Job Description
Full job description
You are as unique as your background, experience and point of view. Here, you’ll be encouraged, empowered and challenged to be your best self. You'll work with dynamic colleagues - experts in their fields - who are eager to share their knowledge with you. Your leaders will inspire and help you reach your potential and soar to new heights. Every day, you'll have new and exciting opportunities to make life brighter for our Clients - who are at the heart of everything we do. Discover how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world.
Job Description:
The AVP, Technology Lead, Health is a strategic technology leader responsible for running and building Sun Life’s health and benefits technology platforms to support member, sponsor and employee experiences at scale. This role is accountable for embedding a world-class design and engineering culture across delivery teams, with a strong focus on digital experiences, stable core systems and maintaining a roadmap of capabilities needed to achieve business outcomes.
The role combines strategic leadership, technical oversight, people leadership, as well as vendor and financial management, to drive technology excellence and business value delivery. The AVP Technology Lead partners closely with Product, Architecture, Operations, Enterprise Technology and Business Leads to ensure integrated, end-to-end enablement of technology capabilities—rather than ownership of business processes themselves.
This role operates in a highly visible, complex environment and requires a leader who can drive momentum, make clear decisions, and bring strong technical credibility.
Key Responsibilities
1. Technology Strategy, Digital Enablement & Engineering
Shape, communicate, and align technology and strategy across the business unit and the organization, ensuring it supports both near-term delivery commitments and longer-term modernization objectives.
Partner with Business Leads, Operations, Core IT / Infrastructure, and Enterprise Architecture to define platform roadmaps and OKRs for technology capabilities, including data, integrations, client-hosted applications, workflow systems, mainframe systems of record and digital user experiences.
Provide thought leadership on how technology platforms should be developed, adopted, and governed—moving beyond delivery execution toward sustainable enablement.
Promote adoption of technology stack standards and modern engineering practices, balancing build vs. buy vs. partner decisions in a complex technology ecosystem.
Ensure design and engineering decisions account for reusability, scalability, security, and maintainability, actively managing technical debt in non-greenfield environments.
Plan for exceptional digital experiences by enabling business teams with reliable, scalable platforms and capabilities.
2. Platform Delivery & Execution
Accountable for end-to-end delivery of technology platforms and capabilities, including oversight of internal delivery teams, total cost of ownership and system integrator partners.
Drive delivery excellence by improving velocity, quality, and reliability across multiple agile squads that are at varying levels of maturity.
Track delivery metrics and implement targeted productivity and delivery maturity improvements.
Serve as the primary point of escalation for platform, delivery, and vendor-related issues, facilitating rapid resolution in a complex environment.
3. People Leadership & Capability Development
Lead, mentor, and develop technology teams, fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and execution-focused culture.
Partner with Business Leads and Chapter leaders to design team structures that achieve business and delivery outcomes.
Inspire and empower teams through coaching, continuous learning, and hands-on leadership
Support succession planning and capability development for critical roles.
4. Financial & Vendor Management
Lead platform budget management, including annual budgeting, cost tracking, and capitalization.
Manage strategic vendor and system integrator relationships, holding partners accountable for delivery quality, outcomes, and knowledge transfer.
Ensure alignment between IT and business finance, identifying opportunities to optimize spend.
5. Operational Excellence & Risk Management
Ensure platform stability, security, technology currency and end-of-life decommissioning for applications.
Establish governance processes that balance speed of delivery with risk management and regulatory requirements.
Partner with Operations to ensure effective incident management, change management, and disaster recovery for enablement platforms.
6. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
Act as a strategic technology partner to leaders across Product, Operations, Client Experience, and Operations.
Collaborate with business and IT stakeholders to align technology plans with business priorities and client outcomes.
Represent the health technology function in executive forums, bringing external perspective and best practices from complex enterprise environments.
Accountabilities
Align technology strategy with Health business objectives.
Define and monitor platform roadmaps and OKRs.
Oversee platform execution across delivery teams and vendors.
Establish governance, track delivery metrics, and drive productivity improvements.
Manage technology budgets and vendor relationships.
Build and sustain a high-performing, engaged, and inclusive enablement-focused technology organization.
Typical Outputs
Health technology strategy, platform roadmaps, and OKRs.
Modernized technology platforms aligned to business priorities.
Initiative roadmaps and delivery plans for enablement capabilities.
Delivery metrics, vendor performance insights, and productivity improvement plans.
Strategic workforce management plans.
Opportunities for delivery team improvements to ways of working and agile maturity.
Qualifications & Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (advanced degree or MBA is an asset).
10+ years of experience in senior technology leadership roles, with demonstrated success delivering complex mission-critical systems
Experience leading the modernization and enablement of Health Technology platforms
Proven ability to lead technology teams through modernization and enablement-focused transformation.
Strong financial acumen with experience managing sizable budgets and vendor portfolios.
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.
Experience in regulated financial services is valuable.
Mindset & Behaviours
Decisive leader comfortable operating in ambiguity and complexity.
Strong technical credibility, with the ability to challenge architecture, delivery practices, and CI/CD approaches.
