Avp, Security Domain Enterprise Architecture

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:
About the role: The AVP, Security Architecture is a senior leader accountable for the enterprise security architecture strategy, governance, and evolution of security capabilities across global business and technology environments. The role translates business priorities, cyber risk appetite, and emerging threats into architecture direction that protects clients, employees, information, and critical services. Working closely with the CISO, CTO, enterprise architects, and business technology leaders, the AVP leads the Security Architecture function and embeds secure-by-design, Zero Trust, and defense-in-depth principles into enterprise transformation and solution delivery. The AVP serves as a senior security design authority within enterprise architecture governance, shapes security investment priorities, and develops a team that provides consistent architectural guidance across business units and geographies.Key Responsibilities:
Enterprise Security Architecture Strategy and Road mapping Own the enterprise security architecture strategy and target state across identity, cloud, infrastructure, networks, endpoints, applications, data, and security platforms. Establish multi-year security capability roadmaps aligned with business priorities, enterprise architecture, the cybersecurity strategy, and organizational risk appetite. Translate capability assessments, threat trends, and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework into prioritized architecture improvements, with Zero Trust and defense in depth guiding modernization.Security Architecture Function and People Leadership Lead and develop the Security Architecture team, with accountability for performance, coaching, succession planning, and the skills required to support enterprise priorities. Define the function's operating model, engagement processes, and service expectations, providing architecture coverage across security programs and business-led technology initiatives. Prioritize demand and allocate capacity across strategic planning, project assurance, governance, and emerging technology work;
establish coverage and knowledge-sharing practices that reduce dependence on individual specialists. Manage the function's operating plan, assigned budget, and resources, and build business cases for additional capacity or specialist support.Architecture Governance and Design Authority Establish security reference architectures, standards, reusable patterns, and guardrails in partnership with global domain architects and enterprise security policy owners. Serve as senior security design authority for significant initiatives within the enterprise architecture governance process, with clear decision rights and escalation paths. Represent Security Architecture on enterprise technology review boards, resolve cross-domain design issues, and oversee design assurance against approved security requirements. Oversee recommendations for architectural exceptions, compensating controls, and remediation plans;
elevate material residual risks to accountable business and risk owners through established governance.Secure Solution Design and Transformation Oversight Provide security architecture oversight for major business and technology initiatives from early planning through implementation, with review effort proportionate to risk and complexity. Embed threat modelling, secure design reviews, and reusable security patterns into delivery practices, partnering with application, data, infrastructure, cloud, and engineering teams. Lead architectural direction for security transformation programs, including identity modernization, cloud security, network segmentation, application security, data protection and cyber recovery.Security Capability Portfolio and Investment Leadership Direct the strategic evolution, integration, consolidation, and retirement of security tools, services, and capabilities to address enterprise needs and reduce fragmentation. Shape investment priorities and present business cases that assess risk reduction, control coverage, technical feasibility, interoperability, operational capacity, and total cost of ownership. Maintain an enterprise view of capability gaps, overlapping technologies, lifecycle risks, and technical debt;
partner with engineering, operations, procurement, and vendor management to turn roadmaps into achievable investment and delivery plans.Technology Evaluation and AI Security Evaluate emerging security technologies, vendor capabilities, and service models, providing recommendations on suitability, integration scalability, and long-term viability. Sponsor proofs of concepts with clear success criteria for security effectiveness, technical compatibility, operational readiness, and business value. Define security architecture requirements and patterns for AI platforms, generative AI, and autonomous agents, addressing identity, data access, tool permissions, monitoring and human oversight. Identify opportunities to use automation and AI within security capabilities, working with responsible teams to validate benefits, control effectiveness, and operational accountability.Architectural Risk and Resilience Identify systemic security architecture weaknesses and drive mitigation roadmaps with accountable engineering, platform, and business technology owners. Translate security, privacy, regulatory, and data residency requirements into architecture requirements in partnership with Risk, Compliance, Privacy, and Legal. Integrate requirements for resilience, ransomware containment, recovery, logging and monitoring into security designs, working with operational owners to establish implementation and validation expectations. Use findings from incidents, security testing, audits and control assessments to improve reference architectures, patterns and capability roadmaps.Executive Engagement and Enterprise Partnership Act as a trusted advisor to the Global Chief Enterprise Architect, CISO, CTO, CIO, and business technology leaders on security architecture strategy and significant technology decisions. Translate complex architecture choices into clear business implications, investment options, delivery dependencies and risk treatment recommendations for executive forums. Build alignment across global business units and technology functions, resolve competing priorities and report on architecture coverage, adoption roadmap progress and outcomes.What Do You Need to Succeed?
Qualifications Required:
University degree or college diploma in cybersecurity, computer science, information technology, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.15+ years of progressive experience in cybersecurity architecture, engineering, or related technology leadership roles, including accountability for enterprise security architecture strategy.Demonstrated experience leading and developing architecture or security teams, managing priorities and resources, and delivering outcomes in a complex, matrixed organization.Experience influencing VP and SVP stakeholders and presenting architecture strategies, investment recommendations, and risk decisions at executive forums.Strong knowledge across identity and access management, cloud, infrastructure, network, endpoint, application, API, and data security, including cryptography and secrets management.Demonstrated ability to establish enterprise architecture standards, reference patterns, governance processes, and multi-year security capability roadmaps.Practical understanding of Zero Trust, defense in depth, threat modelling, secure development, and frameworks such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.Experience modernizing security platforms and evaluating vendors or third-party services for technical feasibility, integration, control effectiveness, and total cost of ownership.Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills, with the judgment to balance security, business value delivery constraints and operational sustainability.Preferred skills:
Experience in financial services or another regulated industry with global operations and complex privacy or data residency requirements.Experience with hybrid and multi-cloud environments, including AWS, Azure, or Alibaba Cloud.Experience defining security architectures for AI, autonomous agents, automation, or other emerging technologies.Experience with major security transformations, technology rationalization or mergers and acquisitions integration.Relevant professional certifications, such as CISSP, CISM, SABSA, TOGAF, or cloud security and architecture certifications.Unique Requirements:
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.What’s in it for you?
Being a member of the Sun Life family, a group of people united by our Purpose: to help Clients and Employees achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives.An environment of continuous learning, development, and improvement.As a hybrid organization, you and your leader use business and Client need to choose where you work, at home or in the office.A competitive salary and bonus program, based on market scale and a flexible group insurance program starting on your first day of work to meet your needs and those of your family.We are proud to be included in Great Place to Work's 2026 list of Canada's Best Workplaces.Salary Range:
165,000/165 000 - 235,000/235 000Job Category:
IT - Application DevelopmentPosting End Date:
27/11/2026Shine together
At Sunlife, you can be your most brilliant self. Our supportive, flexible, and inclusive work environment is one where you – and your career – can thrive. Whatever your aspirations, collaborative leaders and colleagues are ready to help you learn, grow, and succeed. Make life brighter.We’re a global company with a passion for people. Our purpose is to help Clients build lifetime financial security and lead healthier lives. As a team of 68,000 across 28 markets, our impact is far-reaching, and locally relevant. There’s power in numbers. As part of Sunlife’s growing team, you have an impact on people in your community and around the world. Shape the future.With an optimistic eye on a brighter future, we drive to innovate. Be part of leading change, push boundaries and try new ways of working. Use data to drive bold actions. Be agile and pivot as we test and learn. At Sunlife, we’re driving transformation, sustainability and innovation for our Clients, employees, partners, and communities. Join us. Together, we can make the future brighter. Join a top employer for a brighter future. Visit Sunlife Careers
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