Senior Enterprise Data Architect

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:

Role Summary 

The Senior Architect, Artificial Intelligence (Domain Architect) is responsible for advancing and governing the organization's AI, Generative AI, and Agentic AI architecture capabilities through the development, approval, and operationalization of enterprise services, standards, patterns, and reference architectures. 

This role combines deep AI expertise with exceptional execution discipline. The successful candidate will work closely with business groups, platform teams, risk partners, data teams, cybersecurity, privacy, legal, and technology delivery teams to identify opportunities, analyze requirements, define scalable AI patterns, and drive approvals through architecture and governance processes. 

The Senior Architect will be a domain expert responsible for enabling enterprise-wide adoption of approved AI capabilities while ensuring solutions are secure, compliant, well-governed, and aligned with organizational strategy and regulatory expectations. The role requires strong organization, outstanding attention to detail, excellent stakeholder management skills, and the ability to translate complex AI concepts into practical enterprise solutions. 

What will you do:

AI Service Enablement & Pattern Development 

• Define, document, and maintain enterprise AI services, capabilities, standards, patterns, and reference architectures. 
• Develop reusable architectural building blocks supporting Generative AI, Agentic AI, orchestration frameworks, retrieval architectures, model access patterns, and AI governance controls. 
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, vendor capabilities, and platform offerings to determine suitability for enterprise adoption. 
• Define consumption models and guardrails for approved AI services. 

Governance & Approval Leadership 

• Drive architecture reviews, governance approvals, risk assessments, and design reviews for AI-related initiatives. 
• Prepare and maintain architecture artifacts, decision records, standards documentation, pattern specifications, and governance submissions. 
• Collaborate with architecture review boards, technology governance forums, and risk stakeholders to achieve timely approvals. 
• Ensure AI services align with enterprise architecture standards and regulatory requirements. 

Business Engagement & Analysis 

• Partner with business groups to understand emerging needs, challenges, and strategic opportunities. 
• Facilitate workshops and discovery sessions to explore AI use cases and required capabilities. 
• Translate business requirements into scalable AI architecture recommendations. 
• Conduct gap assessments and capability analysis to identify new service requirements. 

Domain Architecture Leadership 

• Provide domain expertise to Solution Architects and delivery teams implementing AI capabilities. 
• Guide teams toward approved patterns and enterprise AI platforms. 
• Assess architectural trade-offs involving security, privacy, explainability, scalability, operational supportability, and cost. 
• Ensure alignment with enterprise roadmaps and target-state architectures. 

Risk, Compliance & Responsible AI 

• Incorporate Responsible AI principles into architecture standards and solution designs. 
• Partner with Risk, Legal, Compliance, Security, Privacy, and Data Governance teams. 
• Ensure solutions meet OSFI expectations, model risk requirements, audit needs, and organizational governance standards. 
• Define controls for human oversight, accountability, transparency, and monitoring. 

Execution & Operational Excellence 

• Maintain detailed roadmaps, service backlogs, architecture repositories, and governance artifacts. 
• Track action items, dependencies, risks, and architectural decisions. 
• Ensure architecture deliverables are completed with accuracy, quality, and traceability. 
• Support multiple initiatives simultaneously while maintaining strong execution discipline. 

What you need to succeed:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Information Systems, Data Science, or a related discipline. 
• Master's degree an asset. 
• TOGAF, IASA, AWS, Azure, or equivalent architecture certifications preferred. 

Experience 

• 8+ years of architecture, engineering, or technology leadership experience. 
• 5+ years focused on AI, analytics, automation, machine learning, or modern data platforms. 
• Experience operating within regulated financial services, insurance, wealth management, or similar environments. 
• Experience participating in architecture governance, standards development, and enterprise design reviews. 
• Experience developing architecture patterns, standards, and reference architectures. 

Skills & Competencies 

• AI Expertise: Strong understanding of Generative AI architectures, foundation models, retrieval-augmented generation, agentic workflows, orchestration frameworks, tool invocation patterns, prompt engineering, and AI platform capabilities. 
• Business & Analysis: Strong requirements gathering, capability modeling, and business analysis skills with the ability to connect technology decisions to business outcomes. 
• Attention to Detail: Exceptional documentation quality and the ability to create precise architecture artifacts and governance submissions. 
• Collaboration & Communication: Excellent communication skills with senior executives, architects, engineers, risk partners, and business leaders. 
• Execution Excellence: Proven ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining quality, accountability, and follow-through. 

Success Measures 

• AI services and patterns approved through governance processes efficiently. 
• Increased reuse of enterprise AI capabilities and reference architectures. 
• High-quality architecture artifacts with minimal rework. 
• Strong stakeholder satisfaction and business engagement. 
• Consistent compliance with governance, risk, and regulatory standards. 
• Timely delivery of roadmap commitments and architecture milestones. 

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.
• As a hybrid organization, you and your leader use business and Client need to choose where you work, at home or in the office

Note:

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! Several work options are available and can be discussed throughout the selection process depending on the role requirements and individual needs.

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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