Senior Data Engineer

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:

Join a team transforming Security Analytics at Sun Life and contribute to a global analytics initiative focused on strengthening the security of Client data. Sun Life’s Information Security organization is enhancing its data engineering, platform, analytics, and insights capabilities through new tools and, most importantly, new talent.

As a member of the Security Analytics team, you will play a pivotal role in working closely with our partners to enable threat intelligence, internal threat identification, predictive modelling, business intelligence and deep dive analytics to understand and identify new threats and incidents to make client data safer. As Data Engineer you will join a team that leverages and is on a journey of quickly enhancing our Big Data and Cloud capabilities to enable various use cases by ensuring there is a solid data foundation in place to support data mining, strategic insight and automated capability enablement. 

Given this mandate, the role requires an experienced data specialist with 5+ years of expertise in data management, a strong understanding of analytics and business data needs, and knowledge of emerging data technologies. Candidates must have relevant experience in the following areas:

·         Data Management – Experience in design, development, and production support

·         Data and Analytics Knowledge – Understanding of data requirements for analytics usecases

·         Business, Analytics, and IT Liaison – Cross function experience

·         Data Discovery – Ability to scope new data sources, understand and leverage existing ones

·         Security Logs – Understanding of security-related data sources and log types

·         Cloud Tools – Exp with cloud data warehouses, data pipelines, and ETL tools; AWS preferred

The successful candidate for the role will be a key player in our venture towards creating a central place for user behavior and keeping Sun Life secure from data exfiltration, malicious activities and threats as we standardize and enhance our advanced data engineering environment on AWS.   

What your will do:

• Maintain a large, complex data repository that provides accurate, reliable data for user behavior analytics, reporting, and insights.
• Develop jobs (Glue/Lambda using Python) to parse new logs into usable data formats.
• Build user data model that enables easy access to user data and behavioral insights.
• Strengthen the organization’s understanding of user-level data and provide expert guidance on using it to generate actionable insights.
• Manage and fulfill business data requests, ensuring alignment with Information Security priorities and stakeholder needs.
• Demonstrate business value through proofs of concept (PoCs) and transition successful PoCs to production.
• Collaborate within an agile team to understand objectives and develop best-in-class data solutions that deliver engaging, highly relevant experiences.
• Provide expert guidance on the structure and processes needed to build a data repository, including ETL, quality assurance, and data modeling.Serve as a data and technology expert within an agile environment, prioritizing work and managing the data platform.
• Support the initial development of analytical data models, including SQL/HQL/Python/Spark/Scala code and data processes.
• Develop and maintain metadata documentation.
• Manage, maintain, and continuously improve data models.
• Productionize and run data models, dashboards, reports, and ad hoc data requests.
• Help develop data capabilities aligned with the Enterprise Analytics initiative roadmap.
• Collaborate with IT and Information Security teams to improve data processes and incorporate new data as needed.
• Serve as a leading information security data expert and data steward, ensuring data is interpreted and applied appropriately to use cases and challenges.
• Support modelers in developing datasets for analysis.
• Manage or coordinate small to medium projects from initiation and planning through requirements, implementation, and post-implementation review.
• Mentor junior team members.

What you need to succeed:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a highly quantitative field (Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, etc.) or 5+ years of relevant experience in data and analytics/modelling
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex data concepts to non-technical audiences and analytics concepts to IT audiences
• Thorough knowledge of and demonstrated experience with data management best practices, including importing, cleaning, transforming, validating, quality assurance, and data modelling
• Expert-level programming and database associated development skills, with 5+ years of experience required
• At least intermediate proficiency in Python, Spark, Glue, Lambda, HQL or similar technologies; Java or another object-oriented programming language is an asset
• Demonstrated experience in data preparation, querying, and reporting
• Demonstrated data modelling skills and experience
• Additional professional development in information technology, business, statistics, or related disciplines
• Adaptable and effective at managing competing demands, frequent changes, and delays
• Organized, accountable, and committed to meeting deadlines and commitments
• Agile team members have demonstrated the ability to:
  • Take ownership
  • Make timely decisions that accelerate data POCs into production
  • Drive execution from ideation through development and delivery
  • Collaborate with teammates to develop insights into business problems
  • Advocate for the client by applying insights to drive meaningful marketing tactics

What’s in it for you:

• We’re honoured to be recognized as a 2026 Best Workplaces in Canada by Great Place to Work® Canada.
• We are thrilled to be recognized by Excellence Canada with their top-level certification, the Canada Order of Excellence for Mental Health at Work®,  for prioritizing employee well-being, fostering a positive work culture, and achieving excellence in mental health.
• Wellness programs that support the three pillars of your health – mental, physical, and financial
• The opportunity to move along a variety of career paths with amazing networking potential.
• As a hybrid organization, you and your leader use business and Client needs to choose where you work, at home or in the office

This role requires Reliability Status Clearance. In addition to a law enforcement inquiry and a credit check, as part of your application, the Government of Canada will ask if you lived or travelled outside of Canada for 6-consecutive months during the last 5 years, and you must account for all activities during this time. Important: Obtaining Reliability Status Clearance within a reasonable amount of time is a condition required to start employment for this role at Sun Life.

Must be able to satisfactorily complete applicable background checks prior to the start date and during employment, in accordance with Sun Life’s policies and practices.

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 [email protected].

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.

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