and production reliability.
- Lead technical reviews, troubleshoot complex defects and production issues, perform root-cause analysis, and drive durable corrective actions.
- Provide technical estimates, identify dependencies and risks, influence sequencing decisions, and communicate delivery impacts to engineering and business stakeholders.
- Mentor engineers, delegate technical work effectively, promote knowledge sharing, and raise the team's capability in life insurance products, legacy systems, and modern engineering practices.
- Collaborate effectively across global teams and with product owners, business analysts, actuaries, architects, quality engineers, cybersecurity, operations, vendors, and partner platforms.
- Maintain comprehensive technical documentation, decision records, support procedures, and traceability between product requirements, calculations, tests, code changes, and releases.
Technical Skillsets / Knowledge- Advanced full-stack engineering experience across user interfaces, application services, APIs, databases, integrations, batch processing, and production operations.
- Strong hands-on expertise in Microsoft .NET and C#, with the ability to understand and modernize VB.NET, ASP.NET, MVC, Windows desktop, and .NET Framework applications.
- Experience with modern web technologies and frameworks such as JavaScript or TypeScript, Angular or React, HTML, CSS, JSON, and RESTful services.
- Strong SQL Server, data modeling, query optimization, and data integration skills; familiarity with XML, web services, messaging, and ETL patterns.
- Demonstrated ability to design scalable, secure, resilient, and maintainable solutions using modular architecture, APIs, microservices, and cloud services.
- Experience with Azure or comparable cloud platforms, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure and environment concepts, automated testing, observability, and DevSecOps controls.
- Strong knowledge of software architecture, design patterns, domain modeling, system integration, performance engineering, security, and the full software development lifecycle.
- Ability to assess legacy code and architecture, isolate business rules, manage technical debt, and plan incremental modernization while maintaining production stability.
- Ability to use approved AI-assisted engineering tools responsibly to improve requirements analysis, coding, testing, documentation, and delivery efficiency.
Life Insurance Domain Knowledge- Strong working knowledge of the US life insurance industry and product lifecycle, including product design, illustration, new business, policy issue, enforce servicing, and downstream administration.
- Knowledge across traditional and contemporary product types, such as term life, whole life, universal life, indexed universal life, variable universal life, and associated riders and benefits.
- Ability to understand actuarial and mathematical concepts used in life insurance calculations, including premiums, cash values, death benefits, dividends, interest crediting, charges, loans, withdrawals, and policy projections.
- Understanding of illustration outputs, assumptions, disclosures, compliance controls, product approvals, and the need for accurate and auditable calculations.
- Understanding of the US state-based regulatory environment, including how state variations, product filings, approved features, and compliance obligations influence requirements, implementation, testing, and release scope.
- Awareness of federal tax considerations that affect life insurance product behavior and calculations, with the ability to collaborate with actuarial, tax, legal, and compliance specialists to convert nuanced rules into technology solutions.
- Ability to reason across new and legacy product blocks, recognize shared product chassis and regression impacts, and balance speed-to-market with protection of existing policy logic.
Leadership & Other Skillsets- Demonstrated technical leadership with the ability to set direction, make sound engineering decisions, and remain accountable for end-to-end solution quality.
- Strong analytical and systems-thinking ability to decompose complex insurance processes and distinguish product rules from platform or implementation constraints.
- Creative, pragmatic problem-solving skills and the confidence to challenge assumptions, develop proofs of concept, and propose alternatives that accelerate modernization safely.
- Ability to lead through influence across business and technology teams, resolve ambiguity, facilitate technical decisions, and build alignment among stakeholders.
- Strong mentoring, coaching, collaboration, and knowledge-transfer skills within global and cross-functional teams.
- Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, and presentation skills, including the ability to explain technical options, risks, trade-offs, and outcomes to varied audiences.
- Strong planning and organizational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, delivery commitments, production responsibilities, and evolving requirements.
- A continuous-learning mindset and a commitment to engineering excellence, customer value, operational resilience, and measurable business outcomes.
Required Qualifications:- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Actuarial Science, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- Minimum 8 or more years of progressive software engineering experience, including significant hands-on full-stack development in complex enterprise environments.
- Actuarial, mathematical, or quantitative experience related to life insurance products is a strong asset.
- Experience with life insurance illustration, calculation, policy administration, new business, or enforce platforms is a strong asset.
- Demonstrated experience leading solution design and delivery, conducting technical reviews, mentoring engineers, and resolving complex application or production issues.
- Strong experience in financial services or insurance; direct US life insurance product and illustration experience is highly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience supporting and modernizing legacy applications while delivering new functionality and maintaining business continuity.
Preferred Qualifications:- Experience working with global delivery teams, vendors, and distributed engineering models.
- Experience integrating internal and third-party platforms through APIs, web services, orchestration, messaging, or batch interfaces.
- Experience with secure software development, application risk controls, auditability, and regulated production environments.
- Ability to participate in release and production support activities when required and to lead technical response for critical issues.
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-JH
The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.
Referenced Salary LocationBoston, Massachusetts
Working ArrangementHybrid
Salary range is expected to be between$127,330.00 USD - $236,470.00 USD
Employees 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 [redacted] for the salary range for your location.
Manulife/John Hancock 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/401(k) savings plans and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in the U.S. includes up to 11 paid holidays, 3 personal days, 150 hours of vacation, and 40 hours of sick time (or more where required by law) each year, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence.
