Director, Business Architecture and Strategy, Group Benefits

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:

This role will focus on bringing business architecture and business strategy closer together within the Group Benefit (GB) business.

The Director of Business Architecture and Strategy will have two primary areas of responsibilities. First, they will lead GB’s efforts to evaluate business and technology capabilities and identify opportunities to support business growth with a focus on optimizing GB’s competitive positioning, profitability, and client experience. Second, they will lead and support strategic problem solving and analysis efforts to enable decision making related to GB’s near term and longer term strategic direction.

Do you have a diverse range of business strategy, process improvement and/or technology expertise? Are you excited to connect with stakeholders across the organization to listen, elicit input, analyze and evaluate opportunities across both business and technology needs? Are you curious about opportunities to better use our systems and tools to drive business improvements? Are you excited about shaping the strategic direction of the Group Benefits business? If yes, join us to help define our future capabilities and drive business growth.

This role will work closely with peers across the GB Strategy and GB Digital Enterprise teams as well as the business architecture team in GB Operations.

What will you do?

Business Architecture

• Mature the practice of business architecture in the GB business and demonstrate value through driving improvements in competitive positioning, profitability and client experience

  • Illustrative Deliverable: Translate the existing Business Architecture Knowledgebase (BAK) into a digestible reference for business leaders, maintain the BAK through an annual refresh

• Coordinate with GB leaders and partners to maintain an up to date view of GB’s capabilities and develop a future looking capability roadmap that clarifies investment priorities (with a particular focus on Business Development, Underwriting and Analytics, Market Development and Communications)

  • Illustrative Deliverable: Support the GB Sponsor and Distributor Journey lead to define capabilities that enable their roadmaps

• Collaborate with the Operations Business Architecture team and other internal partners across the organization to understand and recommend where common enterprise capabilities can be leveraged

• Build consensus with partners to define a shared vision and roadmap for critical GB capabilities and champion this vision from concept, through planning, to implementation

  • Illustrative Deliverable: Establish a consolidated view of the GB capability priorities

• Review tools that support our critical GB capabilities and ensure these tools are being used to their full potential

  • Illustrative Deliverable: Support ongoing evolution of GB Salesforce CRM

• Explore opportunities to integrate new solutions to meet critical business needs

  • Illustrative Deliverables: Evaluate new vendors / technologies and recommend path forward

• Support the Business Architecture COP in its effort to advance the standardization of practices across SL Canada and enhance GB’s understanding of the value of Business Architecture

Business Strategy

• Support GB’s annual planning process (OKR development, strat planning, etc.)

  • Illustrative Deliverable: Link GB’s Vision and Objectives to key capabilities and support APM prioritization

• Support strategy / innovation work that requires knowledge of our systems, processes and capabilities and leverage input from SMEs to drive towards recommendations.

  • Illustrative Deliverables: Exploring the strategic rationale and integration feasibility of new partnerships / acquisitions

• As needed, support problem solving and analysis to enable strategic decision making and implementation

• Engage senior level decision makers and SMEs to develop and gain buy-in on recommendations that have cross-cutting business impacts

• Maintain awareness of key market and competitive trends and developments and stand up projects to explore or address emerging opportunities or threats

What do you need to succeed?

• A versatile leader with strong technology and business acumen

• 10+ years relevant business experience, ideally within insurance or group benefits

• Strong knowledge of insurance / group benefits processes and capabilities

• Experience in strategic analysis and strategy development

• Experience in the design and modeling of business capabilities (e.g. building target operating models)

• Experience evaluating digital and technology capabilities and tools/systems and an understanding of how technology can enable business capabilities

• Experience working in an Agile delivery model

• Ability to think strategically and act tactically, to connect the dots between business strategy and business architecture

• Strong communication and presentation skills - written and oral

• Strong collaboration and relationship management skills

• A track record of successfully managing complex internal relationships and stakeholders

• As this position is posted in several locations, we specify that bilingualism (French, English, both oral and written) is required for Quebec only for the frequent interactions with English and French-speaking colleagues or internal partners across Canada or worldwide.

Preferred qualifications

• University degree in a business and / or IT discipline (masters degree is preferred)

• TOGAF business architecture certification (or experience working in a business architecture role)

What’s in it for you?

• Join the growing Sun Life Health family, a group of people united by our Purpose: to help Clients and employees achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives

• A friendly, collaborative and inclusive culture

• A collegial and interactive team environment

• An opportunity to learn, grow and hone your skills

• Flexible work from home options

#LI-Hybrid

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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