Principal Engineering Lead, China Technology Centre

You are as unique as your background, experience and point of view. Here, you’ll be encouraged, empowered and challenged to be your best self. You'll work with dynamic colleagues - experts in their fields - who are eager to share their knowledge with you. Your leaders will inspire and help you reach your potential and soar to new heights. Every day, you'll have new and exciting opportunities to make life brighter for our Clients - who are at the heart of everything we do.

At Sun Life, we're driven by our Purpose: helping our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our values shape how we work: caring, authentic, bold, inspiring, and impactful.

When you join Sun Life, you'll work with passionate colleagues and empowering leaders who support your growth and celebrate your contributions, so you can make a meaningful difference in our Clients' lives.

Discover how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world.

Job Description:

Engineering Delivery & Execution

Lead the successful execution and delivery of all software engineering initiatives across the China Technology Centre. Direct engineering teams to design, build, test, deploy, and support technology solutions that meet business objectives, quality standards, delivery commitments, and operational requirements. Establish engineering standards, development methodologies, quality controls, release management practices, and operational support models to ensure solutions are secure, scalable, resilient, and maintainable.

Engineering Organization Build-Out

Build, scale, and lead the engineering organization within the China Technology Centre. Establish team structures, engineering operating models, leadership capability, workforce plans, and delivery capacity across software engineering, DevOps, and application support functions. Develop a sustainable engineering organization capable of supporting current and future business and technology demands.

Technology Platform Modernization

Lead the modernization and continuous improvement of application platforms, engineering toolchains, cloud technologies, and software delivery practices. Drive adoption of cloud-native architectures, automation, continuous integration, continuous deployment, observability, and engineering productivity improvements to improve delivery speed, platform reliability, operational stability, and long-term maintainability.

Delivery Governance & Stakeholder Partnership

Partner with Hong Kong and Chengdu leaders, product owners, architects, project managers, scrum masters, and technology stakeholders to translate strategic priorities into executable engineering plans. Oversee delivery performance, resource allocation, technology risks, dependencies, and issue resolution to ensure successful execution of technology initiatives. Provide transparency, reporting, and recommendations to support informed decision-making and delivery outcomes.

People Leadership & Talent Development

Build, lead, and develop a high-performing engineering organization through workforce planning, talent acquisition, coaching, performance management, succession planning, and leadership development. Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, continuous learning, and engineering excellence to support long-term organizational growth and employee engagement.

The Person:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related discipline. Master's degree preferred.

• Minimum 15 years of experience in software engineering, technology delivery, and application development, with a minimum of 8 years in progressive engineering leadership roles.

• Proven experience leading large-scale engineering organizations and delivering complex technology transformation programs within Insurance, Financial Services, or other highly regulated industries.

• Demonstrated experience managing multi-disciplinary engineering teams, including software development, quality engineering, DevOps, platform engineering, and vendor delivery teams.
• Strong experience with cloud platforms, modern software engineering practices, Agile delivery methodologies, and large-scale enterprise application environments.

At Sun Life, we’re driven by our Purpose: to help Clients build lifetime financial security and lead healthier lives. Across Asia, we cultivate a High-Performance, Caring Culture that empowers our people to achieve outstanding results, embrace continuous growth, and create meaningful impact. We succeed together by fostering an inclusive environment where wellbeing, collaboration, and accountability are equally valued.

Job Category:

IT - Technology Services

Posting End Date:

30/05/2027