Vice President, Enterprise Data and AI Platforms

Sun Life; Kitchener; Hybrid; CAD 195,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Sun Life is seeking a Vice President of Data and AI Platforms to shape and execute the strategic vision for our enterprise data, analytics, and AI capabilities. You will lead the end-to-end lifecycle—from scalable platforms to governance and responsible AI—across global teams.

You will collaborate with IT and Data Leaders, drive data product and self-service capabilities, ensure data quality, privacy, and regulatory compliance, and mentor a high-performing team in a hybrid, global environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years designing enterprise-scale data, analytics, and AI platforms
• Strong expertise in Data Governance, compliance and regulatory frameworks
• Experience building and scaling agentic AI platforms and governance
• Experience managing budgets, resources and project timelines for large-scale data/AI initiatives
• Knowledge of data lakes, data mesh, data warehousing, ETL, and cloud AI frameworks

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering and delivery of global Data and AI capabilities
• Design and implement enterprise-scale data platforms
• Define global data platform architecture with governance standards
• Scale enterprise data products and self-service capabilities
• Build enterprise agentic AI platform infrastructure and governance
• Collaborate with data scientists, analysts and stakeholders globally
• Manage budgets and resources for data/AI investments
• Stay updated on data tech, agentic AI architectures and trends
• Mentor and develop a high-performing team

Skills

Enterprise data platforms

Agentic AI platforms

Data governance

Cloud data technologies

Leadership

Stakeholder communication

Budget management

Data lakes

Data mesh

ETL pipelines

AI/ML frameworks

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/Data/Engineering

MBA or advanced degree a plus

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

Data warehousing

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

As the Vice President of Data and AI Platforms, you will be responsible for shaping and executing the strategic vision for our enterprise data, analytics, and AI shared capabilities. Your leadership will extend across the entire data and AI lifecycle — from designing robust enterprise-scale platforms and agentic AI infrastructure to ensuring data quality, accessibility, and intelligent automation. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to enable data-driven and AI-powered decision-making and innovation across the organization. In this role, you will be at the forefront of designing, developing, and implementing cutting-edge data and agentic AI platforms that drive our business growth and excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with IT and Data Leaders globally and lead the engineering and delivery of global Data and AI capabilities.
• Lead the end-to-end design, development, and implementation of enterprise-scale data and AI platforms that support our business strategies and initiatives.
• Drive the strategy and execution of a unified global data platform architecture, enabling consistent data accessibility, interoperability, and governance standards across all regions and business units.
• Lead the expansion of enterprise data products and self-service capabilities to accelerate time-to-insight for global stakeholders, ensuring equitable data access regardless of geography.
• Define, build, and scale the enterprise agentic AI platform infrastructure — including the agentic control plane, orchestration layers, model registries, and inference pipelines — to enable scalable, responsible AI development and deployment across the enterprise.
• Architect and evolve the agentic control plane to manage agent lifecycle, governance, observability, and safe orchestration of autonomous AI agents across business domains.
• Establish enterprise-wide standards and guardrails for the responsible use of agentic AI, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements, ethical guidelines, and data privacy principles.
• Partner with business and technology leaders to identify high-value AI and agentic use cases and accelerate the path from experimentation to production-grade AI solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Define and socialize Data Governance policies, practices, and capabilities that enable compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
• Identify opportunities to streamline and optimize existing data processes and workflows, leveraging automation, agentic AI, and emerging technologies.
• Collaborate with data scientists, AI/ML engineers, analysts, and business stakeholders globally to deliver data and AI solutions that empower informed decision-making.
• Manage budgets, allocate resources effectively, and optimize costs for data engineering, analytics, and AI platform investments.
• Stay informed about the latest advancements in data technologies, agentic AI architectures, and industry trends, and assess their applicability to our ecosystem.
• Introduce innovative technologies and methodologies to improve data processing, analysis, AI capabilities, and reporting.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning within the data and AI platforms team.
• Mentor, develop, and lead a high-performing team, providing guidance and direction for professional growth.

Key Points of Interaction

• Business Group Chief Data and Analytics Officers
• IT VPs and SVPs
• Business Executives (AVP+)
• External Vendors and Technology Providers

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, AI/ML, Engineering, or related field. MBA or advanced degree is a plus.
• Proven experience (10+ years) in designing and implementing enterprise-scale data, analytics, and AI platforms, preferably within the financial industry.
• Strong expertise in Data Governance, compliance, and regulatory frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience building and scaling agentic AI platforms, including agentic control planes, agent orchestration, and enterprise AI infrastructure.
• Experience with managing budgets, resources, and project timelines for large-scale data and AI initiatives.
• In-depth knowledge of data technologies, including data lakes, data mesh, data warehousing, ETL pipelines, and cloud-based solutions (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), as well as modern AI/ML frameworks and agent architectures.
• Track record of introducing innovative technologies and driving data-driven and AI-powered transformation.
• Exceptional leadership and team management skills, with a proven ability to inspire, mentor, and develop top-tier talent.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to interact effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Attributes

• A strong communicator comfortable in presenting to C-level executives.
• Able to engage, lead, and influence across all levels of the organization.
• A team player; able to work collaboratively in a matrix-like environment.
• Motivated to work independently and take initiative while operating within a structured organization.
• A 'can-do' attitude with a bias for action and continuous improvement.

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].

We are proud to be a hybrid organization that offers our employees the choice and flexibility to work from both the office and virtually based on the needs of the business, our Clients and you.

We may use artificial intelligence to support candidate sourcing, screening, interview scheduling.

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

Salary Range

195,000/195 000 - 270,000/270 000

Job Category

General Management

Posting End Date

12/09/2026