AVP, Corporate Strategy & Enablement

sunlife; Toronto; On-site; CAD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Sun Life is seeking an AVP, Corporate Strategy & Enablement to lead strategy design and the annual planning cycle across Sun Life's businesses and geographies. You will manage a small high-performing team, coach staff, and engage senior leaders to solve strategic questions with quantitative and qualitative analysis.

The role emphasizes strategy development, project delivery, competitive intelligence, and executive-level communication in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant business experience, ideally within insurance or financial services
• Strong understanding of at least one Sun Life business area and geographic markets (Canada, US, Asia)
• Excellent communication, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong interpersonal skills; able to collaborate with multiple stakeholders across multiple teams
• Ability to coach team members on projects, providing guidance on analysis and deliverables
• Proven ability to lead and develop a small team of high-performing professionals

Responsibilities

• Translate ambiguous issues into clear problem statements and hypotheses
• Define scope, design approach, and lead execution of strategy projects
• Manage all project workstreams and coordinate across team members to ensure timely delivery
• Present findings and facilitate discussions with senior management, including implementation planning
• Monitor industry trends, competitor actions, and market developments
• Effectively communicate insights to an executive level audience
• Mentor team members through apprenticeship and coaching
• Foster a collaborative and learning-oriented team culture

Skills

Strategic planning

Financial modeling

Executive communication

Stakeholder mgmt

People leadership

Job description

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.

At Sun Life, we're driven by our Purpose: helping our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our values shape how we work: caring, authentic, bold, inspiring, and impactful.

When you join Sun Life, you'll work with passionate colleagues and empowering leaders who support your growth and celebrate your contributions, so you can make a meaningful difference in our Clients' lives.

Discover how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world.

Job Description:

The Corporate Strategy & Enablement Team's focus is to support Sun Life in achieving and maintaining a position of sustainable strategic advantage and growth in the long term. It has a broad focus on enterprise topics that span all Business Groups and geographic markets where Sun Life operates.

The AVP, Corporate Strategy & Enablement will report to the VP, Corporate Strategy & Enablement. The AVP will be responsible for ongoing delivery of internal strategy design and execution, and the annual strategic planning cycle, working effectively with teams across Sun Life to deliver strategy projects and proactively monitor and analyze trends. The successful candidate will work in a fast-paced, team-first environment with a focus on driving strategy and enablement project delivery, engaging senior leaders across Sun Life to solve key strategic questions/issues and structuring quantitative and qualitative analysis to solve critical strategic questions. The AVP will manage a small high performing team, acting as a coach and mentor through project work and team development opportunities.

What will you do:

Strategy development and planning:

• Translate ambiguous issues into clear problem statements and hypotheses
• Conduct quantitative (e.g., financial modeling, market sizing) and qualitative (e.g., benchmarking, expert synthesis) analysis
• Develop and execute analysis plans using internal and external data sources

Strategy and enablement project delivery:

• Define scope, design approach, and lead execution of strategy projects
• Manage all project workstreams and coordinate across team members to ensure timely delivery
• Present findings and facilitate discussions with senior management, including implementation planning

Trends and competitive intelligence:

• Monitor industry trends, competitor actions, and market developments
• Curate insights and identify implications for Sun Life's strategy
• Proactively share relevant patterns and themes with internal stakeholders

Communication and stakeholder engagement:

• Effectively communicate insights, ideas, and strategies clearly & concisely to an executive level audience
• Develop and maintain cross-functional relationships across the organization to identify emerging needs and opportunities
• Facilitate working sessions with senior executives, including Sun Life's Executive Team

People leadership and team development:

• Manage a team of high-performing Directors & Senior Consultants
• Mentor team members through apprenticeship and coaching
• Foster a collaborative and learning-oriented team culture
• Contribute to the development and success of the team and our practices

What do you need to succeed:

• 10+ years of relevant business experience, ideally within insurance or financial services
• Strong understanding of at least one Sun Life business area (e.g. asset management, insurance, wealth management) and geographic markets (Canada, US, Asia)
• Excellent communication, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong interpersonal skills; able to effectively collaborate with multiple stakeholders across multiple teams
• Able to work independently on assignments with appropriate judgment
• Ability to coach team members on projects, providing guidance on analysis and deliverables
• Proven ability to lead and develop a small team of high-performing professionals, including guiding project execution, driving accountability, and conducting performance and career development conversations

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 div