Role purpose
The Director, Product Strategy & Growth is accountable for the strategic direction, growth, profitability, and lifecycle management of an assigned product portfolio. The role translates customer, market and business insight into a focused portfolio strategy, investment roadmap and commercialization plan that strengthen market position and deliver measurable value for customers, distribution partners, and the business. As a senior product leader and people leader, the Director brings together teams across Product, Distribution, Marketing, Digital, Technology, Operations, Finance, Legal, Risk and Compliance to make sound portfolio choices, accelerate execution and ensure products remain relevant, sustainable, and differentiated.
Key accountabilities:
Strategy and portfolio ownership:
- Own and continuously refine the long-term strategy, value proposition and investment roadmap for the assigned portfolio, aligned to enterprise and business priorities.
- Manage the full product lifecycle, including ideation, validation, development, launch, optimization, modernization, rationalization and, where required, responsible exit or run-off.
- Maintain a focused and relevant product shelf that supports growth, client retention, member value, operational sustainability, and market differentiation.
- Translate strategic priorities into clear choices, sequenced roadmaps, investment recommendations, and measurable outcomes.
- Structure complex or ambiguous business opportunities into evidence-based assessments and business cases that clearly articulate customer and business value, financial implications, operational impacts, risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs.
Customer, market, and competitive insights:
- Champion the voice of the customer by incorporating sponsor, member, advisor and distribution insights into product strategy, design, and prioritization.
- Use customer research, market intelligence, competitive analysis, emerging trends, and performance data to identify unmet needs, growth opportunities, and portfolio risks.
- Define the customer and business problems to be solved and ensure product decisions are grounded in evidence, clear hypotheses, and expected outcomes.
- Monitor developments in technology, regulation, healthcare, benefits, and adjacent markets to anticipate changes that may affect the portfolio.
Growth, commercialization, and performance:
- Lead commercialization and go-to-market strategies that strengthen positioning, enable distribution, and improve adoption, engagement, revenue, and profitability.
- Partner with Sales, Marketing and Distribution to develop compelling value propositions, sales narratives, launch plans and client-facing materials.
- Establish and regularly review portfolio scorecards covering customer outcomes, adoption, growth, revenue, profitability, operational health, risk, and strategic value, with clear accountability for delivering agreed portfolio outcomes
- Use performance insights to recommend investment, optimization, pricing, remediation or exit decisions and communicate progress to senior leadership.
Product and delivery leadership:
- Lead major product initiatives from opportunity assessment and business case through delivery, launch and benefits realization.
- Set strategic priorities and desired outcomes for cross-functional delivery teams, ensuring resources remain focused on the highest-value opportunities.
- Guide discovery, experimentation and validation using customer research, concept testing, analytics, and other fit for-purpose methods before significant investment is made.
- Partner with Digital, Technology, Design and Operations leaders to create integrated experiences and scalable solutions; provide direction on scope and minimum viable product decisions.
- Identify and evaluate opportunities to use AI, automation, data, and emerging digital capabilities to improve customer value, operating effectiveness, or business performance.
- Lead the strategic management of external product partners and vendors, working with Procurement and business partners on selection, contracting, renewals, service expectations, performance, and ongoing strategic alignment.
- Ensure product launches and material changes are operationally ready, with appropriate contracts, policy provisions, processes, training, communications, controls, and distribution enablement in place.
Risk, governance and regulatory stewardship:
- Own product governance for the assigned portfolio and ensure material product, customer, contractual, operational, financial, and regulatory risks are understood and managed.
- Work closely with Legal, Compliance, Risk, Privacy, and other control functions to obtain required approvals and ensure products and communications meet applicable requirements.
- Bring forward clear decisions, trade-offs, and recommendations when risk, customer value, economics, or delivery feasibility are in tension.
- Maintain appropriate documentation, controls, decision records, and escalation paths across the product lifecycle.
Enterprise leadership and talent development:
- Build strong relationships and influence across functions and levels to align stakeholders, resolve ambiguity, and move complex decisions forward.
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team, setting clear expectations and building strength in strategic thinking, commercial acumen, customer insight, and execution.
- Create an inclusive, accountable, and learning-oriented team environment that encourages constructive challenge and sound decision-making.
- Represent the portfolio in senior leadership discussions, capabilities presentations, distribution forums, client meetings, advisory boards, and industry events as required.
- Lead strategic initiatives spanning the broader product organization or business where enterprise priorities require cross-portfolio leadership.
Measures of success:
- Clear portfolio strategy and roadmap with demonstrated alignment to business priorities.
- Measurable improvement in customer value, adoption, growth, profitability, retention, and/or strategic differentiation, as appropriate to the portfolio.
- Disciplined investment choices supported by evidence, transparent trade-offs, and defined success measures.
- Reliable delivery of priority initiatives, with effective management of scope, dependencies, risks, and benefits realization.
- Strong product governance, partner performance, and lifecycle management.
- An engaged, capable team with clear accountability and succession depth.
Qualifications and experience:
Required:
- Undergraduate degree in business, finance, marketing, health, technology or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Typically, 8+ years of progressive product, strategy, innovation, or commercialization, including leadership of complex cross-functional initiatives.
- Demonstrated experience in financial services, insurance, group benefits, health, wellbeing, disability, or other regulated industries.
- Demonstrated experience developing product or portfolio strategies and translating them into executable roadmaps, business cases, and measurable outcomes.
