Director, Strategic Initiatives, Canada Marketing - Fixed Term

Job Description

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Role Summary

The Director, Strategic Initiatives, Canadian Marketing, will report directly to the VP & Canada Chief Marketing Officer, and will provide support for the Canadian Marketing Leadership Team. As a member of this leadership team, you will centralize and drive strategic planning, coordinated execution, and performance storytelling. You will oversee various management processes and lead priority cross-functional initiatives.

As the connector across Canada Marketing, you will ensure priorities are aligned, visible, and delivered efficiently while leading internal forums, events, and initiatives that bring our strategy to life, strengthen team culture, and enable collaboration. As a strategic thinker with strong leadership & story-telling skills, you will be capable of understanding all our businesses and managing multiple complex projects and stakeholders and collaborating across teams to achieve business objectives.

This is a fixed term role for approximately 15 months . it offers partial benefits and vacation days.

What will you do?

• Lead the Canadian Marketing Strategic Initiatives team with two direct reports and be responsible for the overall planning effort and evolution of how we deliver on and measure business impact. Accountable for guiding and supporting integrated planning and reporting and performance analysis.

• Work with the VP and Canadian Marketing Leadership Team to ensure alignment on strategy, key priorities, guiding principles and business processes including budgeting, annual planning, crisis management, business continuity etc.

• Strengthen cross-functional partnerships by understanding business and marketing priorities - creating visibility into marketing activities/impact, making recommendations, and improving operational efficiency to improve decision making and external client outcomes.

• Own planning and production of Canada Marketing’s internal forums and flagship events and activities (including MarketingFest, Town Halls, team development and socials) to promote alignment, engagement, and a unified marketing culture.

• Work with Global Marketing and Corporate Communications to ensure message and priority alignment across campaigns, initiatives, and marketing investments.

• Develop executive reporting and other key presentations and communications as required.

• With a strong storytelling, stake-holder management and analytic background, you will interpret Marketing KPIs and be able to explain the impact these on our business results. You will help the team generate insights to communicate findings and recommendations to senior management and business partners.

• In collaboration with the VP and Canadian Marketing Leadership Team, identify, develop and maintain relevant Marketing and financial metrics (dashboard and monitoring tools) that will enable the leadership team to develop effective plans, and in turn execute/manage the key elements of the business on an ongoing basis.

What do you need to succeed?

• The successful candidate will hold a bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 7 years in a marketing role, ideally in Financial Services. 5 years’ experience performing in a digital or channel management role is strongly preferred.

• Exceptional stakeholder management skills with the ability to understand multiple agendas and to align interests and competing priorities accordingly. Must possess strategic influencing and communication skills and be adept in building and sustaining partnerships and alliances.

• Strength in problem-solving and analytics-based decision making, and ability to story-tell in written and verbal presentations, including how to visually showcase marketing performance in an easy-to-digest way.

• Understanding of digital marketing KPIs, how to connect those to business outcomes. Ability to find client insights through analysis and translate them into elements to maintain, reinforce or evolve Sun Life’s operating model.

• Proven experience leading internal forums and enterprise-level events, with the ability to design and deliver engaging experiences that bring strategy to life, reinforce priority, and strengthen team culture.

• Comfort in leading through ambiguity, with demonstrated proficiency in operating within a shared services and/or matrix model. Must be able to successfully navigate complex organizational structures and build rapport, trust and credibility at multiple levels.

• Exposure to working in highly regulated environments, with the ability to innovate in this context.

• Proficient understanding of marketing technologies & current Canadian media landscape.

What's in it for you?

• Competitive salary influenced by market range data

• Partial Flexible Benefits from the day you join to meet the needs of you and your family

• Care Days available for self-care or care of others (i.e., family or others you may support) and Sick Days to support your well-being.

• A friendly, collaborative and inclusive culture

• We are proud to be on the 2026 Best Workplaces in Canada list by Great Place to Work.