Lead Software Engineer — Product Builder

Job Description

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

We’re building new Sun Life capabilities 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

• Break down product and technical initiatives into well-scoped, sequenced work items

• Define technical approaches, dependencies, and milestones before work starts

• Identify risks early and adjust scope or approach to protect delivery timelines

• 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.

• Unblock others by resolving architectural or integration challenges

• Be the technical decision-maker when trade-offs are required

• 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 nontechnical 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).

• 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

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Product mindset

• You think in terms of sales and business outcomes, 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.

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