Associate Director / Senior Manager, Product Value Stream Lead

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Job Description:

We’re looking for a passionate and motivated Insurance Product Implementations - Technology Value Stream Lead to join Sun Life, Business Technology Solution delivery team.

Contribute to the achievement of the business goals by well-planning and well-implementing of the new product launch to multi-channel and support Sun Life strategic projects.

You will be working as a IT Product Technology Value Stream lead, and responsible for the E2E product launch from front to back. You will act as an SME and work closely with senior business stakeholders from different functions, manage their expectation and agreed on the prioritization of the change. You will lead the offshore teams in Philippines to carry out development work to ensure our products meets the needs of our business through agile product development.

Responsibilities

Product Launch Coordination:

• Serve as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and technology teams throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive launch plans, ensuring all technical aspects are addressed and aligned with business objectives.
• Create, maintain and prioritize the product backlog, ensuring it reflects the needs and priorities of stakeholders
• Make informed decisions regarding priority, capacity planning, product solutions and dependencies.
• Identify and mitigate potential risks and bottlenecks in the launch process.

Technical Leadership:

• Provide technical guidance and oversight for all aspects of product launches, including systems integration with Underwriting platform, Compensation system, Digital apps for Client & Agent, Client correspondence management, claim applications and new business reporting etc.
• Previous exposure and hands on experience in managing E2E product development across the Product ecosystem.
• Introduce best practice and establishment of control process to ringfence the Day 1.5/Day2 back log items after initial product launch to maintain a healthy state of backlog to minimize risk.

Capacity Planning and Resource Management:

• Assess and forecast technological capacity needs for new product launches and ongoing operations.
• Work closely with IT operations to ensure adequate infrastructure and support for new products.
• Optimize resource allocation across various technology functions to meet launch deadlines and quality standards.
• Perform regular reviewing and adjusting capacity based on team dynamics to ensure realistic planning and resource allocation.

Cross-functional Collaboration:

• Foster good relationships with business units including other IT teams, Product Pricing, Operations and offshore team to ensure effective and efficient cooperation.
• Facilitate regular meetings and workshops to gather requirements, provide updates, and resolve issues.
• Ensure product readiness and address any technical dependencies that may impact the launch.

Performance Monitoring and Optimization:

• Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for product launches and ongoing technical operations.
• Track launch progress, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies to address potential issues
• Documentation and Knowledge Management:
• Oversee the creation and maintenance of technical documentation for all launched products.
• Maintain an active knowledge base for products related material and system documents.
• Gather user feedback and analyze product performance data to inform future improvements.
• Resolve conflicts between business stakeholders and IT on priority to derive business benefits and decision, conflicts between vendors, local, regional, and corporate on different level expectations, and ensure to comply with HKIA regulations & governance process. Motivate the team to carry out the agreed timeline and cost estimations.

Specialized knowledge

• Practical experience in managing insurance product launch E2E across IT systems and good understanding of policy administration process
• Practical experience in leading complex projects
• Practical experience in driving agile ways of working with IT multiple teams, Business Stakeholders and Product Team

Requirement

• University graduate, preferably in Business, Finance, IT or related disciplines
• Over 15 years of working experience
• More than 7 years solid experience in managing/consulting in large scale projects
• Broad knowledge of financial services &/or insurance industry desirable.
• Excellent understanding of product launch process and implication of HKIA rules
• Strategic Planning experience desirable
• Strong Insurance product knowledge
• Good Project management and Business analysis skills
• Strong communication, collaboration, and inter-personnel skills
• Strong influencing and negotiation skills to get buy-ins from the business stakeholders from different functional team
• Fluent in English

Job Category:

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