Staff Engineer at Sun Life

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

11 Sep, 26

Salary

195000.0

Posted On

13 Jun, 26

Experience

10 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Java, React, Enterprise Integrations, Software Architecture, Rapid Prototyping, Technical Leadership, Backend Development, Frontend Development, AI Integration, Technical Communication, Mentoring, Incident Diagnosis, Technical Debt Management, Product Strategy, Salesforce, Agile Methodology

Industry

Financial Services

Description

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: Prospr is Sun Life's digital front door for Canadians — startup velocity inside a Fortune 500. We're revolutionizing how Canadians access insurance and wealth solutions by building a platform that lets people buy products the way they want to: online in minutes or virtually via a team of trusted, licensed Advisors. We move fast. We test ideas in production. We use AI to cut friction and ship the experience customers expect. For candidates with these preferred skills, exceptions beyond the usual salary range below may be possible. The Role You are the fixer. The unblocker. The engineer people pull in when things get messy. As Staff Engineer on Prospr you take on the hardest problems and get them shipped. You turn fuzzy ideas into working software. You bridge architecture and production. You set the bar for quality and pace across squads by prototyping fast, diagnosing incidents, managing technical debt and making tough calls. What You'll Do Ship fast with guardrails that keep quality high, tech debt low, and systems up Design the path for big bets and land them in production Advise Engineering and Product leaders with options trade-offs and recommendations Collaborate with Architects—make sure designs actually work in production, not just on whiteboards Rapid prototyping—validate approaches before squads commit sprint cycles Coach senior engineers and raise the bar across the team Unblock squads—when they're stuck on hard problems (security, integrations, performance, architecture) Influence technical direction to cut rework speed up decisions and keep releases moving Bridge architecture and reality—ensure designs survive contact with production What Success Looks Like Teams ship faster because you kill friction. Big bets land because you prove the approach early. Engineers level up because you coach in the trenches. Leaders trust you to make the call when it is noisy. Who You Are Lead engineer from a tech startup or digital product company Deep technical expert who can jump across backend frontend integrations data and AI and keep learning Hands-on builder who can whip up prototypes and debug production systems Strong technical communicator who can explain complex concepts to Product, Architects, and leadership Comfortable with ambiguity and able to turn emerging requirements into shippable plans Startup mindset you ship fast without breaking the basics Comfortable influencing without authority Continuous learner in an ever-changing technology landscape What You Bring 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with senior level ownership and cross team influence Hands-on lead level expertise with Java, React (or other similar modern Javascript) and enterprise integrations. Salesforce experience would be an asset. Technical breadth and credibility to challenge architecture guide technical strategy and set standards for quality reliability and maintainability Proven success owning end to end delivery for customer facing digital products from planning to build to release to operate with measurable outcomes Experience setting and running an engineering operating cadence across prioritization, planning, execution, dependencies quality and incident learnings Experience partnering with Product, Design, and senior stakeholders to navigate trade-offs risk and timelines in a complex environment Strong track record developing talent through mentoring pairing and raising the technical bar across squads 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 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: In office 2-3 days per week, hybrid the rest of the week 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 thebrightside@sunlife.com. 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. Salary Range: 125,000/125 000 - 195,000/195 000 Job Category: IT - Application Development Posting End Date: 31/07/2026 Shine together At Sun Life, we understand the importance of a culture that fosters openness and inclusion. We want you to be your most brilliant self. That’s why we do everything we can to support your well-being and development. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute and collaborate across the organization with the support of your colleagues behind you and the guidance of leaders at every step. Make life brighter Working in Tech, you will have the opportunity to have widespread impact across all levels of the organization. By helping us find better and smarter ways of doing things, you will make a positive impact in the lives of our clients and colleagues and contribute to our meaningful purpose. Shape the future In Tech at Sun Life, you will be at the forefront of our transformation. You will apply your curious mind, bold thinking, and creativity to evolve our offering and processes and shape the future of our industry. You will be empowered to push boundaries and explore new ways of doing things to drive positive change. Your unique perspective is exactly what we’re looking for. Join a top employer for a brighter future. Visit Sun Life Careers

Responsibilities

The Staff Engineer acts as a technical fixer and unblocker, turning complex ideas into shippable software while bridging the gap between architecture and production. They are responsible for prototyping, coaching senior engineers, and influencing technical direction to increase delivery speed and quality.