**"Pois é" is an interjection** and its translation depends pretty much on context.  Basically it expresses **confirmation** or **resignation**, or both simultaneously. Sometimes it's just a filler. Other times you'd better ignore it in a translation work. In pt-BR you're likely to find it in sentences such as:

> 1. (a) "Não se pode mais fazer bater nos filhos?"  (b) "**Pois é**, agora as coisas mudaram."  (**"That's it", "that's true", "yes, you're right"** or simply **"yes"**) 
> 2. (a) "Vamos ou não vamos ter um aumento salarial?"  (b) "**Pois é**, conforme eu havia dito na reunião anterior, a situação financeira da empresa está indefinida no momento e..." ("pois é" here sounds more like a **filler**, something like "vejam só" or "olhem" . It may be translated as **"you see"**, **"look here"**, **"well"**. * 
> 3. (a) "Que droga de tempo.  Chuva o tempo todo." (b) **"Pois é"**. (**agreed, , I agree, exactly**, said with regret) In this example, intonation is everything so that it may even sound like **"told you"** or **"too bad"**.
> 4. (a) "Você está dizendo que ele morreu?"  (b) **"Pois é**, morreu ontem". (**exactly, yes, that's it**)

As I've said before, "pois é" is an interjection that **expresses confirmation or resignation**. More frequently it can be translated into English as **"yes", "agreed", "exactly", "it's true", "you're right", that's it"**.  Remember that interjections are unique in that more often than not you can hardly find a perfect translation, especially in the written language where stress and intonation are absent.   

NB

> 1. When in Portugal, beware of "pois", "pois é", "ora pois", "ora pois pois". These are used much more frequently in pt-PT than in pt-BR, sometimes as a filler, and with different meanings.
2. Don't confuse "pois é" (interjection) with "pois é" (two words meaning "porque é).  Example: O empreendedorismo é essencial nas sociedades, **pois é**  (porque é) através dele que as empresas buscam a inovação.

EDIT - Para ser mais preciso, "pois é", da mesma forma que "muito bem!", "que alívio", "é isso aí, mano", "nossa mãe!", "de jeito nenhum", etc. **é uma locução interjetiva**, no sentido de que tem o significado de uma frase completa e assim é compreendida.