Director, Strategic Initiatives

Sun Life • Toronto, ON

20h • CA$110,000 - CA$180,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization building trusted and lasting relationships with Clients around the world. With $1.3 trillion in assets under management, Sun Life provides individuals and corporate clients with a diverse range of protection products (life and health) and wealth products (asset management, mutual funds, group pension and retirement, and individual annuity and savings). Chartered in 1865, Sun Life celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2015. The Client Experience Office (CXO) aims to build and deliver a holistic "One Sun Life" experience to Clients as we help them achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. The CXO is at the heart of Sun Life focused on attracting and engaging Clients thru brand and performance marketing, engaging with Clients through the design, build, and delivery of client journeys, exceptional mobile and web channel experiences, and deepening relationships through personalized engagement across all channels and products. To understand our Clients, we actively listen and learn by employing experts in Client experience, journey design, engagement, marketing, strategy, and digital, data and analytics. Sun Life is a socially responsible organization with a commitment to sustainability in its practices and operations. Among other recognitions, the company appears regularly on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, as selected annually by Corporate Knights. Reporting to the VP, Experience, Planning, and Transformation, (CXO), the primary accountability of the Director, Strategic Initiatives, is to provide a diverse range of strategy execution, analytical, coordination and communications support. The incumbent acts as the representative of the SVP and the CXO Leadership Team (CXLT). This role drives the effectiveness and operating discipline of the CXO Leadership Team, ensuring leadership time, forums, and priorities are aligned to the function’s goals. It embeds strong governance, clarity, and consistency across the team to support seamless execution and a high-performing environment.

Requirements

• Demonstrated ability to drive the strategic execution of business priorities which span multiple business units / functions
• Excellent judgment, relationship management, and impact and influence capability, with a demonstrated ability to build effective relationships
• Ability to prioritize tasks and determine what is important and where value can be best added
• This role requires very strong presence and critical judgement along with an ability to influence and lead leveraging analytical thought
• Organizational awareness, agility, resourcefulness and demonstrated relationship building skills
• Learning agility; strong analytic and diagnostic skills dealing with opportunities and issues
• Ability to deal with significant ambiguity and constantly changing priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Strong business acumen, financial acumen and analytical skill set – ability to absorb information on a variety of complex issues (financial and non-financial) and summarize key issues or concerns and identify common themes and trends; demonstrated strategic thinking abilities
• High degree of personal integrity to recognize and manage access to sensitive information
• Superior communication skills – professional, confident, transparent and concise communicator (verbal and written)
• Minimum 8 years of relevant business experience; knowledge of Sun Life’s businesses would be an asset.
• University degree in business or related discipline; MBA or other relevant advance degree is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Act as a strategic Chief of Staff to the CXO Leadership Team, setting the operating cadence and ensuring disciplined execution across all leadership forums
• Own end-to-end leadership team effectiveness, including agenda design, facilitation support, and clear, actionable documentation of decisions and follow-ups.
• Bring a strategic lens to calendar and forum management—ensuring leadership time is focused on the highest-value priorities and aligned to the CXO transformation agenda.
• Shape and reinforce a strong, cohesive CXO team culture, fostering alignment, transparency, and engagement across the function.
• Ensure the CXO function operates with full auditability and in strict adherence to risk and governance standards, embedding consistent practices, documentation, and controls across all activities.
• Undertake and oversee a variety of projects and initiatives of sensitive nature, and usually requires proactive thought process and effective navigation, with minimal follow up, ensuring discretion and ability to see items through to resolution/completion
• Develop presentations on a variety of business and industry topics for the CXO LT and support them with internal and external commitments where necessary.
• Anticipate problems, critical issues, and opportunities as they arise and advise the SVP, CXO and CXLT accordingly
• Partner with Corporate Communications to support the creation of messaging, supplying content, proof points, and strategic context to amplify priorities and ensure consistent, high-impact messaging.
• Support the SVP, CXO with internal and external commitments, including preparing briefing notes, liaising with stakeholders, and coordinating required follow-up.
• Assist with annual budgeting and expense management, collaborating providing analysis and strategic perspective, as required.
• Develop strong relationships with counterparts across other BUs and enablement functions within SL Canada and relevant Global teams

Benefits

• A competitive salary and bonus program, based on market scale
• A flexible group insurance program starting on your first day of work to meet your needs and those of your family.
• Time off that allows you to focus on the moments that matter most.
• 20 vacation days per year.
• Our Share Ownership Program gives you the opportunity to invest in Sun Life while benefiting from employer matching contributions.
• A warm, supportive, and inclusive culture.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director