Director, Enterprise Data Architecture

Job Description

:

We seek a senior, technically hands-on Director, Enterprise Data Architecture to join Sun Life’s Enterprise Data Architecture team. This role is a strategic individual contributor responsible for defining, designing, and governing enterprise data architectures that support business domains across Canada & Corporate functions, including HR, Finance, and Marketing.

Reporting directly to the Global Head of Data Architecture, this role will shape how enterprise data is structured, integrated, governed, and delivered to enable trusted analytics, reporting, and digital applications at scale.

This position has a strong focus on Master Data Management (MDM), data warehousing, marketing and analytical data, and cloud-based data platforms, while staying aligned with enterprise architecture standards and best practices.

What will you do?

• Lead data architecture engagements with business and technology leaders to define enterprise and solution-level data architectures aligned to business outcomes.
• Design and govern enterprise data architecture patterns across core areas such as:Master Data Management (MDM) and Reference DataEnterprise and domain data warehousesMarketing and customer data platformsAnalytical and reporting data domains
• Provide architectural leadership for data integration, data pipelines, and data availability across on‑prem, hybrid, and cloud platforms.
• Establish and enforce enterprise data architecture standards, principles, and guardrails, ensuring consistency across delivery teams.
• Define logical and physical data models, canonical data structures, and core enterprise entities.
• Partner with Marketing, Finance, HR, and Analytics teams to ensure data architectures effectively support reporting, insights, and decision-making.
• Evaluate and recommend data technologies and platforms, presenting proposals and options at Enterprise Architecture governance forums.
• Apply architectural best practices related to security, reliability, performance efficiency, operational excellence, and cost optimization across data platforms.
• Collaborate with regional and global architecture teams to ensure alignment with enterprise-wide data architecture direction and reuse of patterns.
• Work closely with solution and delivery teams, providing hands-on guidance to resolve complex data architecture challenges.
• Partner with Data & Analytics teams to support pilots, proofs of concept, and platform evolution in the analytics and data domain.
• Support data lifecycle management practices including data quality, lineage, retention, and archival considerations.
• Mentor and coach data architects and solution designers, helping uplift enterprise-wide data architecture capability.

Preferred (but not the core focus of this role)

• Exposure to AI and analytics use cases, including how AI leverages analytical and curated data sets.
• Understanding of how data architectures support AI/ML workflows, without being responsible for advanced agentic or GenAI platform design.

What do you need to succeed?

• Strong experience engaging with senior leaders (VP / SVP / C‑level) on enterprise data architecture topics.
• 15+ years of experience designing and delivering enterprise data architectures, including end‑to‑end implementations.
• Deep expertise in:Master Data Management (MDM) and Reference DataData modeling (conceptual, logical, and physical)Enterprise data warehousing and analytical data architectureMarketing and customer data domains
• 5+ years of experience designing data architectures on cloud platforms (AWS preferred, or other complementary cloud platforms).
• Hands-on experience with modern data platforms and tools such as data warehouses, ETL/ELT, integration frameworks, and metadata/catalog tools.
• Strong understanding of data governance principles and their practical application in enterprise environments.
• Experience working across hybrid architectures (cloud and on‑prem).
• Ability to balance strategic direction with hands-on architectural problem-solving.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and mentorship skills.

Technical experience

• Cloud data services (e.g., AWS or equivalent)
• Data warehousing platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, or similar)
• Data integration and orchestration tools
• Data governance and catalog platforms
• Analytics and visualization platforms (e.g., Tableau or equivalent)

Preferred qualifications

• Enterprise Architecture certification (TOGAF, IASA, or equivalent)
• Experience in large, complex enterprise environments
• Exposure to AI, ML, or advanced analytics platforms as a consumer of data architectures

As this position is posted in several locations, we specify that bilingualism (French, English, both oral and written) is required for Quebec only as the position includes managing both French and English-speaking staff (Quebec and outside Quebec) and providing daily support to the team.

What’s in it for you?

• Great Place to Work® Certified for Most Trusted Executive Team in Canada – 2025, 2024, 2023
• Flexible hybrid work model (