Builder mindset with equal focus on fixing, scaling, and enabling.
Pragmatic, outcomes-driven decision-maker.
Collaborative leader who rebuilds trust and drives momentum.
Critical thinker with a passion for challenging the status quo and driving innovation.
Believes in a non-hierarchical culture of collaboration, transparency, and trust.
Experimental mindset to drive continuous improvement.
Strong coaching and problem-solving skills.
What’s in it for you?
Great Place to Work® Certified for Most Trusted Executive Team in Canada – 2025, 2024 and 2023
Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada - 2025
Canada Order of Excellence for Mental Health at Work® certification from Excellence Canada. Sun Life is one of only four companies in Canada to ever receive this certification – 2024
Top Work Places® for Remote Work – Monster Canada - 2024
Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada – 2024 and 2022
Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces for Women in Canada - 2024
Flexible hybrid work model. #LI-Hybrid
Pension, stock and savings programs to help build and enhance your future financial security
Work and professional development that is united by our Purpose: to help Clients and Employees achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives
A friendly, collaborative and inclusive culture
Be part of our continuous improvement journey in developing the next greatest digital enterprise experience.
Competitive salary and bonus structure influenced by market range data
The opportunity to move along a variety of career paths with amazing networking potential
The Base Pay range is for the primary location for which the job is posted. It may vary depending on the work location of the successful candidate or other factors. In addition to Base Pay, eligible Sun Life employees participate in various incentive plans, payment under which is discretionary and subject to individual and company performance. Certain sales focused roles have sales incentive plans based on individual or group sales results.
Diversity and inclusion have always been at the core of our values at Sun Life. A diverse workforce with wide perspectives and creative ideas benefits our Clients, the communities where we operate and all of us as colleagues. We welcome applications from qualified individuals from all backgrounds.
Persons with disabilities who need accommodation in the application process, or those needing job postings in an alternative format, may e-mail a request to [email protected].
We are proud to be a hybrid organization that offers our employees the choice and flexibility to work from both the office and virtually based on the needs of the business, our Clients and you! Several work options are available and can be discussed throughout the selection process depending on the role requirements and individual needs.
We may use artificial intelligence to support candidate sourcing, screening, interview scheduling.
We thank all applicants for showing an interest in this position. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Salary Range:
145,000/145 000 - 235,000/235 000
Job Category:
Project Management - Systems
Posting End Date:
16/03/2026
Return to Search Result
You are as unique as your background, experience and point of view. Here, you’ll be encouraged, empowered and challenged to be your best self. You'll work with dynamic colleagues - experts in their fields - who are eager to share their knowledge with you. Your leaders will inspire and help you reach your potential and soar to new heights. Every day, you'll have new and exciting opportunities to make life brighter for our Clients - who are at the heart of everything we do. Discover how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world.
Job Description:
The AVP, Technology Lead, Health is a strategic technology leader responsible for running and building Sun Life’s health and benefits technology platforms to support member, sponsor and employee experiences at scale. This role is accountable for embedding a world-class design and engineering culture across delivery teams, with a strong focus on digital experiences, stable core systems and maintaining a roadmap of capabilities needed to achieve business outcomes.
The role combines strategic leadership, technical oversight, people leadership, as well as vendor and financial management, to drive technology excellence and business value delivery. The AVP Technology Lead partners closely with Product, Architecture, Operations, Enterprise Technology and Business Leads to ensure integrated, end-to-end enablement of technology capabilities—rather than ownership of business processes themselves.
This role operates in a highly visible, complex environment and requires a leader who can drive momentum, make clear decisions, and bring strong technical credibility.
Key Responsibilities
1. Technology Strategy, Digital Enablement & Engineering
Shape, communicate, and align technology and strategy across the business unit and the organization, ensuring it supports both near-term delivery commitments and longer-term modernization objectives.
Partner with Business Leads, Operations, Core IT / Infrastructure, and Enterprise Architecture to define platform roadmaps and OKRs for technology capabilities, including data, integrations, client-hosted applications, workflow systems, mainframe systems of record and digital user experiences.
Provide thought leadership on how technology platforms should be developed, adopted, and governed—moving beyond delivery execution toward sustainable enablement.
Promote adoption of technology stack standards and modern engineering practices, balancing build vs. buy vs. partner decisions in a complex technology ecosystem.
Ensure design and engineering decisions account for reusability, scalability, security, and maintainability, actively managing technical debt in non-greenfield environments.
Plan for exceptional digital experiences by enabling business teams with reliable, scalable platforms and capabilities.
2. Platform Delivery & Execution
Accountable for end-to-end delivery of technology platforms and capabilities, including oversight of internal delivery teams, total cost of ownership and system integrator partners.
Drive delivery excellence by improving velocity, quality, and reliability across multiple agile squads that are at varying levels of maturity.
Track delivery metrics and implement targeted productivity and delivery maturity improvements.
Serve as the primary point of escalation for platform, delivery, and vendor-related issues, facilitating rapid resolution in a complex environment.
3. People Leadership & Capability Development
Lead, mentor, and develop technology teams, fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and execution-focused culture.
