Lead Software Engineer - MLOps

Sun Life Financial, Inc.

$90K — $140K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of software engineering experience with a focus on production systems
  • Extensive hands-on AWS experience, including infrastructure design and optimization
  • Proven background with distributed systems and cloud-native architectures
  • Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, observability, and incident response
  • Practical experience in MLOps, ModelOps, or ML platforms in enterprise settings
  • Proficiency in programming languages like Python, Java, Scala, and Infrastructure-as-Code tools
  • Exceptional communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences

Responsibilities

  • Provide Principal-level technical leadership for the MLOps squad
  • Design, build, and evolve production-grade MLOps capabilities
  • Engage in hands-on software engineering for high-quality service development
  • Focus on enabling secure and scalable cloud solutions
  • Act as a technical authority for AWS-based ML platforms
  • Establish engineering and MLOps standards across squads
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to mitigate governance risks
  • Mentor engineers to enhance technical capabilities without formal management

Benefits

  • Wellness programs supporting mental, physical, and financial health
  • Opportunities for diverse career advancement and networking
  • Flexible hybrid work arrangements, at home or in the office
Full Job Description
Job Description:

About the role:

The Enterprise Data & Analytics Enablement team is looking for a highly experienced, hands-on Lead Software Engineer to lead our MLOps team within an Analytics Platform, emphasizing AWS cloud services and machine learning operations. The successful candidate will have strong technical and problem-solving skills and the ability to lead a team of MLOps Engineers. This unique opportunity offers a dynamic space and a chance to collaborate with multiple technical and business teams.

What you will do:
  • Provide technical leadership for the MLOps squad within the Analytics Platform, influencing architecture and standards across multiple teams
  • Design, build, and evolve production-grade MLOps and ML platform capabilities, including model lifecycle management, CI/CD, evaluation, monitoring, and governance
  • Spend ~60% hands-on in software engineering, building high-quality, testable, maintainable services, frameworks, APIs, and shared libraries that enable ML and GenAI at scale
  • Spend ~40% on platform, cloud, and MLOps enablement, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, observable, and cost-effective
  • Act as a technical authority for AWS-based ML platforms, leading design decisions and guiding adoption of new cloud and GenAI services
  • Establish and evolve engineering and MLOps standards, patterns, and best practices across squads
  • Partner closely with Architecture, Security, Risk, and Product teams to reduce delivery, operational, and model governance risk
  • Lead by example through code reviews, design reviews, incident analysis, and operational improvements
  • Mentor senior and intermediate engineers, raising the overall technical bar without direct people management


What you need to succeed
  • A deep software engineering background, with a strong track record of building and operating large-scale, production systems
  • Extensive hands-on experience with AWS in production, including infrastructure design, deployment, and optimization
  • Strong experience with
  • Distributed systems and cloud-native architectures
    • CI/CD pipelines and automation
    • Observability, reliability, and incident response
    • Practical experience with MLOps, ModelOps, ML platforms, or LLMOps in enterprise environments
  • Proficiency in one or more of: Python, Java, Scala, and Infrastructure-as-Code tooling (Terraform / CloudFormation)
  • Ability to operate at Lead scope, influencing architecture and decisions across multiple teams and domains
  • Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders


Preferred skills:
  • Deep familiarity with AWS analytics, ML, and GenAI services, including evaluation and monitoring tooling
  • Experience designing or supporting enterprise MLOps / ML platform frameworks used by multiple teams
  • Strong understanding of security-first design, governance, and compliance in regulated environments
  • Experience balancing innovation with operational supportability in platform teams
  • Proven ability to mentor and influence without formal authority
  • Strong product and business awareness, enabling pragmatic technical trade-offs
  • We value analytical thinking and continuous learning. Through training and coaching, you can improve your data literacy and apply insights in meaningful ways, regardless of experience level.


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 need to choose where you work, at home or in the office


As a condition of the role, the successful candidate must obtain a Government of Canada Reliability Status security clearance through Sun Life in advance of the start date

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.

Salary Range:
90,000/90 000 - 140,000/140 000

Job Category:
IT - Technology Services

Posting End Date:
04/06/2026

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