Lead Software Engineer — Product Builder

Bring us your passion for digital or data analytics, and we'll put you to work on exciting initiatives that answer the challenge: "How can we do that better?" Working with a dedicated team of energetic, forward-thinking innovators, you'll stretch your imagination and sharpen your skills on the leading-edge projects that are keeping Sun Life Financial ahead of the curve. You want more than a job; you want a career - a career with a company that encourages learning and personal growth. You want to be "one of the best".

Job Description:

Build products from zero. Ship to users. Own the outcome.

We're building new direct to Sun Life Client products from the ground up, and as a Lead Software Engineer on our team, you'll take ideas from napkin sketches to production systems, making the technical calls that matter while shaping how we build, ship, and learn.

This is a hands-on leadership role for an engineer who thrives in ambiguity, moves quickly without sacrificing fundamentals, and cares deeply about creating products people actually use.

What You'll Do

Own products end‑to‑end

• Take features and products from concept to production.
• Make pragmatic technical decisions that balance speed, quality, scalability, and business impact.
• Own outcomes. If something isn't working, you fix it.

Build fast, learn faster

• Prototype quickly, launch MVPs, run experiments, and validate ideas with real users.
• Instrument everything, gather feedback, and iterate based on data.

Lead by building

• Write production‑quality code daily while guiding the technical direction of the team.
• Establish lightweight architecture and engineering practices that enable speed without chaos.
• Provide clear technical leadership through code reviews, design discussions, and mentorship.

Collaborate across disciplines

• Work directly with product managers, designers, and business stakeholders to turn ambiguous problems into working software.
• Clearly communicate trade‑offs, risks, and timelines to both technical and non‑technical audiences.

Shape the future

• Champion modern engineering practices, tools, and technologies that give us a competitive edge.
• Build reusable components and technical foundations that accelerate future products.

What You Bring

Engineering depth & versatility

• 7–10 years of experience building and shipping production software across the full application lifecycle.
• Strong backend expertise, with deep experience in Java, Spring Boot , and modern service‑based architectures.
• Experience designing and building microservices , APIs, and distributed systems that scale.
• Comfort moving across the stack when needed, with working knowledge of modern frontend technologies (React, JavaScript, HTML/CSS).

Product mindset

• You think in terms of user value , not just technical elegance.
• You're comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and adjusting as you learn.
• You bias toward action, experimentation, and learning over perfection.

Cloud & delivery fluency

• Hands‑on experience deploying and operating software in the cloud (AWS, Azure).
• Comfortable with CI/CD, containers, and shipping code to production frequently.
• A solid handle on performance, observability, security, and resilient system design.

Leadership & communication

• Proven ability to influence technical direction without relying on hierarchy.
• Experience mentoring engineers and raising the bar through example.
• Strong communication skills. You can explain complex systems simply and persuasively.

Nice to Have

• Experience in startups, accelerators, or innovation labs.
• Event‑driven systems or messaging platforms (e.g., Kafka)
• Salesforce or enterprise platform integrations
• Accessibility, security, or compliance experience in regulated environments

Why This Role

• High-Impact Work: Build products that directly shape Sun Life's future, with your code reaching real users quickly
• Leadership Opportunity: Lead technical direction, mentor others, and shape the engineering culture of a growing team
• Autonomy and Ownership: Make decisions, drive solutions, and see the direct impact of your work
• Learn and Grow Fast: Exposure to new technologies, business problems, and the full product lifecycle in a compressed timeframe
• Collaborative, Innovative Culture: Work with passionate, talented people who move fast and support each other.
• Flexible Workstyle: Hybrid or office-based as required by the role

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

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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