Director, Expense Management

Sun Life Financial; Waterloo; On-site; CAD 105,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Director of Finance to lead a dynamic team of financial professionals. This role focuses on optimizing financial planning and analysis while providing valuable insights to drive operational efficiencies. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership skills and a proven track record in financial analysis, reporting, and client relationship management. Join a forward-thinking company that values diversity and empowers its employees to excel. This position offers a competitive salary and the opportunity to make a significant impact within the organization.

Benefits

Flexible Work Options

Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

Incentive Plans

Employee Empowerment Programs

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in financial planning and analysis, preferably in Financial Services.
• Strong communication skills and ability to lead a team effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting for the organization.
• Investigate expense variances and present actionable insights to management.

Skills

Financial Analysis

Reporting Skills

Presentation Skills

Problem Solving

Leadership

Analytical Thinking

Client Relationship Management

Bilingual (French, English)

Education

CPA

MBA

Tools

MS Office Suite

Tableau

Python

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

Job Description:

About the role

Sun Life Canada’s Expense Management function provides first line of defense support to its business partners as well as consolidation, analytics, and reporting of the business’ expenses on a monthly and quarterly basis. As part of a dynamic team of Finance professionals, the Director will lead a team of Senior Financial Analysts furthering the financial planning and analysis agenda with a strong focus on detailed planning and value add insights, understanding key cost drivers and influencing people in the organization to optimize operational expenditures. This role will be part of the critical transformation of Finance from optimizing the reporting and planning function to being a Trusted Financial Advisor to the business.

What you'll be doing

Reporting & Analysis

• Investigate and effectively communicate expense variances to all levels of management.
• Actively seek out expense savings opportunities and present action plans
• Attest to the accuracy of reports/information produced by establishing review processes
• Provide value add financial and non-financial insights to business partners

Planning & Forecast

• Lead expense & initiative components of Planning (Strategic and Final), Budgeting, and Forecasting including timely, clear communication of expense requirements and roll-forwards to all Sun Life stakeholders.

Finance Transformation

• Ability to recognize and implement continuous improvements
• Lead by example in establishing sustainable and repeatable processes

Other

• Build strong partnerships with business leaders and finance teams and become a trusted financial advisor
• Lead ad hoc financial analysis/consulting as required
• Understand, and be able to explain to business partners, expense drivers and Sun Life expense management process

What you'll need to succeed

• Financial designation with strong preference for CPA or MBA with commensurate experience
• 7+ years of financial planning, reporting and analysis experience; preferably in Financial Services
• Proficient in MS Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Knowledge of various data management tools (i.e. Tableau, Python, etc.)
• Experience leading a team
• Strong financial analysis, reporting and presentation skills
• Curious nature with a passion for investigative analysis, business impact and continuous improvement
• Analytical thinking - designs/orchestrates use of financial and business analytics for decision making
• Problem solving skills with curiosity for root cause analysis to identify key levers of financial and operational performance
• Demonstrated strength and ability to design and implement processes and standards
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal
• Experience building executive-level presentation and content
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with multiple competing priorities
• Results oriented and critical thinking – high sense of ownership
• Capable of distilling complex concepts into simple key messages and insights
• Curious mindset and comfortable with ambiguity and change
• Strong leadership and collaboration skills.
• Strong relationship management skills with a focus on client orientation; including excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written)
• Strong prioritization and organization skills -- capable of meeting deadlines in a high-performance environment

• 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.

Unique Requirements

• Some overtime will be required during peak reporting periods

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 [e-mail] .

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.

Salary Range:

105,000/105 000 - 180,000/180 000

Job Category:

Finance

Posting End Date:

21/05/2025