Associate Director, Events & Experience

Sun Life U.S. is one of the largest providers of employee and government benefits, helping approximately 50 million Americans access the care and coverage they need. Through employers, industry partners and government programs, Sun Life U.S. offers a portfolio of benefits and services, including dental, vision, disability, absence management, life, supplemental health, medical stop-loss insurance, and healthcare navigation. We have more than 6,400 employees and associates in our partner dental practices and operate nationwide.

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.

Visit our website to discover how Sun Life is making life brighter for our customers, partners and communities.  

Sun Life embraces a hybrid work model that balances in-office collaboration with the flexibility of virtual work.  Our team members and leaders are expected to foster connection and teamwork by being present in the office at least 2 days per week.

Location: Wellesley Hills, MA, with regular travel required to other sites.

The opportunity:  

The Associate Director, Events & Experience is accountable for shaping and advancing Sun Life’s enterprise workplace events and experience strategy across the United States. This role defines how in‑office, offsite, and hybrid experiences come together as a cohesive, branded, and intentional system, supporting culture, leadership connection, collaboration, and business outcomes.

As the senior-most US leader for Events & Experience, this role provides strategic oversight and people leadership to the US Events & Experience Manager and site team, ensuring consistent application of enterprise standards while enabling high-quality local execution. 

Operating with enterprise perspective and executive presence, this Associate Director partners closely with senior leaders, Events & Experiences team, Technology, Corporate Real Estate, Security, Health & Safety, and key business stakeholders to design scalable experience frameworks, define governance and service models, and ensure consistent, high‑quality execution across all US locations.

This role orchestrates the ecosystem, balancing strategic intent with operational excellence, evolving ways of working, and the needs of a highly distributed workforce.

How you will contribute:

Strategic Accountabilities

• Own and continuously evolve the US Events & Experience strategy, ensuring alignment to enterprise priorities, leadership expectations, and Sun Life’s workplace and culture agenda.

• Define a cohesive experience model across all US locations (Wellesley, Portland, Hartford, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and offsite venues, Waterford), ensuring consistency while allowing for local nuance.

• Act as a strategic advisor to senior leaders and business partners on how events, moments of connection, and workplace experiences enable engagement, performance, and organizational effectiveness.

• Establish governance, enterprise standards, and success measures for US event delivery, hospitality services, food & beverage, and employee experience programs.

• Translate enterprise strategy into clear operating models, decision frameworks, and expectations for site teams and vendor partners.

• Apply deep organizational and corporate intelligence to anticipate leadership needs, understand enterprise dynamics, and design events and experiences that reinforce business priorities.

• Exercises significant judgment and decision‑making authority within established enterprise governance, escalating only material strategic, financial, or reputational risks requiring executive adjudication.

Leadership & Influence

• Anticipates future capability and resourcing needs across the US Events & Experiences portfolio informing workforce planning and operating mode evolution

• Provide leadership through influence rather than proximity, setting direction for site‑based teams, partners, and vendors across the US.

• Coach, develop, and inspire team members to deliver hospitality‑led, employee‑centric experiences aligned to enterprise standards.

• Serve as a visible leader with executive presence, effectively navigating senior stakeholder conversations, trade‑offs, and priorities.

• Foster strong cross‑functional partnerships with E&Ex, AV & Technology, Security, Health & Safety, CRE, and external partners.

Operational Excellence (at Enterprise Scale)

• Oversee delivery of high‑impact events including executive meetings, leadership town halls, enterprise conferences, and strategic gatherings, ensuring quality, consistency, and scalability.

• Set expectations and frameworks for onsite and hybrid execution while avoiding over‑reliance on hands‑on site management.

• Ensure financial stewardship across US operations, including budgeting, forecasting, expense governance, vendor contracts, and chargeback models.

• Use data (space utilization, attendance, feedback, cost‑to‑value metrics) to continuously refine the experience model and inform investment decisions.

• Identify opportunities to streamline processes, introduce innovation, and improve sustainability across event and experience operations.

Enterprise Mindset & Continuous Evolution

• View all US locations as a single connected ecosystem, not individual sites.

• Anticipate trends in workplace experience, events, and hybrid engagement, translating external insights into practical enterprise innovation.

• Balance standardization with flexibility, ensuring Sun Life experiences feel intentional, modern, and human—regardless of location.

What you will bring with you:

• 8–10+ years of progressive experience in workplace experience, corporate events, hospitality, or related fields, with demonstrated enterprise‑scale leadership.

• Proven ability to lead through influence in complex, matrixed environments.

• Strong strategic thinking paired with the credibility to engage confidently with senior and executive leaders.

• Experience designing operating models, standards, or frameworks that scale across multiple locations.

• Financial and commercial acumen, including budget ownership and vendor management.

• Comfort navigating ambiguity and evolving priorities while maintaining clarity and direction.

• Willingness to travel across US sites as required (up to ~30%).

Salary Range: $101,200 - $151,800
At our company, we are committed to pay transparency and equity. The salary range for this role is competitive nationwide, and we strive to ensure that compensation is fair and equitable. Your actual base salary will be determined based on your unique skills, qualifications, experience, education, and geographic location. In addition to your base salary, this position is eligible for a discretionary annual incentive award based on your individual performance as well as the overall performance of the business. We are dedicated to creating a work environment where everyone is rewarded for their contributions.

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We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all employees feel they belong, are supported and empowered to thrive.  We are dedicated to building teams with varied experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and ideas that benefit our colleagues, clients, and the communities where we operate.  We encourage applications from qualified individuals from all backgrounds.

Life is brighter when you work at Sun Life

At Sun Life, we prioritize your well-being with comprehensive benefits, including generous vacation and sick time, market-leading paid family, parental and adoption leave, medical coverage, company paid life and AD&D insurance, disability programs and a partially paid sabbatical program.  Plan for your future with our 401(k) employer match, stock purchase options and an employer-funded retirement account.  Enjoy a flexible, inclusive and collaborative work environment that supports career growth.  We’re proud to be recognized in our communities as a top employer.  Proudly Great Place to Work® Certified in Canada and the U.S., we’ve also been recognized as a "Top 10" employer by the Boston Globe's "Top Places to Work" for two years in a row.  Visit our website to learn more about our benefits and recognition within our communities.

We will make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of otherwise-qualified individuals with disabilities or special disabled veterans, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. Please email [email protected] to request an accommodation.

For applicants residing in California, please read our employee California Privacy Policy and Notice.

We do not require or administer lie detector tests as a condition of employment or continued employment.

Sun Life will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including applicable fair chance ordinances.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.