AVP, Corporate Strategy

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

The Corporate Strategy Team supports Sun Life in achieving and maintaining a position of sustainable strategic advantage and growth in the long term. It has a broad focus of strategy topics that span all businesses, functions, and geographic markets where Sun Life operates. The team provides support on high priority strategic issues and projects for Sun Life’s Executive team, corporate functions, and Business Groups, and is responsible for actively monitoring and analyzing external trends shaping the markets in which Sun Life operates.

• Run the annual strategic planning process
• Shape and support strategy design and advance strategy execution
• Support facilitation and planning of Board and Executive Team strategy discussions
• Monitor external trends and draw linkages to Sun Life’s businesses

Reporting to the Vice‑President Corporate Strategy, the successful candidate will be responsible for the end‑to‑end design and delivery of strategy projects, delivery of the annual strategic plan, and identification, monitoring, and evaluation of macro market trends, with an emphasis on developments in digital, fintech, insurtech, and healthtech. The AVP, Corporate Strategy is expected to apply problem‑solving and analytical capabilities, strategic thinking and insight generation, and effective communications and relationship management. They are expected to develop, oversee, and mentor members of a high‑performing strategy team, and should be highly independent in their ability to execute strategy projects and manage senior stakeholder relationships.

What will you do?

• Manage the planning process and provide support/coordination to Business Groups and functions (e.g. Finance, IT, HR) to develop and deliver their strategic plans
• Facilitate working sessions with senior executives to further strategy development
• Work collaboratively with top executives to develop the Enterprise Strategic Plan, owning analyses, communications, and content development
• Provide perspectives, strategic frameworks, and analysis support to help Business Groups and functions advance thinking on focus topics
• Ensure enterprise alignment of strategic plans across Business Groups by drawing linkages across common themes

• Translate ambiguous strategic issues into clearly defined problem statements, hypotheses, and corresponding analyses
• Define scope, design approach, and develop work plan for strategy projects
• Execute project plan and manage across multiple work streams, adapting and reprioritizing as necessary to meet project objectives while ensuring timely delivery and achievable scope
• Manage project delivery across multiple team members (from Corporate Strategy team and partners in Business Groups/functions)
• Bring new perspectives, creative ideas, and practical approaches to problems and issues
• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative analytical results to guide recommendations and inform strategic decision making
• Prepare and present both formal and informal updates on analysis/recommendations for senior executives
• Communicate findings and recommendations succinctly in a logical and coherent storyline that facilitates productive discussion and decision making among senior executives
• Manage a diverse set of stakeholders at all levels of the organization to ensure effective collaboration in support for recommendations

• Actively build and maintain awareness of market trends and developments through various sources (e.g. secondary research, competitor actions, industry developments, industry network)
• Curate external market information, translate into relevant insights and surface patterns/themes that are relevant for Sun Life
• Maintain a keen awareness of developments in digital, data and analytics as it pertains to Sun Life’s businesses, including within the fintech, insurtech, and healthtech landscapes
• Identify implications for Sun Life and proactively communicate/share with appropriate stakeholders

• Effectively communicate insights, ideas, and strategies to an executive level audience in a clear, compelling, and concise manner
• Facilitate working sessions with senior executives, including Sun Life’s Executive Team
• Tailor written and verbal communication based on audience and situation to facilitate productive discussions, foster buy‑in, and establish productive working relationships
• Proactively maintain relationships with stakeholders in BGs and functions, to maintain an understanding of new developments in their areas and identify needs for strategy support

What do you need to succeed?

• Deep understanding of at least one of Sun Life’s business areas (i.e., asset management, individual life insurance, group benefits, group retirement solutions, wealth management, asset management) and geographic markets (i.e., Canada, US, Asia)
• Awareness of macro trends relevant to at least one of Sun Life’s business areas
• Understanding of the fintech, insuretch, and/or health tech landscape, and relevant trends in digital
• Resourceful and rapid learner, able to work across many topics and domains
• Strong creative and analytical problem solver, with a solid background working with data, conducting and overseeing execution of quantitative and qualitative analysis, interpreting results, and writing reports/presentations
• Results‑oriented project manager with extensive background in strategy project delivery; well organized, with a high attention to details
• Able to independently manage and deliver on projects with appropriate judgment
• Inspiring people‑leader, able to effectively motivate and coach a team to deliver at their best
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills
• Strong interpersonal skills; able to effectively collaborate with multiple stakeholders at all levels across multiple teams

Education and Experience

• Minimum of 10 years relevant business experience, ideally within insurance, asset management, or financial services; experience in or knowledge of Sun Life's businesses would be an asset
• University degree in business or related discipline; MBA or other relevant advanced degree is an asset
• 3-5 years in top‑tier management consulting or equivalent experience in a Corporate setting
• Demonstrated experience analyzing and solving complex business problems and conducting in-depth secondary research, including collection and synthesis
• Demonstrated experience in financial analytics, including using modelling tools and techniques, is an asset
• Background in strategic partnerships, innovation and/or insurtech/healthtech an asset
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office products (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible Benefits from the day you join to meet the needs of you and your family
• Pension, stock and savings programs to help build and enhance your future financial security
• Wellness programs that support the three pillars of your health – mental, physical and financial
• 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
• A friendly, collaborative and inclusive culture
• Joining a reputable organization with over 150 years of history

Base Pay range is location dependent. Eligible Sun Life employees also participate in incentive plans based on individual and company performance. Certain sales‑focused roles may have sales incentive plans based on individual or group sales results.

Salary Range: 145,000 - 235,000