- Demonstrated ability to apply product and strategic capabilities across different portfolios, quickly build subject matter expertise and lead effectively as business priorities evolve.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience assessing product economics, investment tradeoffs, and portfolio performance.
- Proven ability to lead through influence in a highly matrixed and regulated environment.
- Experience leading, coaching, and developing people and building effective teams.
- Excellent executive communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex issues, frame decisions and deliver clear recommendations.
Preferred:
- Experience in group benefits, health, wellbeing, dental and/or disability products, including employer-sponsored solutions.
- Experience managing strategic partnerships, vendors, or ecosystem-based propositions.
- Experience with digital product development, customer experience design, agile delivery, and data-informed experimentation.
- Working knowledge of relevant compliance, privacy, risk, and product governance practices.
Leadership capabilities:
Strategic and enterprise thinking: Connects market, customer, and business signals; makes choices that strengthen long-term enterprise value.
Customer and growth orientation: Balances customer outcomes with commercial discipline and sustainable portfolio growth.
Decision quality: Uses evidence, judgment, and clear trade-offs to make timely recommendations in ambiguous situations.
Influence and collaboration: Builds alignment across diverse stakeholders without relying solely on formal authority.
Execution and accountability: Turns strategy into priorities, mobilizes teams, and follows through on measurable outcomes.
Innovation and adaptability: Challenges established approaches, learns quickly and responds effectively to changing conditions.
People leadership: Sets a clear direction, coaches for growth, and creates an inclusive, high-performance environment.
Technology and data fluency: Uses technology, analytics, and emerging capabilities to improve products, experiences, and decisions.
Decision authority:
- Full people and resource management accountability within the assigned team, in accordance with organizational policies and delegated authority.
- Recommend portfolio strategy, investment priorities, product launches, significant enhancements, remediation, rationalization and exit decisions to senior leadership.
- Prioritize and reprioritize portfolio work based on customer value, strategic alignment, economics, capacity, risk, and changing business needs.
- Define desired outcomes, minimum viable product parameters, and scope guardrails for assigned initiatives.
- Direct minor product enhancements and lifecycle actions within approved strategy, budget, risk appetite, and governance requirements.
- Manage approved budgets, business cases, financial commitments, and partner performance for the assigned portfolio.
- Make implementation and operating decisions within delegated authority and escalate material issues, risks, or trade-offs as required.
- Own product risk and governance decisions within the assigned portfolio, in partnership with the appropriate control functions.
Working conditions:
- Hybrid work arrangements and office location are subject to business and organizational requirements.
- Travel may be required for internal events, client meetings, partner engagements, advisory boards, and industry conferences.
Our commitment to inclusion:
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.
1. Role Overview
- Lead the Product Management team responsible initially for Disability and Dental products.
- Portfolio may expand to include Life, Health, and Voluntary Benefits.
- Focus on product transformation, optimization, growth, and new product launches.
- Backfill for an individual who previously worked in Strategy function and transitioned into this role approximately three years ago.
- Looking for an experienced operator who can lead a team, bring fresh perspectives, and drive portfolio transformation.
- Manager prefers competencies and likability over key skills; there is scope to learn but they should be able to quickly build rapport
2. Key Responsibilities
- Develop business cases and identify opportunities for product growth and improvement.
- Lead new product launches and optimize existing products.
- Review product performance and recommend improvements.
- Collaborate with external partners and internal stakeholders to identify opportunities.
- Work closely with Technology, Sales, Distribution, Pricing and Underwriting teams.
- Drive organizational change, product transformation, and cross-functional initiatives.
- Lead and develop the Product Manager team.
Portfolio Focus: Approximately 50% growth initiatives and 50% operational portfolio management.
- No direct P&L ownership; responsible for reviewing product financial performance and making recommendations.
3. Team Structure & Stakeholder Management
- Current team size: 2, with plans to expand to 5–6 members.
- Direct people leadership experience is mandatory.
- Highly collaborative role requiring the ability to mobilize teams across the organization.
- Must be able to influence stakeholders and drive change without relying solely on formal authority.
- Strong rapport-building and relationship management skills are critical.
4. Must-Have Skills & Experience
- 8–10 years of relevant experience in Product Management, Strategy, or related leadership roles.
- Experience working in a regulated environment.
- Healthcare or insurance industry background.
- Proven people leadership and team management experience.
- Strong stakeholder management and ability to lead through influence.
- Experience driving product transformation, optimization, and change initiatives.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills.
5. Preferred Qualifications
- Insurance / Group Benefits experience.
- Digital healthcare or Health-Tech experience.
- Agile Product Management experience.
- Exposure to AI and emerging technologies.
- Experience working with Pricing, Underwriting, Sales, Distribution and Member Experience teams.
6. Target Companies
- GreenShield
- TELUS Health
- Large healthcare organizations
- Digital healthcare / Health-Tech companies
- Insurance and Group Benefits providers
- Digital healthcare and Health-Tech experience is highly relevant and should not be limited to candidates from traditional insurance companies.
7. Ideal Candidate Profile
- An experienced Product Leader with strong business and operational capabilities. Ability to quickly build rapport
- Someone who can lead and develop a Product Management team.
- Brings fresh perspectives and challenges established ways of working.
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to establish rapport are particularly important.
- Competencies, leadership style and likability are valued alongside technical/product expertise.
