AVP, Underwriting and Prospect Center

Sun Life Financial, Inc.

$161K — $257K *
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in Group Benefits.
  • Significant underwriting leadership responsibility.
  • Deep expertise in Group Insurance products, underwriting, pricing, and risk assessment.
  • Proven success in large-scale operations and pre-sale support functions.
  • Experience with business transformation initiatives, including process improvement and automation.
  • Exceptional strategic thinking, communication, and executive influence skills.
  • Bachelor's degree and/or industry designations preferred.

Responsibilities

  • Set and execute strategy for underwriting and pre-sale operations to support business growth.
  • Lead underwriting strategy and pricing discipline in alignment with objectives.
  • Drive operational excellence by modernizing processes and implementing automation.
  • Build and develop high-performing teams focused on accountability and client culture.
  • Partner closely with sales leaders and clients to enhance service delivery.

Benefits

  • Emphasis on a hybrid work model for work-life balance.
  • Opportunity to contribute to significant business transformation.
  • Supportive company culture focused on teamwork and collaboration.
  • Focus on high-quality client and broker outcomes.
Full Job Description
Job Description:

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.

The Opportunity

Sun Life is seeking a strategic and innovative leader to serve as AVP, Core Underwriting and Prospect Center. This role leads core market underwriting and pre-sale operations across our Group Benefits business, helping drive profitable growth, operational excellence, and exceptional client and broker experience. The successful candidate will shape the future of the function through strong leadership, business transformation, and the use of data, automation, and technology. The AVP will lead Sun Life's Underwriting and Pre-Sale Operations functions, including underwriting, pricing, quoting, proposal development, and new business implementation support. The role also oversees a Center of Excellence responsible for quality, training, operational governance, and continuous improvement initiatives that support underwriting and pre-sale teams. Partnering across the organization, this leader will ensure strong execution, operational consistency, and scalable capabilities that support business growth and client success.

How you will contribute:
  • Set and execute strategy for New Business and Renewal Underwriting and Pre-Sale operations to support profitable growth, service excellence, and strong client and broker outcomes.
  • Lead underwriting strategy, pricing discipline, risk assessment, proposal support, and sold case operations in alignment with business objectives.
  • Drive operational excellence and business transformation by modernizing processes, implementing automation and AI-enabled capabilities, and leveraging data and performance insights to improve speed, quality, consistency, scalability, and customer outcomes. Partner closely with sales leaders, brokers, consultants, clients, technology teams, and other key stakeholders to strengthen execution and deliver outstanding service.
  • Build and develop high-performing teams while fostering accountability, innovation, collaboration, inclusion, and a client-focused culture.


What you bring with you:
  • Ability to work with a diverse group of people
  • 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in Group Benefits including significant underwriting leadership responsibility.
  • Deep expertise in Group Insurance products, underwriting, pricing, risk assessment, and financial management, with a demonstrated ability to balance growth, profitability, and risk.
  • Proven success leading large-scale operations, service delivery, or pre-sale support functions in a complex, matrixed organization.
  • Demonstrated ability to build, develop, and lead high-performing teams while fostering accountability, inclusion, collaboration, and employee engagement.
  • Experience leading business transformation initiatives, including process improvement, automation, data-driven decision making, and technology modernization.
  • Exceptional strategic thinking, communication, and executive influence skills, with a demonstrated ability to align senior leaders, drive enterprise-wide initiatives, and build strong relationships across business functions and organizational levels.
  • Bachelor's degree and/or industry designations preferred.


Salary Range: $161,100 - $257,800

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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Job Category:

Underwriting - Group

Posting End Date:

17/09/2026

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