Director, Engineering Lead, In-House Accelerator
Remote / Online - Candidates ideally in
Waterloo, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Listing for:
Sun Life
Full Time, Remote/Work from Home
position
Listed on 2026-02-27
Job specializations:
-
IT/Tech
Systems Engineer, AI Engineer, Cybersecurity
-
Engineering
Systems Engineer, Software Engineer, AI Engineer, Cybersecurity
Job Description & How to Apply Below
Location: WaterlooJob Description
:
About the Role
Are you a software engineering leader with a technology innovator, or a founder-level engineer in a start-up? Do you have extensive 0 to 1 product or platform experience?
We are building a startup-style innovation team within Sun Life to rapidly design, build, and scale transformative digital products—including an agentic AI platform and new client experience solutions.
As Engineering Lead, In-House Accelerator, you will be the first engineering hire and technical counterpart to the AVP, Digital & Innovation Lead. In the early phase, this role is intentionally hands-on and execution-heavy: you will write production code, make pragmatic architecture decisions, and ship working software quickly in a regulated environment.
Over time, as the accelerator proves value and grows, you will build and mentor the engineering team—hiring strong builders, setting technical standards, and shaping an engineering culture rooted in ownership, speed, and learning. This is a builder-first role with clear long-term ownership for scaling both the technology and the team.
Key Responsibilities
Hands-On Technical Leadership (Immediate Priority)Write production-quality code daily across backend, APIs, and AI-enabled servicesMake fast, pragmatic architecture decisions that prioritize learning and delivery while keeping future scale in mindDesign and evolve Sun Life’s agentic AI platform, including orchestration, integration layers, APIs, and guardrailsEvaluate and experiment with new technologies, AI models, and vendor solutionsTeam Building & Engineering Culture (As the Team Scales)
Hire, onboard, mentor, and develop a small, high-caliber engineering team (AI, backend, full-stack)Lead primarily through contribution and example, not process or hierarchyEstablish engineering practices, standards, and ways of working that enable speed without sacrificing qualityFoster a culture of experimentation, ownership, and continuous learningQuality, Security & Enterprise Navigation
Build with security, reliability, and compliance awareness appropriate for a regulated financial institutionUnderstand which enterprise guardrails matter now vs. later, and navigate governance without slowing experimentationPartner pragmatically with Info Sec, Legal, Compliance, and Data Governance as solutions matureQualifications
10+ years of hands-on engineering experience, with recent, demonstrable coding work in a 0 - 1 environment.Experience acting as a software engineering leader or founder-level engineer on complex digital products or platformsStrong fluency in modern cloud architecture (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and Dev Ops practices (CI/CD, containers, infrastructure as code)Proven ability to operate in ambiguity, make trade-offs, and ship imperfect solutions quicklyAbility to grow from individual contributor to team builder—comfortable hiring, mentoring, and raising the bar for othersStartup or early-stage product experience is a significant assetNice to have:
Experience with AI/ML systems → building with LLMs, prompt engineering, or agentic architecturesWhat Success Looks Like
Within the first 90 days: working software shipped, real users engaged, and clear technical and product learnings captured (even if it is ugly)Within 6–12 months: a reusable technical foundation supporting multiple experiments and MVPsA small, high-performing engineering team that can move quickly without heavy processDemonstrated business and client impact through adoption, outcomes, and measurable valueWhat’s in it for you?
Great Place to Work® Certified for Most Trusted Executive Team in Canada – 2025, 2024 and 2023Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada - 2025Canada 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 – 2024Top Work Places® for Remote Work – Monster Canada - 2024Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces in Canada – 2024 and 2022Great Place to Work® Certified for Best Workplaces for Women in Canada - 2024Flexible hybrid work model.
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