Director, Group Retirement Services Marketing Strategy

Sun Life; Waterloo; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Sun Life is seeking a Director of Marketing Strategy for their Group Retirement Services business. The role is focused on developing client-centric marketing strategies to enhance relationships with plan members and drive business results through digital channels. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in marketing, leadership, and understanding of the investments sector.

Benefits

Great Place to Work Certified for Most Trusted Executive Team

Great Place to Work Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada

Canada Order of Excellence for Mental Health at Work certification

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in marketing focusing on digital channels and client relationships.
• Understanding of financial services, specifically personal or group investments.
• Proven success in developing and executing go-to-market plans.

Responsibilities

• Develop marketing plans to promote GRS value proposition for plan members.
• Analyze market trends to inform marketing strategies and identify growth opportunities.
• Lead a team and collaborate with cross-functional partners to align marketing efforts.

Skills

Digital marketing

Leadership

Client relationship management

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing or Business

Tools

Digital marketing tools

Job description

We seek a digitally savvy leader with a growth mindset to drive the client-centric marketing strategy for our Group Retirement Services (GRS) business. This team will help deliver on Sun Life’s ambition of helping Canadians achieve lifetime financial security, as we help clients save for important life moments.

The Director of Marketing Strategy for GRS is responsible for developing marketing strategies that deepen relationships with clients (“plan members”) and retain those transitioning from their workplace retirement savings plans.

This role requires a strategic thinker with proven experience in digital channels, customer relationship management and in building go-to-market plans that drive business results. The ideal candidate will also have an understanding of the investments or retirement services market, strong leadership skills, and the ability to collaborate across a matrixed organization to achieve business objectives.

Key Responsibilities :

• Develop comprehensive marketing plans to promote the value proposition of our GRS offerings for plan members – with the goal of delivering a better experience for members and helping them save more for their important life goals.
• Drive high velocity planning and execution cycles to generate relevant leads for both digital and human advice channels and adapt rapidly to competitor actions.
• Leverage business priorities, segmentation & other data, channel planning, together with content creation & deployment capabilities to ensure delivery of relevant messaging in the right channel at the right time. Ensure value propositions are clear and concise for plan members.
• Be the subject matter expert with solid understanding of personal and workplace investments, and how this experience fits in Sun Life’s larger client strategy.
• Partner with Client Research & Insights team to understand root Client needs to align messaging, content and channel with target market that optimizes reach and maximize engagement
• Analyze market trends and customer insights to inform marketing strategies, identify growth opportunities and develop optimal engagement journey paths by client segments. A / B test and iterate content to continually optimize both client and business outcomes.
• Collaborate with business owners, product development, and other departments to ensure alignment of marketing efforts with business goals.
• Work in partnership with Agile Delivery team on the creation of marketing materials, including digital content, collateral, and presentations.
• Monitor and report on the performance of marketing activity, using data and trends to optimize future efforts.
• Lead a team and work with cross-functional partners from the business, digital, data & technology and other marketing areas to deliver on these efforts
• Ensure compliance with industry regulations and company policies in all marketing activities.

What will you need to succeed?

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in marketing, with a focus on digital channels and in deepening relationships with existing clients.
• Experience in financial services, specifically with personal or group investments.
• Proven track record of developing and executing successful go-to-market plans, with the ability to quantify business impact of this work.
• Proficiency in digital marketing tools and platforms; ability to analyze data and make informed decisions.
• Strong leadership and team management experience.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Bias for action and creative problem solving, test and learn growth mindset, and analytics-based decision making.

As this position is posted in several locations, we specify that bilingualism (French, English, both oral and written) is required for Quebec only as the position includes managing both French and English-speaking staff (Quebec and outside Quebec) and providing daily support to the team.

What’s in it for you?

• Great Place to Work Certified for Most Trusted Executive Team in Canada – 2025, 2024 and 2023
• Great Place to Work Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada - 2025
• Canada Order of Excellence for Mental Health at Work certification from Excellence Canada. Sun Life is one of only four companies in Canada to ever receive this certification – 2024
• Great Place to Work Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada – 2024 and 2022
• Great Place to Work Certified for Best Workplaces for Women in Canada - 2024