Senior Data Scientist

Join us in our ambitious to lead digital transformation at Manulife, where we are accelerating data-driven decision-making across the enterprise through significant investments in Advanced Analytics, AI, and Generative AI. In this pivotal role, you will lead and mentor a high-performing team of data scientists, crafting the end-to-end delivery of AI and GenAI solutions. You will work with vast, varied datasets drawn from many business domains to drive operational efficiency, gain risk insights, and cultivate strategic innovation. Collaborating with business and technology partners, you will turn novel ideas into scalable products that transform how we work, while giving to a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and innovation.

Position Responsibilities: 

• Drive Strategic Transformation – Champion AI and GenAI projects that deliver significant efficiencies, risk insights, and revenue or cost impact.
• End-to-End Delivery – Scope use cases, engineer features, develop models, deploy to production, and establish performance monitoring and ROI measurement.
• Innovate with GenAI – Design solutions leveraging LLM fine-tuning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and prompt orchestration; evaluate new GenAI tools and frameworks.
• Cross-Functional Partnership – Translate business objectives into analytics roadmaps, communicate results in plain language, and embed models into day-to-day workflows via APIs, dashboards, or automation.
• Thought Leadership – Research and apply emerging methodologies; run demos, PoCs, and knowledge-sharing sessions to keep the organization at the forefront of AI.
• Mentorship & Quality – Set coding, research, and MLOps standards; conduct peer reviews, coach junior staff, and foster a collaborative, high-performing team environment.

Required Qualifications:

• Data Science Mastery – 7+ years in applied data science, machine learning, or other statistical roles, including hands-on model development and production deployment. Expert Python and SQL; solid grasp of ML/GenAI libraries (scikit-learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow, Hugging Face); experience with big-data frameworks (Spark, Databricks) and cloud ML tooling (Azure ML, MLflow, Docker, CI/CD).
• Bachelor’s in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related field (Master’s or PhD an asset).   

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven ability to guide multidisciplinary teams, set technical standards, and manage project portfolios.
• Comfort translating complex analytics into clear, actionable insights and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Adaptability & Resilience – Calm under pressure, open to change, and able to balance multiple priorities.
• Experience with LLM production workloads, regulated enterprise environments, or contributions to AI/ML publications or conferences.

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-Hybrid

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 [email protected].

Referenced Salary Location

Salary range is expected to be between

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [email protected] 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 [email protected] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.