Partner with Business Leads and Chapter leaders to design team structures that achieve business and delivery outcomes.
Inspire and empower teams through coaching, continuous learning, and hands-on leadership
Support succession planning and capability development for critical roles.
4. Financial & Vendor Management
Lead platform budget management, including annual budgeting, cost tracking, and capitalization.
Manage strategic vendor and system integrator relationships, holding partners accountable for delivery quality, outcomes, and knowledge transfer.
Ensure alignment between IT and business finance, identifying opportunities to optimize spend.
5. Operational Excellence & Risk Management
Ensure platform stability, security, technology currency and end-of-life decommissioning for applications.
Establish governance processes that balance speed of delivery with risk management and regulatory requirements.
Partner with Operations to ensure effective incident management, change management, and disaster recovery for enablement platforms.
6. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
Act as a strategic technology partner to leaders across Product, Operations, Client Experience, and Operations.
Collaborate with business and IT stakeholders to align technology plans with business priorities and client outcomes.
Represent the health technology function in executive forums, bringing external perspective and best practices from complex enterprise environments.
Accountabilities
Align technology strategy with Health business objectives.
Define and monitor platform roadmaps and OKRs.
Oversee platform execution across delivery teams and vendors.
Establish governance, track delivery metrics, and drive productivity improvements.
Manage technology budgets and vendor relationships.
Build and sustain a high-performing, engaged, and inclusive enablement-focused technology organization.
Typical Outputs
Health technology strategy, platform roadmaps, and OKRs.
Modernized technology platforms aligned to business priorities.
Initiative roadmaps and delivery plans for enablement capabilities.
Delivery metrics, vendor performance insights, and productivity improvement plans.
Strategic workforce management plans.
Opportunities for delivery team improvements to ways of working and agile maturity.
Qualifications & Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (advanced degree or MBA is an asset).
10+ years of experience in senior technology leadership roles, with demonstrated success delivering complex mission-critical systems
Experience leading the modernization and enablement of Health Technology platforms
Proven ability to lead technology teams through modernization and enablement-focused transformation.
Strong financial acumen with experience managing sizable budgets and vendor portfolios.
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.
Experience in regulated financial services is valuable.
Mindset & Behaviours
Decisive leader comfortable operating in ambiguity and complexity.
Strong technical credibility, with the ability to challenge architecture, delivery practices, and CI/CD approaches.
Builder mindset with equal focus on fixing, scaling, and enabling.
Pragmatic, outcomes-driven decision-maker.
Collaborative leader who rebuilds trust and drives momentum.
Critical thinker with a passion for challenging the status quo and driving innovation.
Believes in a non-hierarchical culture of collaboration, transparency, and trust.
Experimental mindset to drive continuous improvement.
Strong coaching and problem-solving skills.
What’s in it for you?
Great Place to Work® Certified for Most Trusted Executive Team in Canada – 2025, 2024 and 2023
Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada - 2025
Canada Order of Excellence for Mental Health at Work® certification from Excellence Canada. Sun Life is one of only four companies in Canada to ever receive this certification – 2024
Top Work Places® for Remote Work – Monster Canada - 2024
Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada – 2024 and 2022
Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces for Women in Canada - 2024
Flexible hybrid work model. #LI-Hybrid
Pension, stock and savings programs to help build and enhance your future financial security
Work and professional development that is united by our Purpose: to help Clients and Employees achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives
A friendly, collaborative and inclusive culture
Be part of our continuous improvement journey in developing the next greatest digital enterprise experience.
Competitive salary and bonus structure influenced by market range data
The opportunity to move along a variety of career paths with amazing networking potential
The Base Pay range is for the primary location for which the job is posted. It may vary depending on the work location of the successful candidate or other factors. In addition to Base Pay, eligible Sun Life employees participate in various incentive plans, payment under which is discretionary and subject to individual and company performance. Certain sales focused roles have sales incentive plans based on individual or group sales results.
Diversity and inclusion have always been at the core of our values at Sun Life. A diverse workforce with wide perspectives and creative ideas benefits our Clients, the communities where we operate and all of us as colleagues. We welcome applications from qualified individuals from all backgrounds.
Persons with disabilities who need accommodation in the application process, or those needing job postings in an alternative format, may e-mail a request to [email protected].
We are proud to be a hybrid organization that offers our employees the choice and flexibility to work from both the office and virtually based on the needs of the business, our Clients and you! Several work options are available and can be discussed throughout the selection process depending on the role requirements and individual needs.
We may use artificial intelligence to support candidate sourcing, screening, interview scheduling.
We thank all applicants for showing an interest in this position. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Salary Range:
145,000/145 000 - 235,000/235 000
Job Category:
Project Management - Systems
Posting End Date:
16/03/2026
Return to Search Result
💡 Quick Summary
Seeking a career-building opportunity? The AVP, Technology Lead, Health position is now open for candidates interested in the Work from home Jobs sector. This role in Waterloo offers a professional environment and growth potential.
Requirement Snapshot: Candidates should possess basic communication skills, a proactive attitude, and the ability to work in a team. Experience in Work from home Jobs is a plus.
