Director, Technology Lead, Mobile

Job Description

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About the role

The Director, Technology Lead is a portfolio level technology leader responsible for enabling high quality delivery, engineering excellence, and operational reliability within a defined product or capability area. Reporting to the AVP, Digital Journeys & Experiences, this role focuses on helping to shape and translate strategic technology and business direction into executable plans with a 1–2 year horizon.

The Director plays a hands-on leadership role across delivery teams, working closely with Architecture, Engineering, Operations, and Business partners to ensure consistent execution, stable platforms, and strong alignment to standards. They foster a high performing, collaborative engineering culture and ensure technology investments generate clear and measurable value.

The Director also leads domains specific delivery on Sun Life’s Client-facing Mobile application, execution stewardship, and day to day portfolio performance.

What you’ll be doing

1. Technology Strategy Execution

• Translate and help shape enterprise and technology strategy into actionable plans for the assigned portfolio.
• Partner with Business Leads, Architecture, Engineering and Enterprise IT to develop domain level roadmaps and support OKR achievement.
• Promote adoption of engineering best practices, contributing to decisions on build vs. buy vs. borrow within defined boundaries.
• Ensure solutions support reusability, scalability, security, and maintainability, escalating major architectural trade-offs.
• Identify and manage technical debt within the portfolio and support planning for higher quality digital experiences.

2. Product Delivery & Execution

• Lead end to end delivery for the portfolio, ensuring velocity, quality, reliability, and alignment with enterprise standards and controls.
• Oversee delivery team performance and vendor execution at the portfolio level.
• Track delivery metrics, identify bottlenecks, and implement productivity improvements.
• Serve as the first line of escalation for delivery issues.
• Coach teams for continuous improvement and agile maturity.

3. People Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead and mentor managers, team leads, and senior engineers, fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with Chapter Leaders and Business Leads to support staffing decisions, workforce planning, and role design within the portfolio.
• Coach teams on engineering discipline, agile practices, and high-quality delivery execution.

4. Financial & Vendor Management

• Support portfolio level budget planning, cost tracking, and capitalization, operating within the financial guardrails set by the AVP.
• Manage day-to-day vendor selection and relationships, delivery oversight, and performance management. This also includes contract negotiations, drafting SLAs, pricing and invoice payments.
• Identify opportunities to optimize all technology spend including vendors and reinvest in productivity or modernization initiatives.

5. Operational Excellence & Risk Management

• Ensure operational stability, currency, and security for systems and applications within the portfolio.
• Support governance processes that help ensure delivery discipline, compliance, and risk mitigation.
• Partner with Application Operations to ensure effective incident management, change management, and disaster recovery preparedness.

6. Cross Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Build strong relationships with Product, Operations, Client Experience, Architecture, and Business partners.
• Communicate delivery status, risks, and dependencies across the portfolio, enabling transparency and alignment.
• Represent the portfolio in cross functional forums, sharing insights and reinforcing technology best practices.

Accountabilities

• Execute technology strategy within the defined portfolio to achieve shared outcomes.
• Maintain and deliver portfolio roadmaps, domain OKRs, and initiative sequencing.
• Drive day-to-day technology execution, ensuring on time, high-quality delivery.
• Monitor delivery metrics and implement team level productivity improvements.
• Manage portfolio level budgets and vendor performance.
• Build and sustain a high performing, engaged, inclusive team environment.

Typical Outputs

• Portfolio level technology roadmap and OKR contribution.
• Updated business cases, value realization inputs, and initiative plans.
• Delivery dashboards and productivity improvement actions.
• Technology currency and operational stability plans for the portfolio.
• Vendor performance summaries and cost management insights.

What you’ll need to succeed

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (advanced degrees an asset).
• 10+ years of experience in technology leadership roles within delivery or engineering.
• Demonstrated success delivering complex systems in a fast paced, continuous delivery environment.
• Experience leading technical teams and developing engineering talent.
• Strong understanding of delivery governance, agile practices, and operational excellence.
• Financial services or digital product experience preferred.

Mindset & Behaviors

• Collaborative and transparent; values trust, openness, and continuous learning.
• Strong coaching mindset with the ability to develop teams and individuals.
• Bias toward action, problem-solving, and experimentation.
• Committed to engineering excellence and challenging the status quo constructively.
• Pragmatic decision‑maker who balances speed with technical soundness.

What's in it for you:

• Being a member of the Sun Life family, a group of people united by our Purpose: to help Clients and Employees achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives.
• In 2024, Sun Life ranked among the top 100 most sustainable global corporations by Corporate Knights for the 15th consecutive year, leading Canadian insurers.
• We are proud to be on the 2024 Best Workplaces in Canada list by Great Place to Work.
• We’re also listed as one of the Best Workplaces for Women and Best Workplaces with Most Trusted Executive Teams.
• Our unique Sabbatical Program gives you the opportunity to take up to 6 weeks off, every five years.
• 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.