AVP, Operational Resilience

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:

About the job

The AVP, Operational Resilience will lead the effective delivery of the multi-year effort for Sun Life to enhance its Operational Resilience and gain compliance with OSFI’s E-21 Guideline. This revised Guideline provides significantly new requirements addressing the transition from traditional Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery approaches to those of Operational Resilience. Further, this role will be pivotal in establishing the longer-term business as usual operations and processes for Operational Resilience to manage compliance requirements, standards and processes for Sun Life globally.

The scope of this role is global in nature, and will report to Vice President, Enterprise & Corporate Risk Management. This new role is being brought on to help drive the mandatory and critical work associated to OSFI’s recent release of their E-21 Guideline.

This is a leadership role responsible for guiding a multi-layered team and driving cross-functional initiatives related to operational risk & resilience management. The role demands a deep understanding of regulatory requirements, particularly in the Canadian FRFI market, and the ability to collaborate with senior executive leadership. This leader will chair several key governance committees and will champion programs focused on business and operational resilience.

The leader will also take responsibility for teams overseeing 2nd line oversight of the current business continuity planning process across the organization and be accountable to build a high-performance team to lead and effect the changes necessary in Sun Life to embed resilience at the core of its business model.

What you'll be doing

OSFI E-21 Operational Resilience Program:

• Lead the establishment of standards & practices related to delivering compliance to the key/required elements of E-21 Operational Risk & Resilience Guideline
• Lead the strategic activities associated to developing a repeatable foundation for the mapping of critical operations end-to-end
• Establish the critical work activity to be undertaken to move Sun Life to an acceptable operational resilience methodology and framework.
• Management/coordination of delivery on key workstreams within the Operational Resilience program to ensure critical operations are effectively & consistently identified, with the forward vision of expanding beyond critical operations to all operations as the team and function mature & evolve
• Lead the development of tracking mechanisms with respect to resilience assessment, risks, gaps, and remediation plans
• Identification and management of Risk identification across the operational resilience assets/resources
• Leads the communication and collaboration, as needed, with Business Groups, Corporate Functional Areas, and DBTS/IT on requirements necessary for E-21 compliance.
• This role will evolve to form and lead a center of excellence for Sun Life related to Operational Resilience.

Center of Excellence Establishment / People Management

• Leads and manages on the Operational Resilience and Business Continuity Management teams
• The leader will establish a high-performance center of excellence capable of delivering initially on the Program requirements, subsequently structuring it for ongoing support and efficiency.
• Assist in the transition of individuals (who will be brought on board to initially manage the delivery of the Operational Resilience Program), into operational business-as-usual as the Program fulfills its mandate and standard operations are stood up
• Establishment of a center of excellence for Enterprise Operational Resilience standards, processes & requirements.
• Assist with the development and training of staff as they are brought onboard, and this new team is formed.

Operational Resilience Tooling Product Ownership

• Lead the selection of the tool of choice for cataloging Operational Resilience requirements, processes, etc.
• Build out the requirements an onboard all operational process into the tool of choice
• Onboard the relevant business groups into usage of the tool
• Act as Product Owner for the respective Operational Resilience tool / suite.

What you'll need to succeed

• 10+ years of experience in leading Operational Resilience functions, Operations and/or Operational Risk in either a 1st or 2nd line role
• 5+ years of demonstrable experience in a senior management role
• Experience in Financial Services is an asset.
• Demonstrated track record of delivery in a sophisticated operational environment.
  • Delivering cross functional change
  • Managing expectations of senior leaders
  • Effective presentation, communication, negotiation, and conflict management skills.
• Strong interpersonal, influencing, and leadership skills.
• Excellent written communication and presentation skills.
• Hardworking and innovative with an ability to inspire colleagues, achieve consensus from partners and delight the customer
• Dedication to values that align with Sun Life’s overarching mission and principles
• Demonstrated ability to effectively build, operate and deliver in a fast pasted, highly ambiguous environment
• Experience in building and leading a team of professionals that supports the entire enterprise.
• University degree and professional designation with over 10 years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

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.

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 thebrightside@sunlife.com.

At Sun Life we strive to create a flexible work environment where our employees are empowered to do their best work. Several flexible work options are available and can be discussed throughout the selection process depending on the role requirements and individual needs.

We thank all applicants for showing an interest in this position. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

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